Ask AASC about the Asian American Studies issue By Bob Kao and Ling Ly Fletcher Durant raised some valuable points in Tuesday’s issue regarding Asian American Studies. However, all of these points are based on common misconceptions. We hope to expose the fallacy of his arguments in order to clarify the reasons for our desire and need for an Asian American Studies curriculum. 1. Asian American Studies is for everyone. It is not only for people of Asian descent but is also an intellectual pursuit that is relevant to students in all fields. It is not a selfish goal toward diversity as Durant claimed. The goal is to interject Asian American components in all courses of study in order to radically transform our curriculum to include more comprehensive perspectives. 2. Durant pointed out that the schools that were mentioned in previous Wespeaks have “Ethnic or Multicultural Studies departments,” and not Asian American Studies. This is simply uninformed. Asian American Studies is an essential component of Ethnic Studies, and we are fighting for Asian American Studies as a strategic step toward full implementation of Ethnic Studies. Durant did correctly suggest, however, that Wesleyan also needs to develop Chicano Studies and Native American Studies, which are two essential areas of Ethnic Studies. Durant also complained that substituting an early-American historian with an Asian Americanist historian would “leave a gaping hole in our history department.” This may be true, but certainly an early-American historian position that incorporated either Chicano Studies or Native American Studies is quite within reach. 3. Ethnic Studies, as a field, privileges the examination of racial minorities in the United States. As such, it does not promise to address “ethnic” studies worldwide such as Scandinavian Studies, Irish Studies, or all the other ones Durant mentioned (some were area studies that do no necessarily pertain to race or ethnicity). Certainly these are all legitimate academic pursuits, and we would hope that some form of critical whiteness studies could be developed in conjunction to broaden our curriculum. 4. Durant suggested that students with an interest in Asian American studies could pursue a University major, but doing a University major in Asian American Studies is simply impossible. First of all, this would require the sponsorship of three faculty advisors, and we clearly do not have at least three professors at Wesleyan with academic interests and the specialization in the field to do so. Secondly, classes that have Asian American components have been few and far between, with most of them concentrated in the English Department. There have been a few Asian American history courses as well in the past, but always taught by poorly paid adjunct professors (also known as contract laborers). There are just simply not enough classes to complete a major, and students should not be forced to take tutorials and forums that do not have the same status as real courses. In addition, professors do not receive credits for holding tutorials or student forums, so there is very little incentive for already overworked professors to sponsor these short-term solutions that work to undermine and devalue an area of study that should be a regular part of the curriculum. A University major would be impossible to do because of real reasons, not due to the lack of effort of students who want to pursue it. This path would also not address the issue of reforming the curriculum. 5. Durant also suggested that people who are interested in Asian American Studies could utilize our wonderful Olin Library. Yes, the library may be a valuable resource, but it certainly cannot substitute for a real curriculum, just as the school cannot wipe out the Economics or Biology Departments and recommend students pursue their individual studies at Olin. As we have mentioned, Asian American Studies is not a separate field, but is one that should be integrated into the curriculum and in turn transform it. Therefore, artificially separating it as a distinct field and relegating it to the confines of Olin Library is an uneducated and condescending suggestion. Right now the support for the institution of Ethnic Studies at Wesleyan is at its strongest in decades. Individuals, student groups, majors’ committees, faculty, and even administrators are coming together to form coalitions that are striving to find solutions for the existing holes in our curriculum. Certainly there are many other reasons as to why it is important for us to have Asian American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Wesleyan, but we cannot list them all due to lack of space. Please contact us if you are interested. The understanding and active support of the student body is essential in the realization of our ultimate goal. Kao and Ly are members of the class of 2003 and are members of the Asian American Studies Committee (AASC)

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