When Associated Student Government senators approved a billWednesday calling for an increase in the faculty and coursesrelated to the Asian American studies program, they did so with thesupport of about two dozen student group leaders.
The Asian American studies task force drafted a letter lastquarter lobbying for an expansion of the program. That letterreceived more than 24 student group leaders’ signatures, saidHoward Lien, president of Asian American Students United.
Lien, a Weinberg senior who also serves as a member of the taskforce, said the letter reflects the demand for the program’senlargement.
ASG senators passed the bill Wednesday in response to the desirefor a stronger program.
The bill focuses on providing a variety of courses indepartments like theatre and political science, ensuring that atleast 15 courses related to Asian American studies are offered eachyear. The bill also plans to increase the number of faculty memberswho specialize in the Asian American studies program.
Lien said the program currently has three disciplines: history,sociology and English. This quarter three courses are offered inthe Asian American studies program.
“The student interest lies in a number of areas that we don’tcover at the moment,” said Ji-Yeon Yuh, an assistant professor ofhistory who specializes in Asian American history. She added thatcreating interdisciplinary programs, like a class on the role ofAsian Americans in the media, would garner student interest.
The program has three faculty members — Yuh included — butnone are tenured. The other faculty are assistant English Prof.Dorothy Wang and assistant sociology Prof. Carolyn Chen.
At Wednesday’s meeting, senators debated the demand for theprogram.
“These cultural majors provide a sense of welcome, a sense ofinclusion to minority students,” said David Ely, an outgoingsenator for For Members Only.
But other senators said the resources could be used elsewhere.Although Weinberg senior Matt McCormick said he doesn’t oppose theminor, he doesn’t see a current need for increasing the program’sresources.
“There are other programs out there that are stalled in thepipeline. Let’s work on those,” said McCormick, an alternate forStudents for Ecological and Environmental Developmentco-facilitator Tiffany Grobelski. “Maybe we should look at askingthe university to put forth other minors that people have beenlooking at for a time.”
The expansion of the program’s faculty is a matter of allocatinga professor to teach a class related to the Asian American studiesprogram in addition to their other classes, Lien said.
“The person would have an appointment in another department, butthey would have responsibilities to Asian American studies,” saidLien, adding that the hiring of a senior professor who specializesin the Asian American studies program doesn’t necessarily requireadditional expenses.
The Daily’s Erin Stock contributed to this report.
