Good news for students and faculty who have been working towards the creation of a Latino Studies Program: At least one professor has been hired to begin teaching Latino Studies courses next year.
Mary Finn, assistant dean of Weinberg, said the administration began to search for professors for Latino Studies classes early in Fall Quarter. She said they offered three jobs; so far only one professor has accepted. Another had to turn down the position and the last is still pending. Finn said she was “pretty hopeful” that position would be filled as well.
“They are junior positions,” Finn said. “They will not be charged with the mission of starting a new program.”
Finn said the new hires are going to begin teaching classes that could eventually fall under a Latino Studies Program. Next year there will also be a committee to consider other programs that the program could have and how to continue planning Latino Studies. Finn also said she has been pleased to see students becoming more active.
“Student participation has been cultivated by faculty action,” Finn said. “Since Winter Quarter, Alianza has been taking a more organized interest. The students are really on the ball, and it’s been great to see the interest increase.”
Finn said that while they will continue planning next year, she won’t rule out having something in place for the year after that.
“I hope there’s something going on programatically in the 2007-08 academic year,” Finn said. “That’s my personal hope.”
Anthropology professor Monica Russel y Rodriguez said she is also pleased with the way the Latino Studies Program is progressing.
“I’m pleased to see that so many people on campus are thinking about it and that it’s on the radar,” Russel y Rodriguez said. “This is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Russel y Rodriguez said she has been teaching courses in Latino Studies and next year she will offer a freshmen seminar through the anthropology department. She plans to be on the committee that will continue to plan the development of a Latino Studies Program.
“What I’m hoping to see is a senior hire to develop a program,” Russel y Rodriguez said. “That’s a reasonable outcome of the committee. I think it’s slow in coming, but we’re getting there.”
Weinberg sophomore Melissa Ammann, one of the students who has been helping lead the push for a Latino Studies Program, said she got involved Winter Quarter because she heard students needed to show more interest.
“I think a big part of it was that students were reacting to the information about the potential hires,” Ammann said. “I didn’t know about the search until the winter, and I think it was the same way for a lot of students. That’s why the real push began in the Winter Quarter.”
Ammann said she is pleased with the first hiring, and she hopes the administration will continue to look into opening more positions.
“Long term, I would like to see a major,” she said. “That would be NU’s way of showing that it considers Latino Studies a viable and important field of study, and I think many people share that vision.”
Reach Aliza Appelbaum at [email protected].
