After a seven-year struggle including countless meetings with department chairs, deans and administrators, students advocating for the creation of an Asian-American studies minor may have finally achieved their goal. College administrators will begin the search for a tenure-track Asian-American studies professor this fall, Associate Dean of the Faculty Lenore Grenoble announced recently.
Grenoble reported the search for a new Asian-American studies professor in a BlitzMail message sent to lead advocates of the program and members of the Pan Asian Council in mid-June.
"The faculty intend to begin the search in the Fall 2004 term (following the regular timeline for searches), and hope to have someone in place for the following year," Grenoble wrote. "We will be creating new course offerings for Asian-American studies ... in addition to our current offerings."
In the past, members of the Pan Asian Council said they found it difficult to convince administrators to fund an AAS program.Grenoble said that, due to an increase in College resources, AAS can now become a priority.
Marie Choi '06, a leading proponent of an Asian-American studies program, said that one reason for the administration's hesitance is its potential costs. Although it is uncertain where the money has come from, Choi said she believes the new emphasis on Asian-American studies is more a matter of the program moving up on administrators' agendas.
"We have a large amount of support from the student body and key faculty members, which was evident in the 1,115 signatures in a letter that was presented to the administration," Choi said. "The provost chair has provided advice on how to communicate with the deanery and how the process of minor implementation works -- we simply moved up on their list of priorities."
The Pan Asian Council submitted a letter on March 1 which presented a list of recommendations for the establishment of an AAS curriculum, the most important being the hiring of more tenure-track professors. According to history professor Vernon Takeshita, who advised the initiators of the letter, the hiring of more tenured professors who specialize in AAS is a crucial step toward implementing the program.
In addition to the search for a new tenure-track faculty member in the field, Grenoble is currently working with Associate Dean of the Faculty Michael Mastanduno to assemble a committee that will study the feasibility of implementing the program by looking at similar programs at other universities. The committee, headed by government professor David Kang, reportedly hopes to publish its research next January.
"The research of the committee is key to the establishment of an AAS minor," Choi said. "They will be spending over a term studying AAS minors at other schools and making recommendations to the administration, which is crucial to determining the next step."
The Pan Asian Council will be involved in the research process. According to Choi, they will welcome candidates and gain community support as they ensure that steps are continuously being taken to implement the program.
Choi said she has made a commitment to keep the issue on the administration's agenda even though the College does not plan to hire a tenure-track professor until Fall term 2005. Choi does not expect to see an AAS minor instituted by the end of her four years at Dartmouth.
"When I became interested in the issue, I never expected to be able to participate in the minor," Choi said. "But this is not disappointing in any way -- I feel like this is going to happen, and that is satisfaction in itself."
