Last week, the Associated Students of Madison Diversity committee met to discuss possible changes to the ethnic studies requirement in the UW-Madison undergraduate curriculum. The ASM Diversity Committee hopes to pressure administrators to expand the requirement and make classes more relevant to students, and this editorial board agrees that changes are desperately needed.
Ideally, the ethnic studies requirement would challenge students to think critically about issues of ethnic diversity and social justice that they may not encounter in their other classes, and would spur them to engage in productive dialogue. However, as it now stands, the classes offered that fit the bill are not living up to expectations.
If the administration plans to make serious changes, it should work toward creating smaller, more student-centered and focused courses that provide students the opportunity to be truly challenged and engaged. Dialogue-oriented classes of around 25 students allow much more room for participation and individual attention than larger lectures, which currently make up most classes that fill the ethnic studies requirement.
Furthermore, many of the most popular ethnic studies courses don’t really seem to fulfill the original goals of the requirement, one of which, according to the university’s website, is to “equip students to respond constructively to issues connected with our pluralistic society and global community.” Although Anthropology 104 (Cultural Anthropology and Human Diversity) and Afro-American Studies 156 (Black Music and American Cultural History), for example, provide valuable information and perspectives to students, their pertinence to the realities of our increasingly diverse nation are questionable at best, and may better equip students to pass exams than respond constructively to issues of American ethnicity.
This is why the administration’s first step should be to audit courses that currently carry an ethnic studies status, and critically evaluate their benefit to students. Because many students are only taking one ethnic studies course during their time at the university, the “basic” ethnic studies courses should be more sociologically oriented and catered to the lives of students than many of the niche and historically-focused courses that are currently offered.
The possibility of changes on the horizon and the initiative of the ASM Diversity Committee leave us hopeful for progress and continued critical thought. However, when it comes down to it, UW-Madison students will not benefit from the ethnic studies requirement if they do not put genuine contemplation and honest dialogue into their work in the class. The administration can, and should, continue to change with the times, but if students won’t keep up with them, these changes will have been made in vain.
Finally, there is a disconnect between what one can learn from a textbook and what one can learn from experience. Current and future ethnic studies classes could be much more useful for all students if we had a more diverse student body, integrating more perspectives and possibly equalizing the campus climate. With a staggering majority of 87 percent white students, classroom conversation can easily be rendered stagnant or can quickly marginalize the voices of people of color, regardless of curriculum.
With arguments being presented in front of the U.S. Supreme Court this month in regards to affirmative action, the way that our school selects its students could change in the future. Limitations to affirmative action policies in the U.S. would put us several steps back in having constructive conversations around social injustice and ethnic diversity. But in the meantime, UW-Madison administrators and students have their work cut out for them in revamping the ethnic studies program. With support from student government and other faculty members, changes to the ethnic studies requirement could have lasting, constructive effects on our educations and our communities.
What do you think about the university’s diversity requiremets? Let us know by sending all feedback and letters to the editor to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
