Not in the Core

Among the demands recently issued by a coalition of nine minority student groups on the Harvard administration was the request that ethnic studies be incorporated into the Core curriculum. Under this proposal, students would be required to spend one semester taking a course with a focus on ethnicity.

Clearly, the curriculum at Harvard could be more multicultural. Students at the University can go through their entire four years here reading texts written exclusively by dead white males. This Eurocentric focus of undergraduate courses and reading lists requires some balancing.

But students at Harvard can study ethnicity, if they wish. The course catalog contains a five-page listing of courses relating specifically to ethnicity in the United States. From Anthropology 184: The Indian Question in the Americas to Women's Studies 101r: Women of Color in America, from General Education 105: The Literature of Social Reflection to Government 1575: Ethnic Groups in American Political Culture, courses in ethnic studies are available.

Still, the coalition believes that the study of ethnicity should be a graduation requirement, and they want it as part of the Core program.

As much as we value ethnic perspectives in academia, we think the idea of an ethnic studies Core category in particular--and of an ethnic studies requirement in general--presents some problems.

First, we think it's an impractical goal. Adding a new field of study to the Core would necessitate a lengthy bureaucratic process--for professors to come up with the courses, and for various committees to approve them. At a time of University-wide budget tightening, we think the investment that would be needed to restructure and expand the Core program is unreasonable.

Second, the field of ethnic studies--if it is defined as the analysis of different cultural heritages within American society--does not seem to be consistent with the nature of the Core program. As outlined in the course guide, the Core is designed to teach students basic "approaches to knowledge" or "ways of thinking."

Each of these categories comprehends an integral methodology. In the sciences, both physical and biological, this includes the methodology and basic, broad theory that form our "scientific perception of the world." In the realm of moral reasoning, this means discussing "significant and recurrent questions of choice and value that arise in human experience."

Ethnic studies--in terms of analyzing the different heritages that form the patchwork quilt of our American society--is less a distinct "approach to knowledge" meant to characterize the other Core offerings, Instead, it appears better suited as a focus of courses within the other, already defined fields, like literature and arts, or historical studies.

Third, the Core program has problems of its own. Granted, some of the best courses in the University are Cores, even allowing for the fact that 600 of your closest friends might be sitting next to you in lecture. But for many undergraduates, registering to fulfill Core requirements ends up being an exercise in finding a gut. And creating new guts is no way to expose Harvard students to America's ethnic diversity.

Finally, adding a separate ethnic studies requirement to the Core would not solve--and could exacerbate--the problem of Harvard's already narrow, Eurocentric curriculum. Studying ethnicity alone and for its own sake could become an excuse for not diversifying the content of the rest of the courses at the University.

Harvard professors need to be sensitive to diversity when they are planning the syllabi for their courses, so that every liberal arts education includes the study of different ethnic perspectives. But the answer is not to expand Harvard's bureaucracy and impose more requirements on students already struggling to juggle cores, concentration courses and a few electives.

Ethnicity relates to all aspects of our society: art, music, literature, history and philosophy. The study of this nation's ethnic diversity should be interdisciplinary as well. Only when we come to this realization--and when we stop insisting on separating our society's cultural ingredients from the rest--will our curriculum truly reflect the diversity of experiences that makes up American culture.