Ethnic Studies Post Delayed

Ethnic studies scholars and activists will have two more years to wait before a professor will fill the first-ever Faculty position facilitated by the Ad Hoc Committee on Ethnic Studies.

The newly-created junior Faculty position in Asian-American literature will not be filled until the fall of 1999, according to Leo Damrosch, chair of the English and American literature and language department.

"We found that there just wasn't enough time to work out the details of the position and to assemble a search committee that could be confident of a successful result," Damrosch said.

Damrosch and his committee will begin the hiring search this fall.

"I would have been interested in taking an Asian-American literature course as an elective," said Nancy Lin '99. "I'm disappointed."

"It's possible that some students might be pushing for an earlier reinstatement of the position," Lin said.

The post--approved by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) on Oct. 3--will be the first permanent appointment stemming from the Ad Hoc Committee on Ethnic Studies.

To fund the position, the Faculty converted one of the Ethnic Studies Committee's three semester-long visiting professorships to the new junior Faculty post. The Committee will still host two visiting professors each term.

Cabot Professor of English and American Literature and Language Werner Sollors, also a member of the Committee on Ethnic Studies, praised the Faculty's visiting professorship program.

"In the past, such leading scholars as King-Kok Cheung and Xiao-huang Yin have been invited through the initiative of the Ethnic Studies Committee and augmented the courses offered by our regular faculty," Sollors said.

The new post will be an "important step" in the future of multicultural studies at the University, said Professor of Chinese Literature Leo O. Lee, chair of the Committee on Ethnic Studies. "Harvard does not have enough regular Faculty appointments related to ethnic studies."

Lee said when he learned that the English department had postponed their search for the new Faculty member, he asked the department to "make a firm commitment" to filling the position.

"I can confidently promise...that we are fully committed to this search and expect to identify and hire the right person next year," Damrosch said.