Ethnic Studies Requests Elicit FAS Response

Efforts by the Ethnic Studies Action Committee (ESAC) to communicate to the administration students' interest in having more ethnic studies opportunities appear to have made an impact.

In an interview yesterday, Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said he recognized the importance of fostering greater ethnic studies opportunities at Harvard.

Students in ESAC say there is a need to hire more visiting professors and to offer more ethnic studies classes and an ethnic studies concentration.

To garner support for the cause, ESAC members passed out armbands to attendees of the Cultural Rhythms Festival in March.

Knowles said the Faculty~~ Council has set two goals in its effort to meet the increased interest in ethnic studies in the past few decades.

It has discussed plans to encourage the appointment of more faculty members with demonstrated interest in ethnic studies to existing programs.

"There will be an increasing number of appointments of professors whose scholarly work is relevant to these areas," Knowles said.

The council also plans to appoint more visiting professors in this field.

Knowles said the appointment of visiting professors whose work is "relevant to the study of ethnicity will...enrich the curriculum."

Despite the call for an ethnic studies concentration, Knowles noted that since the last Faculty Council discussion on this topic, there has been no further proposal or discussion for such a separate concentration.

Knowles also addressed the recent announcement that three junior faculty members will leave the Department of English and American Literature and Language.

Two of the departing faculty members cited the improbability of receiving tenure at Harvard as their reason for accepting tenure at other institutions.

Knowles said he understood the junior colleagues' reasons for making the decision to leave.

"I perfectly understand that one of the parameters for whether to stay or leave is the ultimate probability of tenure," Knowles said.

Knowles also expressed hope that junior faculty members will continue to take advantage of the opportunities at Harvard.

"I certainly hope that the scholarly and teaching opportunities for our junior faculty are fulfilling and that all ofthem will have strong career trajectories totenure, here or elsewhere," he said.

Knowles acknowledged that the percentage ofjunior faculty promoted at Harvard is not veryhigh. He attributed this to a low turnover ofsenior professors, a highly selective tenureprocess with demanding expectations and theUniversity's policy under which the only positionwith tenure is that of full professor.

Knowles also said the opportunities for tenurein certain academic fields may not be as numerousas they are in others. For example, junior facultyin the social sciences may get more tenure offersthan junior faculty in the humanities.

"I do understand in many fields the number oftenure opportunities in the nation is relativelysmall, and so I must understand when a juniorcolleague grasps one of those relatively smallopportunities," Knowles said

Knowles acknowledged that the percentage ofjunior faculty promoted at Harvard is not veryhigh. He attributed this to a low turnover ofsenior professors, a highly selective tenureprocess with demanding expectations and theUniversity's policy under which the only positionwith tenure is that of full professor.

Knowles also said the opportunities for tenurein certain academic fields may not be as numerousas they are in others. For example, junior facultyin the social sciences may get more tenure offersthan junior faculty in the humanities.

"I do understand in many fields the number oftenure opportunities in the nation is relativelysmall, and so I must understand when a juniorcolleague grasps one of those relatively smallopportunities," Knowles said