UC Votes To Expand South Asian Studies Program

The Undergraduate Council (UC) passed a resolution supporting the South Asian Studies Initiative (SASI) with a nearly unanimous vote Monday night. The resolution calls for the expansion of South Asian Studies at Harvard with a growth in course offerings, visiting professors, and student involvement in the department.

Former South Asian Association (SAA) Co-President Vinod E. Nambudiri ’05, a co-author of the resolution, said the rising number of South Asian languages and related Core courses offered at Harvard reflects students’ increasing interest in the region.

“Harvard has the potential for being the best university in the nation for these types of studies,” Numbudiri said.

Student Affairs Committee (SAC) Chair Tara Gadgil ’07, currently running to be UC vice-president, sponsored the resolution with members of SASI and the SAA.

“The bill is a piece of legislation that is an important step to increasing student voice in the curricular process,” Gadgil wrote in an e-mail. “I think that SAA has the knowledge and background to conduct the open application process and pick the right representatives for the committee.”

SASI conducted a survey of 126 students last spring to gauge student interest in South Asia, asking questions ranging from what areas undergraduates wanted to study to how they picked their courses and found thesis topics. Based on these results, the SASI committed itself to increase awareness of South Asian Studies.

Controversy arose over a section of the resolution that called for “representation on relevant committees and increased collaboration with faculty.” Under Section IV of the resolution, the SAA and SASI would appoint two students to the South Asia Initiative, the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, and the Standing Committee on South Asian Studies.

Ricky B. Shah ’09 introduced an amendment that would allow the UC to work in conjunction with the SAA to select the members for this committee.

“It would provide a sense of legitimacy,” Shah said, explaining that the UC is the only organization that represents the entire study body.

But when the amendment failed to receive the necessary two-thirds majority vote, Ryan A. Petersen ’08 proposed that the resolution return to SAC to be discussed further.

But many UC members thought sending the resolution back to SAC would not accomplish anything, since it had already been debated at length in the committee.

“This bill is one of the most thought-out, well structured bills SAC has seen in a while,” said John S. Haddock ’07, vice-chair of SAC and UC presidential candidate. “Recommitting this to SAC is not going to change our minds.”

Petersen’s proposal failed and the resolution went up for a vote. It passed overwhelmingly with 31 votes in favor—one against and seven abstentions.

Although Petersen said he was a supporter of the SAA and was not opposed to the legislation in and of itself, he said he voted against the resolution because the SAA is a “special interest group” that doesn’t represent the entire student body.

Last spring, the UC passed a similar bill supporting the Native Americans of Harvard College. But in that resolution, the UC had power to appoint students to committees.

“I think that the UC didn’t fully consider its responsibility to the student body when voting for this legislation. It got caught up in a good cause ...and forgot to make sure that they went about it in a moral way,” Petersen said.

Shah said he voted in favor of the resolution, despite his concern about student appointments, because South Asian Studies at Harvard has room for improvement.

“This is a great step in fulfilling [Harvard’s] role as a leader in South Asian Studies,” Shah said.