Smaller Area and Cultural Studies Programs offer new opportunities

Mariza Baeza, center, junior in LAS, talks during her Cultural Studies class in Wholers Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009.
Michael Stein The Daily Illini

For students interested in sustainability or architecture, it may be obvious to take classes about the environment or the design of buildings, but fewer students realize that cultural studies programs may give them different perspectives on the topics that interested them.

Anna Stenport, director of the Scandinavian studies program, said students with architectural or environmental interests often choose to take courses in the program and see that Scandinavia has much to offer the world within those disciplines.

“What we’re seeing now is that it’s a lot about student interests, and then they notice that ‘Oh, OK, Scandinavia has something to offer’ in terms of technology, or whatever it may be,” she said.

The Scandinavian studies program is a branch off the Germanic studies major, offering a Scandinavian minor or concentration.

Although some cultural studies programs have expanded to include majors, others, such as the Scandinavian studies program, continue to operate on a smaller scale.

Angelica Guzman, junior in LAS, is minoring in Latina/Latino studies and says she enjoys being part of a smaller unit because of the close interaction she has with other students in the program.

“You make more connections with people that you couldn’t in other classes,” she said. “Especially here at this university, where Latinos are a minority.”

The Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is another smaller program that offers two minors: study of the Islamic world and South Asian studies. Ritu Saksena, associate director of the center, said many students with political science and history majors choose to minor through the center because it reflects their interests and is interdisciplinary.

Although the center offers just two minors, Saksena said the program is growing, and next year, all the area studies programs will be offering Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships for undergraduates.

The American Indian studies program is the newest cultural studies minor on campus. Fall 2009 is the first year it became available, said John McKinn, associate director of the program. He said after three years of discussion, the faculty and College of LAS determined what the minor would look like.

McKinn said the program wanted to make a formal distinction between actual American Indian studies and what students typically learn about in history.

“American Indian studies is a much different project,” said McKinn. “It is about the experience, the history, the lives of American Indian peoples.”

Although it only offers a minor right now, the Latina/Latino studies program will be offering a major for the first time next year, said Alicia Rodriguez, associate director of the program. She said students are already taking required classes in order to prepare for the arrival of the major.

Rodriguez said students not directly involved with the program can still benefit from taking the classes it offers.

“The case is that a lot of the mainstream majors and curricula just don’t automatically incorporate Latino experiences,” she said. “We have to have these programs in order to bring in that piece of scholarship and knowledge that is lacking there.”