Task force aims to add South Asian program
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 6, 2001 9:00 p.m.
By Michelle Kroes
Daily Bruin Contributor
Some students are unwilling to sit idly as the demand for the
establishment of a South Asian studies program grows at UCLA.
Members from various campus groups organized into a task force
this winter with the aim of advancing ethnic studies to include
some kind of a South Asian program.
“A structured program in South Asian studies is greatly
needed at UCLA,” said Neetal Parekh, third- year political
science student and member of the South Asian task force. “It
is limiting for students, faculty and the school itself not to
offer it.”
The region known as South Asia is comprised of India, Pakistan,
Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Tibet and
Maldives. It is one of the few regions not included in UCLA’s
ethnic studies.
Students have been trying to organize a South Asian studies
program since 1992 but lost momentum as many of them graduated.
“There have been numerous efforts at UCLA but they have
all fizzled out,” said Shefali Khandhwala, third-year
physiological science student and member of the task force.
“I believe that we have gotten a lot further and hopefully it
will be successful.”
In addition to students, faculty members are also concerned with
the creation of a South Asian studies program.
“The need is so high that my language classes are severely
hampered by the number of students enrolled, by insufficient
budgeting, media materials and computers,” said Gyanham
Mahajan, professor of Hindi language . “We need resources to
accommodate these large number of students.”
Another task force member, Sameer Sampat, said there are also
greater reasons to make South Asian studies part of UCLA’s
curriculum.
“First of all, I find that many South Asian students
ignore their culture. By making it a cohesive study, students are
given an opportunity to embrace their culture,” said Sampat,
a second-year electrical engineering student. “Secondly,
European studies is not the only thing worthy to be studied. By
having a South Asian studies program, UCLA is making a statement
that it is important.”
According to the task force’s statement of purpose,
UCLA’s interest as a large public research institution should
be to expand its South Asia research, teaching facilities and
student resources.
India is a country of a billion people, 5,000 years of history,
is the largest democracy on Earth and also one of many countries
that hold nuclear weapons, said emeritus Professor Damodar
SarDesai, current chair of Indian History.
“We can’t ignore a country of this magnitude and
tradition,” he said. “It is not India that is at a loss
if we don’t teach it here but rather, this country and this
state.”
Although UCLA does not offer a cohesive program for the study of
South Asia it does provide more than 50 South Asia related courses
to students.
To Marc Mayerson, the assistant dean of social sciences, these
classes are sufficient for those interested in South Asia.
“I wonder if there is a need for a South Asian studies
program at this time,” Mayerson said. “There are
certainly many classes that address this sub-continent and
sub-field.”
But Parekh finds that these courses are only sporadically
offered at UCLA with only a few available each quarter, despite
high demand. The classes available in a quarter such as History of
India, Hindi or South Asian Dance tend to be overloaded with
students.
“In the last three years I have been teaching pre-modern
India and each year the classes have been filled with over 200
students,” SarDesai said.
The task force is working together to gain enough evidence of
students and faculty who support this initiative. They are voicing
the issue around campus and asking students to sign a petition
stating they would participate in a South Asian studies programs if
it was offered.
The task force will present this information along with a
proposal of how the program could be structured to both the dean of
social sciences and the dean of humanities for consideration this
month.
“The creation of a new studies rests with a movement
generated by faculty,” Mayerson said.
“If there is enough interest for the program it would be a
welcome addition,” Mayerson said. “Yet it is primarily
the availability, willingness and energy of the faculty to develop
a curriculum which leads to a degree.”
But Dean of South East Asian Languages, Professor Shoichi
Iwasaki, said this program’s existence was largely due to
student enthusiasm and involvement.
One of the leading arguments posed by the task force is that
UCLA, unlike other notable universities, does not possess a South
Asian studies program.
UC Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan
and the University of Chicago all provide a Center for South Asian
studies.
“If there is a demand we should provide it,”
SarDesai said. “It is long overdue, let us not waste anymore
time.”
South Asian Studies These courses would be
available to students with the implementation of a South Asian
studies program at UCLA Â To see bigger
version of the infographic, click on it SOURCE: UCLA South Asian
Taskforce Original graphic by VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin Web
adaptation by MIKE OUYANG/Daily Bruin
