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Student petitions for Sikh studies class

By Kendal Mitchell

Oct. 3, 2014 2:14 a.m.

Manjot Singh covers his long hair in a turban every day as a physical manifestation of worship, a basic tenet of his Sikh faith.

Because he wears a turban, the fourth-year global studies student said he sometimes thinks students on campus treat him differently or make unfair judgments about his religious beliefs.

Last week, Singh a created an online petition to gather support for the creation of a Sikh studies class at UCLA and to show administrators that students would be interested in a potential course.

The petition now has more than 450 signatures, around 50 away from its goal of 500.

Singh said he thinks the course would educate the student body about the Sikh faith, a monotheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of South Asia in the 15th century.

Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world, with about 27 million followers around the globe. It is based on the teachings of its founder Guru Nanak and nine other leaders, or gurus, who followed him.

Singh, who is also an Undergraduate Students Association Council General Representative, said he thinks the creation of a Sikh studies class will give students a better understanding of the practices of the Sikh faith, which teaches that all people are equal before God and people can reach salvation by earning an honest living and avoiding worldly temptation and sin.

Jaspreet Singh, a fourth-year political science and English student, said he signed the petition after seeing it on Facebook.

As a practicing Sikh, Jaspreet Singh said he likes the idea of a whole course dedicated to Sikh studies, a topic he has never encountered in depth in an academic setting.

For the UCLA Registrar to list a class, the proposed course must be approved by the chair of the department it will be housed in, the dean of the course’s particular division and the Faculty Executive Committee chair, said Kyle McJunkin, the director of curriculum coordination and operations of the Undergraduate Education Initiatives.

McJunkin added that administrators consider a variety of components before placing a class on the registrar, including the availability of professors to teach, department funding and student interest.

While student support is not the only factor UCLA considers, administrators have taken public support into account when implementing academic changes before. Last April, the Academic Senate approved the creation of the Afro-African studies department due to student support.

Saketh Kasibatla, a third-year computer science student who signed the petition, said he thinks a Sikh studies class would be beneficial to the UCLA community because it would help show the complexity of the India’s many subcultures.

“As a rising economic force, the general population should learn about (Indian) culture,” Kasibatla said.

Kasibatla added that he would be interested in taking the class if it fulfilled a general education requirement.

Singh said he plans to meet with professors in the Center for the Study of Religion, as well as the history and Asian American studies departments in the next two weeks about potentially housing the class in one of those departments.

Carol Bakhos, the director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Religion, declined to comment on the petition for this article because she said she does not have enough information to make a statement yet.

Manjot Singh said he hopes the university will approve the class by spring, so he can take the class himself.

“(I want the class) to show the rich history of the Sikh faith, and how we contribute to the American fabric,” Signh said.

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Kendal Mitchell
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