For the first time since 1989 a new department may be added to Harpur College of Arts and Sciences.
If approved by the Faculty Senate, the Asian and Asian American Studies (AAAS) program could be combined with the East Asian Languages portion of the department of German, Russian and East Asian Languages (GREAL) to form the department of Asian and Asian American Studies by the fall.
“What we are proposing is basically a reconfiguration of current resources,” said John Chaffee, professor of history and director of AAAS.
According to Chaffee, the new department would not require any extra resources, but would put the program into a better position to receive funding from grants. Space is available for the potential department in the Library’s basement, where the current program’s main office space is located.
Creation of the AAAS department would also strengthen the chance that the Department of Education would designate the University as a National Resource Center, Chaffee said.
“The program has been operating to some extent like a department already,” Chaffee said, noting the existence of AAAS majors and minors. “So the movement from here to a department is not a big stretch.”
The proposal for the department has already passed through two out of the three necessary committees, the Harpur Educational Planning and Policies Committee and the Harpur College Council, to be fully approved.
According to Jennifer Jensen, associate dean for academic affairs of Harpur College, the department proposal passed through the first committee with strong support. It also passed by a unanimous vote through the HCC during Wednesday’s meeting. There hasn’t been a proposal for a new department since the creation of the Judaic Studies department in 1989.
Jensen, who is chair of the HEPPC, said the department’s creation would make a lot of sense because of growing interest in the program. She also believes the University has been positioning itself very well for the change.
And according to Chaffee, there has been strong support for the proposal since talks of turning AAAS into a department began last semester. Chaffee said that one of the strongest supporters of the move is Rosmarie Morewedge, German professor and chair of GREAL.
If created, the department will incorporate the current AAAS program with the East Asian Languages offered through GREAL, which will in turn be reconfigured into the department of German and Russian studies.
Though originally entitled German and Russian studies, the department became GREAL in the late 1980s as interest in Asian languages and culture grew.
“This reorganization means that there will be two departments in the future, but we will continue to support each other,” Morewedge, who spoke in favor of the proposal during an HCC meeting Wednesday, said. “We extend our best wishes to our colleagues in East Asian Studies.”
The University currently offers courses in Chinese, Korean and Japanese and will also be offering introductory Hindi in the fall. Chaffee said that there are plans to create specific majors for the languages offered.
The proposal is expected to be discussed at the next meeting of the Faculty Senate’s Educational Policy and Priorities Committee on April 28.