San Jose State professors, students and associates of a local leadership group held a Zoom webinar Wednesday, discussing ways ethnic studies education affects the community.
Nonprofit leadership collective American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley partnered with the university in part of a two-week series by the SJSU Office of the President, “Transforming Communities: A Movement to Racial Justice.”
Ethnic studies is an area of study that includes literature, history and philosophy from communities of color in the U.S., according to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library ethnic studies webpage.
The panel featured SJSU professors and community professionals including: Leon Beauchman, president of Santa Clara County Office of Education; Travis Boyce, SJSU department chair of African American studies; Hien Do, SJSU sociology, interdisciplinary social science & Asian American studies professor; Marcos Pizarro, SJSU associate dean of the College of Education and Chicanx studies professor; and Toni Vanwinkle senior director of digital Workplace Experience at Adobe.
Three SJSU students also shared their experiences in SJSU’s ethnic studies courses including political science senior Brenda Tapia, ethnic studies junior Jorge Castillo and history senior and Asian American studies minor Andrew Nuland.
Castillo, 32, said ethnic studies positively affected his education after discovering the discipline later in life.
“Ethnic studies has given me the knowledge that I do bring qualities into the classroom, I do have something to offer to society,” he said. “And I think that that's the power that ethnic studies gives all students.”
Akemi Flynn, panel organizer and American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley chief impact organizer, said the student panelists gave her confidence in the future generation.
“I felt totally reassured and inspired about the future,” Flynn said. “When you have San Jose State students [that are] this knowledgeable and passionate about ethnic studies, we have so much change that is needed.”
Panelist Travis Boyce said implementing ethnic studies courses helps students receive a diverse education.
“We are not just developing an engineer or an educator,” Boyce said during the event. “We are developing a well-rounded student.”
Panelist Hien Do said it’s been difficult to assert ethnic studies courses in educational institutions.
“Ethnic studies have had a long tradition and legacy of struggles to assert itself in the academy,” Do said during the event. “It has not been historically supported, validated and provided the necessary resources for its research, yet it persisted.”
Student panelist Brenda Tapia said she believes the U.S. population’s differing opinions regarding ethnic studies has created a political divide.
“A lot of people think that ethnic studies and critical race theory is bad because their argument is that ‘we are making people hate America,’ ” Tapia said. “But ethnic studies makes people appreciate [the U.S.] even more because it makes us [people of color] see our own contributions.”
Boyce said California State University (CSU) system students are required to take one 3-unit ethnic studies course as part of their general education requirements for graduation, which went into effect beginning with SJSU’s incoming class of students this semester.
The requirement is a result of a legislative bill in California, AB 1460, which was passed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Aug. 17, 2020, according to an Aug. 18, 2020 CalMatters article.
CalMatters is a nonprofit news organization for California politics, according to its website.
The bill mandates that starting in the 2021-22 academic year, the 23 CSU campuses are required to provide ethnic studies courses, beginning for students finishing their degrees in the 2024-25 academic year, according to the CalMatters article.
Ethnic studies fulfills the CSU’s new general education “Area F” requirement, according to the CSU Policy website.
Boyce said SJSU currently offers “eight unique ethnic studies courses in general education,” which include: Introduction to Asian American Studies; Asian American Media Representations and Popular Culture; The Humanities in African American Culture; The Black Civil Rights Movements; Race, Sport, Activism & Social Movements; The Aesthetics of Hip-Hop; Introduction to Chicana and Chicano Studies; and Race and Ethnicity in Public Space.
Boyce said next semester the university plans to offer 35 sections of ethnic studies courses and projects 100 sections in the following academic year, 50 of which are expected to be offered in the Fall 2022 semester and 50 in the Spring 2023 semester.
Marcos Pizarro, SJSU Chicanx Studies professor, said the purpose of implementing ethnic studies is beyond covering mandated education as it is intended to “link the hearts and minds of students.”
“Ethnic studies is not just covering content [in classrooms],” Pizarro said. “It's about embodying commitments to the holistic wellbeing of students, families and communities of color.”
He said well-trained ethnic studies teachers who are committed to the discipline will help students become engaged in schools.
“[The requirement] is also to build courses that are grounded in the communities in which they exist and that center the assets, strengths, resources and power of those communities,” Pizarro said.
Tapia said ethnic studies classes allowed her to feel welcomed in educational spaces.
“Ethnic studies have allowed me to see how powerful, knowledgeable and amazing our communities are to the contributions to the making of America,” she said.
Tapia also said learning about her culture’s history has provided her with a sense of empowerment.
“We always learn about white history. We never learn about our own history,” she said. “Being able to have that space where we talk about our own strengths and everything that we [bring] to the table provides me with empowerment.”
