This coming fall semester, the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity will welcome some of its newest ethnically based classes. For the first time, university courses will be dedicated to understanding the Latino/a community and its origins in the United States, paying some long overdue respect to an important piece of our muddled history.
I remember being young and learning about the Egyptian pyramids in our elementary school history classes and then getting a little older and wondering why no one had ever mentioned the Aztec ones. I remember using the terms “America” and “United States” interchangeably, and then being slightly awed when it hit me that there are two sizable continents with the same name and – surprise – we weren’t the only country inside them.
Times are changing now, and we’re finally acknowledging that in reality, a “typical American” doesn’t even exist. It’s ironic we had so much trouble coming to that conclusion, considering we attribute so much of our success as a nation to our ability to blend so many different cultures together.
In the same way, the typical Latino doesn’t exist, either. The new minor program through the consortium will focus on the study of the somewhat broad topic of “Latinidades,” or the Latin identity. In the same way that our country itself can’t be defined by a single race, creed or orientation, the Latino community is, in itself, equally multifaceted, and these courses will make an attempt to find some common ground among the variations.
Of course, the university already offers similar courses through the Latin American Studies Center, but these focus on the Latin American countries themselves, whereas the new consortium classes will highlight the Latino community from a U.S. perspective.
Of course, it seems a little counterintuitive that the two programs would reside in different departments, considering they’re so intricately linked. It seems to make sense that they’d both belong in the Department of Spanish Languages and Literatures, and, at face value, it’s a wonder that the creation of these new classes wasn’t spearheaded by those who know the Latino community best. Then again, lack of desire probably has less to do with the late action than lack of funding, not just in Spanish but in many of the humanities programs. Just a thought.
One of the side effects of not being affiliated with the Spanish department is that the classes will most likely be taught in English, although it’s possible that options for Spanish discussion sections or assignments may be available. From my experience, using and practicing the language is half the value of a foreign studies class.
However, offering the classes in English may actually end up a positive aspect because it makes them more “elastic” and accessible to the average student, according to Ana RodrÃguez, a professor in the Spanish department and a voice in the organization of the new classes.
So basically, that means now the average student has no excuse for not at least giving classes like this a try, so keep your eyes peeled. The classes will be available on Testudo soon. Without continuously exposing different students to new perspectives, we’ll never fully shake that “typical American” way of thinking.
That said, it’s a bit of a shame that, despite the significant Latino population in our immediate area, the university is the first and currently the only one in the region to really acknowledge them. Latino and chicano-based classes have been a regular part of the curriculum of California universities, such as the one in Santa Cruz, since the ’60s.
Nonetheless, this is just a step on a longer journey. Concentrations such as African American Studies, Asian American Studies and Women’s Studies strive to recognize those who might have slipped through the cracks had the “typical American” stereotype actually stuck. Just as prominent in today’s society is the Latino population, and our educational institutions, from elementary school through universities like our own, need to continue addressing that.
Laura Caputo is a senior physiology and neurobiology and Spanish major. She can be reached at elsie@umd.edu.
