In 1996, Ronald Takaki, head of the Ethnic Studies department at the University of California–Berkeley, came to Macalester to speak with faculty interested in constructing a similar program here. The African American Studies and Contemporary North American Studies (CNAS) programs were established following the discussions in which he was involved.

Takaki returned to Macalester this week to give a lecture on the role of multiculturalism in academics. He is widely regarded as the founder of contemporary ethnic and racial studies programs, and is the author of multiple books, including Strangers from a Different Shore and A Different Mirror.

Once again, his visit coincided with a momentous occasion for Macalester's relationship with ethnic studies. Next month, a proposal that would combine African American Studies and CNAS to form American Studies will go to the faculty for a vote.

Takaki's lecture was the keynote speech for Asian Pacific Heritage Month, and was sponsored by the Asian Students Association.

CNAS Professor Karin Aguilar San Juan introduced the speaker. "His commitment to multiculturalism helped me overcome my distaste for academia," she said.

"I brought with me the weather of California," Takaki told the substantial crowd that had come inside from the sunny Tuesday afternoon and assembled in the Hill Ballroom of Kagin Commons.

"I might look like a professor," he said, pointing to his "silver mane." He went on to recount an adolescence spent surfing in Hawaii. "I was not academically inclined," he said.

A religion teacher with a Ph.D. became a role model for Takaki, who eventually coalesced to the teacher's suggestion that he attend a college in Ohio. He said that instance demonstrates "the importance of having teachers that look like you."

At the College of Wooster, Takaki for the first time found himself as a minority. "I was asked questions like 'How long have you been in this country?' and 'How did you learn English?'" he said. "Questions like that underlie the assumption that you don't look American. I felt like I did not belong."

Takaki critiqued the "master narrative" of American history.

"It is a powerful, pervasive but also mistaken story that this country was settled by European immigrants," he said. "It has led to the disposession of the original peoples, the enslavement of Africans, the exclusion of Chinese, the internment of Japanese, and to hate crimes against Muslims since 9/11."

He said that educators today understand the need to challenge that narrative and provide a multicultural perspective. Now, he said, the question is how to do it.

Takaki stressed the need for comparison when studying ethnic and racial groups, and gave a "lecture within a lecture" to demonstrate how he, as a historian, approaches the study of diversity.

Encouraging the audience to be "active listeners," he compared the story of Irish and Chinese immigration to the United States in the 19th century, focusing on the experience of women.

He said that Macalester's approach needed to follow such a comparative model, and urged faculty and students to seize the ongoing changes in the academic structure as an opportunity.

"The college is at a turning point in its history," he said. "You will have a new American Studies department with a new Dean."

According to History Professor David Itzkowitz, who Chairs the Educational Policy and Governance Committee (EPAG), a proposal creating the new interdisciplinary department has preliminarily passed in that committee and will be sent to the faculty for approval in May.

The move is responsive to the curriculum changes outlined by EPAG and approved by the faculty in February. The revised academic structure required that all interdisciplinary programs petition for departmental status.

Those programs not elevated to departmental status will not be able to offer their own courses and will not be entitled to any allocations requests nor financial or personnel resources.

"We didn't have much of a choice," San Juan said of the formation of the

American Studies program. Faculty from both African American Studies and Comparative North American Studies formed a committee several months ago to cope with the imposed changes.

As a department, American Studies will offer a major. Currently, each program only offers a minor. Next year, San Juan and Political Science professor Duchess Harris will be the only tenure-track faculty.

San Juan added that the two programs had been created simultaneously but were kept distinct for fear that African American Studies would be "swallowed up" by other ethnic studies.

She said that the American Studies major would offer an emphasis in African American studies and another in Comparative Race studies.

"Takaki's concept of the comparative nature [of ethnic studies] is very important for us," San Juan said. "This is a moment we've been waiting a long, long time for."

Harris will be the interim chair of the department next year. She will also teach the Intro to American Studies course that, according to San Juan will be developed over the summer along with other details of the program.

She added that the Dean position (whose title is still being negotiated) would chair the department, but will more importantly be responsible for overseeing the broader place of multicultural studies in the college.

"We want a high level scholar, well respected in their field, to help the college in all disciplines understand how race informs their lives," San Juan said. "No discipline should be untouched."

She explained that, collectively, CNAS and African American Studies provide around seventy percent of the courses that fulfill the domestic diversity requirement.

"We have a whole set of battles in front of us," she said.