With reforms to the Core Curriculum’s Major Cultures requirement in the offing, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese—which less than three semesters ago transformed Columbia’s Spanish-language-focused major—is once again expressing an interest in amending the department’s course offerings to complement whatever new requirements emerge.
The potential reforms, to be undertaken in light of the changes to the Major Cultures requirement made during the hunger strike, show the department’s resolve to consult with other disciplines within the University to yield something “concrete and interesting,” Department Chair Carlos Alonso said.
“We have been contributing very heavily to Major Cultures, and will participate in whatever initiative put in place or put into practice,” Alonso said, pointing to the discussion in which he believes a number of departments will be partaking.
The Hispanic studies major, created last year, combined three majors—Spanish language and literature, Hispanic studies, and Latin American studies—into one curriculum that would enable students to study both Spain and Latin America in tandem. The Committee on Instruction helped to craft a course load based on studying culture through the lens of literature and history as opposed to literature exclusively.
“You cannot understand Latin America without Spain, Spain without its imperial and colonial past,” Alonso said, adding that of the students who had already declared one of the three majors in the department, about two-thirds decided to switch to Hispanic studies.
Alonso said the Hispanic studies program has come a long way since its inception. In fact, when it debuted, the Hispanic studies with specialization track did not even show up on students’ transcripts.
The department’s link to the Latino studies program, which addresses the experience of Hispanic Americans, is perhaps the strongest factor compelling it to adjust to the changes brought about by the hunger strike, which also included additional hirings within ethnic studies programs. A member of the advisory board of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, which houses all undergraduate ethnic studies programs, Alonso credits the center’s director, Claudio Lomnitz, for the establishment of programs concerning the American experience of certain “marginalized” groups.
“CSER is now recognizing that you cannot study the experience of certain groups without realizing them in the larger global context,” Alonso said, referring to the shift of the Latino studies program, which is housed in CSER, from a “boutique item to a much more comprehensive presence in the curriculum.”
This changing educational philosophy is not restricted to Columbia’s course offerings. Barnard’s Department of Spanish and Latin American cultures has pursued a similar path regarding its program’s focus. Major Nancy Chen, BC ’08, commended the geographical and ethnic diversity reflected by the new courses. The two foundational survey courses “take a more holistic approach,” she said. Alonso acknowledged the “constant crossing of boundaries” between the two departments that would allow reforms in one to sound loudly in the other.
The Hispanic studies program is not the only department to have diversified its course offerings. According to Alonso, the English, French, and German departments have also transitioned from stressing studies of literature to emphasizing studies of culture through literary media.
“Spain and Latin America are halfway between a traditional empire and a traditional colonial situation,” Alonso said. Regarding his hopes for the department’s future, he added, “That strangeness and imperfection of Hispanic culture will make the department be at the center of any new developments in the curriculum at Columbia.”
Scott Levi can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.