RACE MATTERS at the University of Virginia. Despite the University's lingering reputation as a bastion of white male conservatism, debates thrive on topics ranging from affirmative action to self-segregation. New students learn soon after their arrival where they are "supposed" to go, both socially and academically. Most discussion has centered on the former: the Black Bus Stop, the Asian house at Hereford Residential College, the white-dominated Lawn.
Perhaps the small routines of everyday life, such as eating in the dining halls, should not be a daily protest against self-segregation. We need our spaces of comfort, where we are certain of being understood by people of similar background and experience. At the same time, comfort and certainty do not belong among the criteria for choosing classes. Students should be looking for precisely the opposite, for topics that stir discomfort and uncertainty. Even more disturbing than social race divisions, therefore, is academic self-segregation. In our attention to separatism at parties, we have ignored it in our classrooms.
Incoming first years are deciding what to take this fall. Some classes, being required, necessitate little thought. The basic classes in math and physical sciences are reasonably integrated. One begins to see a greater divide, however, when looking at the enrollment in literature, languages, history and social sciences. Even with the draw of a famous professor, NAACP chairman Julian Bond's "History of the Civil Rights Movement" class is, by my observations, disproportionately black. Some might consider this appropriate; black students are learning the history of their people. But the rest of us need to learn it as well.
The University has attempted to encourage students to build a curriculum that reflects the diversity of the school itself. First years can take Bond in his "The '60s in Black and White," or enroll in classes such as "The Cross Cultural Experience," "The Diversity Advantage," and "Anglos and Latinos." Taught by some of the University's best professors, all of these University Seminars (or USEMs) are offered only to first year students and are very discussion-oriented.
We must decide for ourselves, however, whether we're interested in engaging new ideas, both from books and from each other. The University does not require all students to take a course that focuses on differing experiences. M. Rick Turner, Dean of African-American Affairs, thinks the lack of such a requirement is a mistake. In an interview, he said, "We haven't come to grips with the fact that a multicultural education is important. Unless you have a course that everyone has to take, people will leave here as ignorant as they were when they came."
Students might protest that we already have to take a class that isn't about dead white males. The non-Western perspectives requirement is intended to broaden students' exposure to other cultures and is often fulfilled with classes on Asia, Africa or the Middle East. This has its merits, but a 200-person lecture course on ancient Chinese history excites few undergraduates. Though the professor may dispense interesting information, it will not be particularly useful for critical thinking on contemporary American issues, and this will be reflected in the discussion sections. Fortunate is the rare teaching assistant who can incite a raging debate about whether the Shang or Zhou dynasty was better for the Chinese people who lived before Christ.
Moreover, only students in the College of Arts and Sciences have the non-Western perspectives requirement. Turner said, "Students need to be advised to expose themselves to different classes that will challenge them to expand their thinking." With the heavy loads that these schools demand, a requirement that apparently has nothing to do with making the student a better engineer, architect, nurse or businessperson may seem pointless. But Engineering, Architecture, Nursing and Commerce School students should take classes that will develop them as people, not just as employees-to-be.
Unfortunately, the University has not followed the lead of schools such as Brown University in designating specific courses as including American Minority Perspectives in the College of Arts and Sciences. However, we don't have to wander around blindly looking for that elusive diversity course. As Turner noted, "Association deans can tell you who to take. They have a wealth of knowledge that students don't take advantage of."
We're paying thousands of dollars to attend one of the best schools in the nation. The University has a lot to offer and in taking the shortest route to graduation we cheat ourselves of the excellent education we deserve. The University must prepare us not just to get a job, but to be intellectually involved in the pressing issues of our country. When laying out the four-year plan, whether as English or chemical engineering majors, students should ask themselves "What matters to me besides getting a degree?"
(Pallavi Guniganti is a Cavalier Daily columnist. She can be reached at pguniganti@cavalierdaily.com.)