CAS Fight Close to Victory
BY ARIELLA COHEN

As the semester rushes to a close, the Comparative American Studies Program likewise rushes toward completion. Over the last week both a formal proposal and a course outline have been drafted in preparation for program submission in the fall. Although faculty and students are still negotiating details, the program proposal is projected to pass.
To many students and faculty the CAS program will focus a much-needed magnifying lens on areas often skirted in academia. CAS intends to foster deeper analysis of American society by looking at intersections of race, class, gender and sexuality through an interdisciplinary approach. 
According to the ad-hoc Committee on CAS’s letter of intent the goals of CAS are, “To educate more deeply and provide them with the means of reflecting upon and interacting across the typical boundaries of identity that divide American society (and to some extent Oberlin College itself).” 
Veering from more traditional approaches to ethnic studies, CAS is the first such comparative program in any American university. While some worry that the multiple foci of CAS will dull the thrust of the traditionally radical field, the program’s creators maintain that the comparative approach was chosen specifically as a way to broaden understanding of how specific events and trajectories play into a changing America. 
“Comparative American Studies meets the need for an interdisciplinary program which addresses and compares the societies, movements, communities and identities of minorities. So while there is a political element in this what we are after is the quite broad and rich intellectual studies done in Latina/o studies, African American, Asian American studies, Queer and LGBT Studies. Using a comparative approach will further enrich students of these areas,” Sociology professor and member of the ad-hoc faculty committee Bill Norris said. 

Junior Grace Han is one of six members of the CAS Core Student Committee. Although Han is a history major, most of the requirements in her U.S. Ethnic concentration have been filled in either cross-referenced African American Studies classes, or by Assistant Professor of History Moon Ho Jung’s courses. 
While CAS hopes to supplement already-existing offerings with the addition of one professor specializing in Queer Studies and another in Latina/o Studies primarily it plans to build on current programs. Consequently, Jung’s departure raises fears for CAS planners. His Asian American History classes form a cornerstone of the CAS program. 
“The Administration brings in visiting professors and assistant professors but this approach does not do justice to a whole field of study. It’s surprising that we don’t have this program because its exactly what we, as a progressive, cutting-edge school preach, and it’s telling that we don’t have it. CAS has a lot of potential but it needs the College’s support to grow,” Han said. 
CAS comes out of a 30 year-long student struggle to bring Asian American Studies, Queer Studies and Latino/a Studies to Oberlin’s campus. Throughout the last few decades, several student groups have succeeded in their fight for recognition, earning programs such as African American Studies and Women’s Studies while other groups continue to agitate for inclusion through CAS. 
Ethnic Studies itself is widely held as one of the most critical outgrowths of the 1960s Asian American “Yellow” movement. In its first and most radical incarnation at San Francisco State University, Asian American studies transformed the structure of academia by demanding the right to study topics relevant to their own non-Western culture and heritage. Following that original SFSU model, ethnic studies has traditionally functioned as a student initiated, singularly focused department. 
“I have taught in white institutions for many years so coming up to battles like this does not surprise me. Patriarchy, and all its ugly forms play out in faculty meetings — and in parking lots. Students need to be leading [in the fight for Ethnic Studies], making the demands. That’s how African American Studies came out. Faculty intervention is not a problem if students remain vigilant,” African American Studies Assistant Professor Pam Brooks said.
Some students continue to worry that the overtly political tone of Ethnic Studies may be lost in CAS’s faculty-constructed comparative approach. “Ethnic Studies never passed here but for the most part CAS is well supported. It is safer than Ethnic Studies or Queer Studies — easier financially and politically. Because of that there is concern that it will lose some of the radical edge that Ethnic Studies had in the past,” Han said. 

Although these fears have been expressed the program’s anticipated arrival does not appear to be endangered. “Many needed faculty and curricular resources for an American Cultures program are already in place. Once the program is approved, which I hope will be early next fall, we will begin the work of defining additional positions and recruiting faculty. I think that this strong interdisciplinary program that draws from many areas of the curriculum is a better way to establish Comparative American Studies than an old-fashioned academic department,” College President Nancy Dye said.