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UCR: Conference hopes to refocus ethnic studies

March 11, 2011

By MARK MUCKENFUSS

It sounded like a throwback to the 1960s.

"We're trying to incite a kind of intellectual rebellion," said Dylan Rodriguez.

The UC Riverside professor and chairman of ethnic studies sounded Jerry Rubinesque, tossing out phrases like "widespread scholarly rebellion" and "intellectual insurrection."

Rodriguez was one of the main organizers of an ethnic studies conference that ends a three-day schedule today at UCR. The conference drew 1,200 participants from across the country, along with some international attendees.

Sarita See, an American studies and English professor at the University of Michigan was another major organizer, and said the conference is just a beginning.

"We're going to launch a new scholarly association, the Critical Ethnic Studies Association," See said.

Plans are to use papers presented at the conference -- the topics included colonialism, genocide and white supremacy -- to establish a new scholarly journal.

Most ethnic studies programs reflect an affirmative action based tokenism, focused on making sure that each ethnic group is represented, See said. That model is too limiting, she said.

"What I see us doing is creating an alternative space," she said. "How can the university become a more democratic place? That for me is what this is about."

Rodriguez said he hopes this new effort will generate more political discourse.

"The field of ethnic studies comes directly out of the movement for radical change and social justice," Rodriguez said, referring to the Civil Rights Movement.

He wants to see issues like the racial inequality in prison populations addressed more actively.

Much of the conference has been focused on genocide. But the genocide being addressed more often is the social genocide that occurs from a disproportionate amount of power between ethnic groups.

"It's an attempt to construct a language around the subject of racial genocide," Rodriguez said. "The UN has asserted a monopoly on the meaning of the word."

Racial colonialism, land displacement and legal inequality all lead to marginalization and oppression of certain ethnic groups, he said.

Susan Areeckal, a fourth-year student at UCR majoring in international affairs and history, said the conference was a help to her.

"I got to learn more about the South Asian people, how we were colonized," Areeckal said. "I don't have access to the history of my people through the regular curriculum. What I'll take away is knowledge. I'll be more aware."


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