The recently formed Student Movement for Change announced today that it is pushing forward with its proposal to create an academic requirement highlighting cultural diversity in the United States.
The American Cultural Analysis Requirement was developed jointly between the SMC and the Asian-American Studies Program Undergraduate Advisory Board. The new requirement seeks to foster awareness of what proponents called the "alternate history" of American minorities.
"A proposal like ACAR is long overdue," said College junior and SMC member Jesse Salazar, "so the University can ... form a more representative and socially conscious undergraduate experience."
The proposal was modeled on the quantitative data analysis requirement in the College of Arts and Sciences. Advisory board members drew up a tentative list of courses that might fulfill the new requirement.
A number of other prestigious colleges -- including the majority of University of California campuses -- already have a similar requirement in place.
Proponents at Penn have said that such courses could be double-counted towards degree or major requisites. Classes would address issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or class in American society.
Members of the SMC and the Unity Coalition have been meeting with faculty and student organizations, seeking feedback.
The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education is one of the group that has been approached about the proposal.
"We are in the research stage," said SCUE Chairwoman Samantha Springer, a College sophomore. "We are learning about ACAR and all the different proposals that are floating around."
Springer declined to comment on the possibility of a SCUE endorsement of the proposed cultural diversity requirement.
"It's still in a tentative stage," Salazar said. "We are taking it to faculty members and student organizations to make sure that it is truly living up to what it aspires to be."
Engineering senior Julia Lee, an SMC member, said the purpose of the new requirement was to widen horizons.
"I hope to see students become more aware about things they may not have experienced prior to coming to Penn," she said. "I hope that every student is able to take that and translate that to awareness" in the real world.
The University has actively promoted intercultural awareness through sponsorship of on-campus discussions about minority issues.
However, Engineering senior Dana Nakano -- a member of both the SMC and the Asian-American Studies Advisory Board -- said that by their nature, these types of discussions consistently draw only a limited number of students.
"There is no way that the University can force any of the students to attend these extracurricular events," he wrote in an e-mail interview. "Academics, however, is an arena in which the University can make a commitment to diversity."
Several SMC members said that while their current focus is to implement the ACAR in the College, their ultimate goal is to apply the American Cultural Analysis Requirement to all undergraduate schools.
