The Strategic Visioning process has named “integrated learning” as a broad framework for Ithaca College’s future. President Tom Rochon has asked faculty and students to imbue this concept with meaning and suggestions for implementation. As a faculty member of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity, I thought I would respond to that call and make some proposals related to what I think is the central question facing IC: what do we want to build?

The Association of American Colleges and Universities calls for reforms that will prepare students to become “integrative thinkers and doers.” This entails moving away from traditional models based on segmented disciplines. Instead, it moves curricula toward interdisciplinary learning, the application of knowledge to real-world engagements and the acquisition of skills through hands-on training.

Educational reforms for “integrative learning” try to align undergraduate liberal arts education with new social and economic conditions, including fast-paced changes in technology and science, the dynamism of the marketplace, global interdependencies and the persistence of radical inequalities.

The college already implements models for “integrated curricula and learning” in the Division of International and Interdisciplinary Studies. DIIS employs multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches in all of its courses, majors and minors and is at the forefront of giving students the opportunity to apply their skills in “real-world” scenarios. One proposal might be to strengthen and expand DIIS programs by creating synergistic alliances with other schools and disciplines.

Part of DIIS, the CSCRE is the only academic unit on campus devoted exclusively to teaching curricula related to race and ethnicity and to bringing discussions to the broader community. In a world that is increasingly impacted by cultural globalization, wars and conflicts, economic interdependency and inequality, this curriculum is particularly urgent and necessary.

Or, so one would think. It is remarkable that the priorities outlined by the strategic visioning process omitted racial and ethnic representational diversity and curricula entirely. Two historical problems are implied in this. First is the false impression that institutions no longer need to be proactive in redressing the problem of racial representation and inequality in higher education. A quick overview of the racial and ethnic makeup of the college indicates that the recruitment and retention of African, Latino, Asian and Native American people at all institutional levels should remain a priority if equality in employment and education is to be reached.

The second problem is the general belief that curricula engaging race and ethnicity are “marginal special interests.” On the contrary, CSCRE courses teach interpretive approaches that take into

account people’s “integrated” identities and experiences. Students learn how identities are constituted through race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, nationality and religion. The relationship between history, social policies, culture and ideology is explored to understand how interlocking structures work to produce both oppression and resistance.

 Given that the economic crisis necessitates institutional cuts, the most important task before us is to name what we want to build according to a specific set of values. If we are to create an educational setting that truly helps students become “integrative thinkers and doers” working toward equality then we must: one, declare racial and ethnic curricula and representational diversity as a value, and two, institutionally and financially support that value.

Paula Ioanide is an assistant professor for CSCRE. E-mail her at pioanide@ithaca.edu.