Faculty to Vote on AAL Reform

A group of students who have identified themselves as Midd Included, an organization centered on creating a more inclusive environment at the College, has drafted a bill to reform the Cultures and Civilizations distribution requirement, specifically the African, Asia, and Latin American (AAL) cultures requirement.

As it stands now, College distribution requirements mandate that every student take a North American culture class, a European culture class, a comparative cultures class, and then choose one class within the AAL category. Midd Included has drafted a bill to reform this requirement so that students are still required take a North American and a comparative class, but can then choose two classes within the Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Middle East and Oceania categories. They argue that the current system places undue emphasis and importance on European cultures.

“I think this gets swept under the rug by the dominant hegemony here, that ‘Europe is great’ and you don’t hear from the people that are like ‘actually this is really offensive and my heritage is lumped into this category,” said SGA President Rachel Liddell ’15.

Daniela Barajas ’14.5, co-founder of Midd Included spoke about the goals of the group and emphasized that AAL reform is the first of many steps the group hopes to take.

“Last semester there were so many talks on race, ethnicity and gender and then we all go our separate ways and nothing ever really changes,” Barajas said. “We felt the need to do something that would allow us as a community to make concrete changes and think about ways that we can improve our institution and to begin transitioning our discussions into proposals and paper.”

“Middlebury prides itself on being a global institution,” Barajas continued. “We promote global education and studying abroad. We say that we want students to be exposed to different cultures and institutions, and yet our current system does not reflect those values.”

The group has made tangible progress in bringing the bill to administrative attention, including meeting with Dean of Faculty Andi Lloyd and Dean of Curriculum Bob Cluss. Discussion surrounding the bill, however, will be pushed to the next academic year.

Lloyd said the Educational Affairs Committee (EAC) was only in the early stages of considering the idea.

"Members of EAC began re-examining the distribution requirements, including the cultures and civilizations requirements, earlier this spring, following the passage of learning goals and the vote on the summer study proposal," she wrote in an email. "The EAC is in the early stages of this discussion and has not yet formulated any concrete policy proposals — they are very much in thinking and listening mode. This discussion of distribution requirements will therefore continue in the fall, as one of the committee’s primary agenda items.”

In the fall, the EAC will meet on this issue, likely working with the student EAC to draft a bill, taking into consideration what Midd Included has proposed. The legislation will then be introduced by the EAC at a faculty meeting, followed by a few meetings of discussion where faculty members can propose any amendments, and then a final meeting where they will vote.

“Curriculum changes should be taken very seriously and there should be friction involved,” Liddell said. “So while I understand the call for reform and the push to have something changed as soon as possible and I agree with it, I also respect the fact that the faculty want to take their time and make a considerate decision.”

Though many agree that some version of AAL reform needs to occur, the direction this form should take is still being debated. The decision to strike the European requirement, but keep the North American requirement has been met with several reactions.

“One argument [Midd Included] made was that we don’t need [to study] Europe, because everything is already done from a Eurocentric perspective at Middlebury College,” Max Kagan ’14 said. “If you take a science class, it’s implicitly Eurocentric, which is probably true, but I think that’s an argument towards why you do need to study Europe.”

“If you read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, you can’t understand those pieces in isolation,” Kagan continued. “You have to go back and look at people like John Locke and Rousseau and their coming from Europe. The idea that you could have graduated without having studied anything related to Europe is a little problematic.”

While on the other side of the spectrum, some students think that all geographic regions should be weighted equally.

“Midd Included received a lot of feedback from professors that North America needs to be required,” Liddell added. “Personally, I would be more liberal and say who says you have to study North America, but I understand both perspectives and if that helps it get through the faculty then its worth it.”

Midd Included and Liddell have both been forthcoming about some of the challenges they face in order to get the faculty to pass the bill, because of some of the changes the bill may require. The most relevant of those concerns is the idea that creation of more geographic regions, specifically Oceania, would require the creation of classes and hiring of professors, an investment the College may not be ready to make.

“I imagine there might be some concern or resistance in terms of the human capital that some faculty members might think is required to make this change,” said Dean of the College  Shirley Collado. “But it’s the right thing to do for the college so I am hoping we can be creative and thoughtful and we’ve done that in a variety of ways so why not do it for this”

Despite these potential setbacks, members of Midd Included remain steadfast in their determination to push the bill through.

“We are at a crucial phase right now where we are reaching out to faculty because they are ultimately the ones who vote on it,” said Adriana. “We are trying to get their support and see where they stand.”

Dean of Curriculum Bob Cluss emphasized that requirements are merely used to guide students through the curriculum and to encourage them to take classes they normally wouldn’t.

“A transcript is a personal work of art of your journey through the liberal arts education. Whether it has certain tags on it or not, it’s your story. Sell it when you take your next step. It’s part of who you are. So, create a masterpiece. It’s possible to do here.”

But like most issues on campus, this may mean a lot to a certain group of students and mean very little to others.

“This is why students are apathetic here,” Lauren Berestecky ’17 said. “Every minute issue is looked at and talked about to the point that we don’t care about the important things.”

While, Midd Included continues to emphasize how important this, beyond personal reasons.

“This is not a group of kids who feel left out,” Adriana Oritz-Burnham ’17 said. “I’ve heard whispers about that sentiment. It’s more than that. It’s crucial for people to see their own cultures and traditions represented in the place where they are learning and it also will produce more well-rounded students.”

The group will meet with President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz on the issue.