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Minority Scholars Committee
Report from the Minority Scholars’ Committee 2005
At the 2004 Annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, the following Minority Scholars committee were present: Nicole R. Fleetwood, Robert Hayashi, Sanda Lwin, Curtis Marez. The Committee is looking forward to convening again the 2005 Annual meeting in Washington, DC where we will introduce our newest members, John Streamas, Harrod J. Suarez, University of Minnesota (June 2008) and Kyla W. Tompkins. The annual meeting provides an opportunity for the Minority Scholars’ Committee to establish its goals for the year, to continue to develop the professional and personal relationships of its members, and to maintain the institutional memory of the MSC’s accomplishments.
One of the main priorities on our agenda is to revisit the past and present goals of the MSC and to strategize for the future.
The committee continues to prioritize the important issue of promoting mentorship for minority scholars. We discussed the possibility of initiating an award (to be given at an upcoming convention) that would honor such mentors. Inspired by the MSC’s establishment of the Laura Romero Book Award, we hope that the founding of such this new award would be an opportunity for people honor and share knowledge about good mentorship and also to recognize the important mentoring and community building work senior minority scholars do in addition scholarship and publications. We also seek to involve more senior scholars in the work of the Minority Scholars Committee. The committee has been in conversation with John Stephens who has informed us about the official process required to establish such an award. At the 2005 meeting we will discuss in greater detail the possibility of implementing such an award.
We also discussed sponsoring panels on topics important to minority scholars and scholarship. Topics included practical issues related to the profession, as well as intellectual and political issues (for example, Curtis Marez suggested a panel on citizenship and voting rights). We hope to implement these plans at the 2005 meetings and also to re-establish liaisons with the Women’s Committee and the Ethnic Studies Committee as in year’s past.
Over the past few years, there has been some concern expressed that the committee would benefit from the presence of some senior (associate level and up) members as at present, the committee is run mostly by junior faculty who are already working hard for tenure and their own publications. As well, at the 2004 meeting, a graduate student attended our meeting on her own initiative and raised a number of important issues regarding mentoring for graduate students of color. The committee raised the question of how to integrate graduate student concerns into the MSC’s mission and also raised the possibility of establishing an official minority graduate student representative.
Over the summer, the committee discussed the possibility of gathering for a retreat. Due to the geographical diversity and schedules of the members the committee was unable to ultimately coordinate such an event in August. However, several members of the committee still feels strongly that there is a need for an additional meeting outside of the allotted time at the Annual ASA meeting and we hope to plan ahead for a retreat in 2006.
At the upcoming annual meeting, we plan to reflect upon the role of the MSC within the ASA. Like our predecessors, we feel there is a need for the MSC to continue its commitment to the following objectives (not ranked in priority): advocating for equitable practices in the hiring, retention, tenure, and promotion of minority scholars in the profession; enhancing the professional development of minority scholars in the ASA by sponsoring workshops and fostering mentorship; continuing to promote minority scholarship within the ASA and the academy; and, providing spaces for critical analysis of pressing political issues from the perspective of minority scholars within the ASA.
Respectfully submitted,
Sanda Mayzaw Lwin, Chair
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