The Ethnic Studies Program has a new director who plans to bring a fresh perspective to the department.
Dennis Galvan, an associate professor in the International Studies Program and the Political Science Department, officially began his duties at the beginning of fall term.
Galvan said he’s not exactly sure how he ended up in his position.
“All of sudden, there was a hole that needed to be filled,” Galvan said.
Galvan replaced English professor Shari Huhndorf, whose term as director came to a close in July. He said he may not have been the first choice for the job. But with two established professors in the program leaving the department — including Matt Garcia, who was hired on at Brown University — Galvan said the University sought out “a friend of the program.”
Although the Ethnic Studies Program focuses primarily on the construction and context of ethnicity in the United States, Galvan said he hopes to expand it by incorporating international concepts and also connect his international research of different cultures with that of other researchers already in the program.
Galvan’s involvement with international studies started when research for an undergraduate thesis project gave him his first taste of different cultures. He chose to center his travels and research in West Africa after deciding against Latin American because he felt it would have been like “cheating” because his father is from Argentina.
“I was always kind of curious about the world outside the U.S. and different cultures,” he said.
Galvan said he thinks his past research in West Africa and Indonesia, as well as his current research in Senegal, will integrate well into the program because it is important to compare other countries with large ethnic populations to the ethnic groups in the United States.
“A lot of times, ethnic studies has mostly focused on the experiences of ethnic groups in the U.S., but as globalization changes the world, groups aren’t isolated anymore,” he said. “We need to think of ethnic groups in the U.S. in a global context.”
Ethnic Studies Program office coordinator Donella-Elizabeth Alston said she has enjoyed working with Galvan, and she expects to see a few changes in the program this year.
“I think maybe he sees connections a little bit differently,” she said. “I think there might be more integration with international studies, perhaps.”
Assistant visiting professor Fiona Ngô said even though Galvan stepped in at the last minute as director, he has kept the program vital on campus.
“Dennis is a really wonderful administrator,” she said. “He really knows what he wants to do with the program.”
Along with integrating international perspectives into the program, Galvan has other goals, including increasing the number of majors in the program and the number of non-majors who take ethnic studies classes. He said he also hopes to expand the number of ethnic studies courses and continue to bring in speakers and faculty.
Galvan said he also intends to continue working on the main goal of the program, which is to fight against discrimination and injustices based on skin color.
“One of the goals of the Ethnic Studies Program is to use knowledge and understanding to break down stereotypes,” he said.
In the mean time, Galvan said he manages to balance the classes he teaches in both of his original departments with his new responsibilities as director.
“I wear different hats a lot, and I juggle them,” he said.