CAMPUS
THEORIZING FROM THE FLESH: EXAMINING ETHNIC STUDIES AT TUFTS By Paola Ruiz and Emara Saez
O
n March 28, 1969, the Tufts Observer published a story on the sit-ins, strikes, occupations of buildings, and rallies that were a part of the struggle for ethnic studies at a variety of universities across the US. At the time, students noted the need for university reform at Tufts, including the implementation of ethnic studies into the curricula. However, it took 45 years for these demands to be met through the creation of the Department of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora (RCD) Studies. The RCD department has served as the cornerstone of the university’s efforts to promote “social justice and cultural sovereignty” as the curricular home for discussions on contemporary and historical social inequalities. However, after examining
18 TUFTS OBSERVER MARCH 14, 2022
the state of the curriculum in the area of ethnic studies, students have questioned the sincerity of Tufts’ statements. There are several interdisciplinary tracks within the RCD department, including 3 majors: Africana Studies; American Studies; and Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora Studies. There are also 5 minors: Africana Studies; Asian American Studies; Latinx Studies; Colonialism Studies; and Native American and Indigenous Studies. Despite the wide scope of the department’s curriculum, there are only 12 full-time faculty within the department. The RCD department chooses to “theorize from the flesh,” a phrase originally coined by Chicana feminists that has since been adopted by scholars of ethnic studies. This intellectual
framework conjoins theory and practice through an embodied politic of resistance that centers marginalized identities and history in discussion. For many students, classes within the RCD department are the only ones at Tufts that have promoted this framework of thinking. Max Whaley, a senior double majoring in American Studies and Environmental Studies, believes the diverse set of classes offered by the RCD department challenges the standard forms of knowledge production. “[The RCD department] counters the rest of the university and how things are taught… The classes I’ve taken in RCD have definitely made me think a lot more critically about my other major—
