Mission Statement
The American Ethnic Studies Program at Wake Forest University is a multicultural and multiracial research and teaching unit, dedicated to providing knowledge in the study of race, class, gender and ethnicity. Through the programs’ curricula focus on several major ethnic groups including, African American, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and Chicanos, students learn interdisciplinary, ethnic-specific, and comparative concepts, theories, and methods of inquiry, which shape the cultural, literary, social, historical, economic, and political character of selected American ethnic communities.
Governance Structure & Administrative Staff
Director
The Director of the American Ethnic Studies program serves as the administrative head of the program. He/she holds the Distinguished Rubin Chair of American Ethnic Studies. In consultation with the governance/advisory board he/she is responsible for the academic content of the program (course selection, curriculum development, faculty selection), supervises the American Ethnic Studies office, coordinates the bi-annual conference, advises minors, and serves as the key liaison with cross-campus affiliated faculty and the larger Winston-Salem community.
Governance/Advisory Board
The American Ethnic Studies Governance Board, representing the concerns and interests of the American Ethnic Studies Program, is responsible for the academic development of the Program (for example, course selection, faculty selection, program priorities, and budget priorities). The board also serves as the organizing committee for the bi-annual conference.
Governance board members—except for the Director– will be selected and appointed by the Provost to 3 year terms so as to achieve the following balance:
Director
Core faculty (2)
Affiliated faculty (2)
Research faculty (1)
Creative faculty (1)
To the degree possible, core faculty will be drawn equally from the social sciences, humanities, and arts.