The Paradox of Prestige: The Transformative Power of Ethnic Studies in Research I Institutions

• In Event: Imagining Excellence: Examining, Predicting, and Projecting the Future of Prestige in Higher Education

Abstract

In this presentation, I will present ethnic studies – its values, objectives, and transformative role in education curriculum – as providing a valuable framework for the reimagining of prestige at Research I institutions. It’s difficult to imagine a place for Ethnic Studies in prestige-seeking. The drive for prestige in academia often means prioritizing research grants, publication in high-impact journals, and other traditional markers of success (Brewer et al., 2001; O’Meara, 2007; Zerquera, 2023), activities that may work counter to those centered within over those of Ethnic Studies, including community engagement and activism towards confronting systemic inequities (Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021). After all, Ethnic Studies was intended to carve out an alternative, counter-hegemonic subaltern sphere (Fraser, 1992/1997) within academia, a multiverse of sorts running parallel, if not in direct contrast with traditional educational paradigms.

Despite this contrast, there is a significant place for Ethnic Studies in the context of prestige-seeking. The values and objectives of Ethnic Studies can help reshape the notion of prestige at Research I institutions. By integrating community engagement and activism into the core mission of these institutions, Ethnic Studies can offer a new definition of academic excellence that is both rigorous and socially impactful.

Recent efforts at UC Berkeley illustrate the potential of Ethnic Studies to transform higher education. These efforts highlight the role of Ethnic Studies in rethinking student engagement, research, and the partnerships between universities and their communities. UC Berkeley's initiatives, specifically in supporting the roll out of California Assembly Bill 101, which mandates the completion of an Ethnic Studies course for high school graduation, demonstrates how Ethnic Studies can foster a more inclusive and socially responsive academic environment.


In this session, I will explore a series of questions through a process of critical imagining (Benjamin, 2024). What’s it mean to be doing this work within institutional spaces that abide by traditional norms of prestige? What lessons higher education should take away from laying out a roadmap for how prestige and excellence should be defined for all of higher education? And to address the elephant in the room, prestige for who? This approach involves envisioning new possibilities for how academia can integrate the values of Ethnic Studies into its core mission. By valuing community engagement, activism, and transformative education as highly as traditional academic achievements, Ethnic Studies can serve as a model for a more socially engaged and inclusive academic framework.

Author

• Juan G. Berumen, University of California - Berkeley