By Bryan Hay
Lafayette has expanded its academic catalog with the addition this fall of new minors in Indigenous studies, music technology, and electrical and computer engineering.
A minor is often pursued by students to complement their major(s), to gain a deeper insight on a specific topic, to explore an interest outside of a main area of academic focus, and to open doors and make connections beyond their core academic area.
“Each of these minors demonstrates the powerful and broad intellectual and teaching interests of our Lafayette faculty across existing and new areas of study and creative practice,” says Provost Laura McGrane. “These additions are also a reminder that students are key partners with faculty as the curriculum continues to evolve.”
Here’s a look at the new minors.
Indigenous studies
Inspired by the student group Indigenous Rights Coalition and its desire to have relevant courses to learn more about Indigenous cultures, faculty who already taught this kind of content coalesced around the idea for a minor.
“Many faculty who have been teaching this kind of content were surprised at how many of us there were across multiple disciplines,” says Andrea Smith, professor of anthropology. “We knew about each other and started talking about a minor in Indigenous studies, gauging student interest, and put together a proposal, which was accepted.”
Along with Smith, the faculty who helped shape the minor with their shared interests in Indigenous studies are:
Corey Fischer-Hoffman, visiting professor of Latin American and Caribbean studies
Katherine Groo, associate professor, film and media studies
Brett Hendrickson, professor of religious studies
Kyle Keeler, assistant professor of environmental science and environmental studies
Mónica Salas Landa, associate professor of anthropology and sociology
Abraham Seda, assistant professor of history
Andrew Uzendoski, lecturer in English
Carmen Valdivia, assistant professor of Spanish
Angelika Von Wahl, John L. ’67 and Jean A. Hatfield Professor of International Affairs and department chair
Jeremy Zallen, associate professor of history
The ambitious program invites students to choose five courses from a rich menu of nearly 20 options ranging from a seminar in Native American History to Indigenous Philosophies and Cultural Production.
It includes a new course offering of Native American Literature, which will be taught by Katelyn Lucas, the historic preservation officer for the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma.“There’s really an increasing interest in Indigenous scholarship, which mirrors a similar interest in the media and in popular culture,” Smith says. “There’s a lot of activism, there’s a lot of interest.
“What is really interesting is how this is revitalizing environmental studies. Prof. Keeler’s environmental justice course has a lot to do with land and claiming of land and environmental degradation,” Smith adds. “He’s going to teach a new class that looks at Indigenous societies that view land as having agency. Students can think about what it means to interact with land on a daily basis if land plays an active role in our day-to-day lives, and what it means for our societies if land has contributed to them across history.”
Keeler observes, “I think for students who are going into environmental studies, understanding an Indigenous perspective on land and on animals, and on the natural world, really helps give them a different perspective.”
Students who enroll in the minor will gain an appreciation of how Indigenous people have cared for the environment over the millennia, Smith shares.
“If you’re in a place for millenia, you’re going to really know how to take care of your resources and how to husband them in a way that will be sustainable for future generations,” she says. “So, when people are studying Indigenous communities in one place, they often will notice that there’s a very different way of understanding the natural world. When the natural world is part of your relations, you treat it differently.”
Music technology
For the past six years, the music department has offered two popular courses in music technology taught by Christopher Badami, a Grammy-nominated producer and engineer with four gold recordings certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.
“We’re lucky to have him,” says Jorge Torres, associate professor of music and department head. “Over time, we started thinking about how we could make more out of student interest in music technology. The great thing about this little program we’ve got going on in music technology is that it has brought students into the department who normally would not come into music.”
Many students, however, have assumed that music technology meant a need to know how to read music or a need for specialized training, Torres observes. But with students’ innate fluency in music recording apps such as GarageBand and other digital audio software, they have become more autonomous with their creativity.
“Writing songs and making layers, creating loops, they’re coming up with all kinds of ways of being creative with technology,” Torres says. “And since we have these two successful classes, we thought, well, maybe we can offer a couple of other things as a sort of a package.”
The music technology minor requires six courses: music culture, traditional music theory, introductory music technology, music production, and electives in computer science or electrical and computer engineering.
The music theory requirement was added to help give students a broader context for their musical studies and creativity.
“We thought it would be nice for them to know the elements of music theory, so they could have conversations with artists that they’re recording, or be able to tell recording specialists in more musical terms what they might want or not want,” Torres explains. “We get students who are majors from all kinds of different places. So many people love music, and there’s quite a few people making music on this campus of their own.
“The minor in music tech will likely strengthen a lot of the efforts that our department has been trying to do, to contribute to the curriculum,” he adds. “We have interdisciplinary connections with other departments and other disciplines at the College. We’re really excited about continuing to expand populations from outside the music department. We recently received a Sherman Fairchild Foundation Arts & Technology grant, which let us expand our lab-studio spaces. We’re looking forward to the future of the music department.”
Electrical and computer engineering
One of the main degree programs in the Engineering Division, electrical and computer engineering (ECE), is now being offered as a minor.
“This minor is designed to attract the interest of students in integrated engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering, and also some engineering studies students,” says Ismail Jouny, Charles A. Dana Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and department head.
The curriculum of the ECE minor was created by the ECE faculty during the last academic year.
“Nowadays, lots of technologies in our daily lives are involved with electronics and computers,” notes Yih-Choung Yu, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. “The ECE minor provides a path for students with some interests in ECE to gain fundamental knowledge in ECE.”
