Central American studies gaining acceptance
The degree program at Cal State Northridge seeks to advance knowledge about the millions of migrants in the U.S. and their history. It touches some lingering sore spots too.
The large wave of refugees from war-ravaged Central America that arrived two decades ago has transformed more than neighborhoods, the workforce and restaurant cuisine of Southern California.
Now, as Vanessa Guerrero's new diploma shows, the influence of that migration is being embraced academically by one of the region's largest public universities.
At her recent midyear graduation from Cal State Northridge, Guerrero became the first student in the United States to earn a bachelor's degree in Central American studies, officials say. Eight years after starting the nation's first minor in the field, the school took another unprecedented step last fall by elevating it to a diploma-worthy major.
Like many of her classmates with family roots in Central America, Guerrero said she wanted her studies to help pierce the walls of silence that older generations built around memories of violence and economic turmoil in their homelands.
"A lot of our families don't talk about it very much, and if they do, we hear only one side of the story," said Guerrero, 23, who was 5 when her family fled civil war in El Salvador. "I was definitely interested in learning more about my culture and my history."
Some friends questioned the usefulness of Central American studies, an interdisciplinary program in history, sociology, literature, anthropology and the arts. But Guerrero, a North Hills resident who also majored in business administration, said the courses "helped me understand the issues of why people migrated, why we're here, why I'm here" and would aid her plans to become an immigration or family law attorney.
Cal State Northridge has one of the largest groups of Central American students in the country, most of Salvadoran and Guatemalan descent. An estimated 3,500, or about 10% of the student body, were born in Central America or have immigrant parents who settled here, often near downtown Los Angeles or in the San Fernando Valley.
The university is known nationally as a pioneer in ethnic studies. Its Chicano and African American studies departments arose from late 1960s student protests, and the campus later added programs in Asian American, Armenian and Jewish studies. Supporters say ethnic studies are needed in a multicultural world, while critics contend that those classes foster racial identity instead of solid scholarship.
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