Cornell University: No ‘Intellectual Justification’ for Caribbean Studies Minor

Cornell University has rejected a proposal to create a “Caribbean Studies” minor. Other universities, including Rutgers, Wesleyan, NYU, and the University of Michigan already offer a minor in Caribbean Studies. Cornell’s Africana Studies department chair Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò argues there is no “intellectual justification” to create a Caribbean Studies minor.

According to a report by the College Fix, Cornell University officials have rejected a proposal that would have established a “Caribbean Studies” minor course of study. The proposal was inspired by similar programs that already exist at other universities and colleges around the country.

The proposal was knocked down by Cornell’s Africana Studies and Research Center department chair Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò. He argued that students can concentrate their studies in Caribbean Studies by simply selecting courses that focus on the topic.

In a statement, Professor Táíwò said that there was not a sufficient “intellectual justification” to establish a dedicated minor in Caribbean Studies. “We would need an intellectual justification for splitting the framework and undermining our primary goal of ensuring that our graduates do not think each of its components in isolation from the others even as, as we point out below, we make a point of providing for specialization or concentration on those component parts in our current curricular framework,” he wrote in the statement. 

“A close look at our curriculum will show that we already have ample provisions for those of your members who might want to concentrate on the Caribbean region in our extant Minor,” Táíwò added. “Equally important is the fact that we regularly offer classes that focus on the region, especially the ‘Introduction to Caribbean Studies’ class which, I might point out, is almost unique in the Department.” 

Aurora McKenzie, the co-founder of Cornell’s Caribbean Student Association, said that they were shocked by the department’s refusal to support their efforts to establish a minor course of studies in Caribbean Studies.

“It has shocked a lot of the students,” McKenzie said. “Even though we knew that not every department on campus would respond, or even support, not getting support from Africana was definitely something crazy.”

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