New ethnic studies
director brings perspective
Dennis Galvan wants to incorporate
international concepts and points
of view into the University program
By Chelsea Duncan
News Reporter
The Ethnic Studies Program has a new
director who plans to bring a fresh perspec
tive to the department.
Dennis Galvan, an associate professor in the
International Studies Program and the Political
Science Department, officially began his duties
at the beginning of fall term.
Galvan said he's not exactly sure how he
ended up in his position.
"All of sudden, there was a hole that
needed to be filled," Galvan said.
Galvan replaced English professor Shari
Huhndorf, whose term as director came to a
close in July. He said he may not have been the
first choice for the job. But with two established
professors in the program leaving the depart
ment — including Matt Garcia, who was hired
on at Brown University — Galvan said the
University sought out "a friend of the program."
Although the Ethnic Studies Program
focuses primarily on the construction and
context of ethnicity in the United States,
Galvan said he hopes to expand it by incor
porating international concepts and also
connect his international research of differ
ent cultures with that of other researchers
already in the program.
Galvan's involvement with international
studies started when research for an under
graduate thesis project gave him his first taste
of different cultures. He chose to center his
travels and research in West Africa after decid
ing against Latin American because he felt it
would have been like "cheating" because his
father is from Argentina.
"I was always kind of curious about the world
outside the U.S. and different cultures," he said.
Galvan said he thinks his past research in
West Africa and Indonesia, as well as his
current research in Senegal, will integrate
well into the program because it is impor
tant to compare other countries with large
ethnic populations to the ethnic groups in
the United States.
"A lot of times, ethnic studies has mostly
focused on the experiences of ethnic groups
in the U.S., but as globalization changes the
world, groups aren't isolated anymore," he
said. "We need to think of ethnic groups in
the U.S. in a global context."
Ethnic Studies Program office coordinator
Donella-Elizabeth Alston said she has
enjoyed working with Galvan, and she
expects to see a few changes in the program
this year.
"I think maybe he sees connections a lit
tle bit differently," she said. "1 think there
might be more integration with internation
al studies, perhaps."
Assistant visiting professor Fiona Ngo
said even though Galvan stepped in at the
last minute as director, he has kept the pro
gram vital on campus.
"Dennis is a really wonderful administra
tor, " she said. "He really knows what he wants
to do with the program."
Along with integrating international per
spectives into the program, Galvan has other
goals, including increasing the number of
majors in the program and the number of
non-majors who take ethnic studies classes.
He said he also hopes to expand the number
of ethnic studies courses and continue to
bring in speakers and faculty.
Galvan said he also intends to continue
working on the main goal of the program,
which is to fight against discrimination and
injustices based on skin color.
"One of the goals of the Ethnic Studies
Program is to use knowledge and understand
ing to break down stereotypes," he said.
In the mean time, Galvan said he man
ages to balance the classes he teaches in
both of his original departments with his
new responsibilities as director.
"I wear different hats a lot, and I juggle
them," he said.
Contact the higher education/
student life/student affairs reporter
at chelseaduncan@dailyemerald.com.
Danielle Hickey Senior Photographer
Dennis Galvan, the new Ethnic Studies Program director, took over the position at the beginning of the term.
Domestic violence workshop aims to dispel abuse myths
Event organizers say they
will provide useful tools
for people interested
in helping to stop abuse
By Lisa Catto
Freelance Reporter
Womenspace and the ASUO
Women's Center are presenting a free
workshop for domestic violence sur
vivors and their supporters this week
end. The workshop is part of Domes
tic Violence Awareness Month.
Friends and Family Training will
be this Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3
p.m. at the Sacred Heart Medical
Center auditorium.
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Womenspace Community Out
reach Director Margo Schaefer will
conduct the workshop, which is de
signed to present useful tools for in
dividuals who want to help people
dealing with domestic violence.
"It's really important for people to
get the skills to talk to people that
have experienced domestic vio
lence," Schaefer said.
She added that knowing the right
way to talk to someone about do
mestic violence is very important.
Workshop attendees will also learn
mistaken beliefs about domestic vio
lence, warning signs of violence and
how victims may feel. Schaefer said
she also plans to stress the importance
of creating a safety plan in case vio
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lence occurs in a relationship.
Schaefer said the majority of the
attendees at the conference in the
past have been men, adding that the
FBI reports 50,000 cases of battered
men every year.
Erin Dury, sexual violence preven
tion and education coordinator for
the Women's Center, is also involved
in the event.
She said this workshop is good for
preliminary stages of learning more
about domestic violence, especially
learning what to say and what not to
say to victims.
"You should never ask 'why' when
someone is telling you about their
domestic violence experience," Dury
said. "Make sure you are supporting
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their situation."
Schaefer agreed.
"People who are battered already
have someone controlling their life,
they don't need you controlling their
life," she said.
Schaefer said she feels the most im
portant thing survivors should know
is that they are not to blame and they
just got unlucky.
At least one woman in four will
experience some sort of domestic vi
olence in her lifetime, according to
the 11.S. Department of Health and
Human Services Administration for
Children & Families domestic vio
lence fact sheet. Of those incidents,
women age 15-35 suffer the highest
rates of violence from husbands, ex
husbands or boyfriends, according
to the fact sheet.
Schaefer encourages survivors and
supporters to contact Womenspace
for help or any information. Women
space honors complete confidentiali
ty and anonymity. Users do not need
to leave a name or they can create a
pseudonym.
Registration for this weekend's
workshop is not required but is rec
ommended. To register or for more
information or help call Womenspace
at 485-8232 or their 24-hour hotline
at 485-6513.
Usa Catto is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
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