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Record for NoIndoctrination.org entry #547.

University of California, Berkeley

May. 10, 2006

http://www.berkeley.edu

Course: Ethnic Studies 198: The Prop 209 Project

Course Catalog Description: See below.

Professor: David Montejano and Taeku Le

Required? No, purely elective

Lecture Bias: N/A

Comments: See below.

Discussion Bias: N/A

Comments: See below.

Readings Bias: N/A

Comments: See below.

General Comments: This is a NoIndoctrination.org posting. We were alerted to this course by a UC Berkeley student who sent us the course announcement and application. Below is the information we posted on our homepage under News Flash:

This spring UC Berkeley is offering "Ethnic Studies 198: The Prop. 209 Project." (In 1996 California voters passed Prop 209, which prevents the state, including UC, from giving preferential treatment based on race, sex, or ethnicity.) The course description states students will analyze data "to craft a political strategy for a successful 'pro-diversity' initiative in the State." The course findings are then to be presented to the chancellor, an outspoken critic of Prop 209. An application form for those wanting to take the course included the following: "Please describe any technical skills that would be useful in a political campaign."

UC Regents' Policy on Course Content [http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/policies/6065.html] states that the university must "remain aloof from politics ...."

NoIndoctrination.org has a copy of the course announcement and application, which can be viewed here [http://www.noindoctrination.org/BerkeleyProp209.pdf].

The course is part of the Chancellor's Diversity Research Seminars for Undergraduates and was promoted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. (Note: This is not a 198 DeCal student-designed and run course.) The co-instructors for this course are Professor David Montejano (Ethnic Studies) and Professor Taeku Lee (Political Science).

NoIndoctrination.org sent a letter [http://www.noindoctrination.org/BerkeleyProp209_letter.pdf] to UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau regarding this matter (with cc's to various administrators, the UC Board of Regents, and CA Senator Jack Scott, Chair of the Senate Education Committee). UC Berkeley's response is pasted below.

Rebuttal

Submitted: May. 10, 2006

The following was submitted by Christina Maslach, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education:

I am responding on behalf of Chancellor Birgeneau to your email of April 27th concerning Ethnic Studies 198: The Prop 209 Project.

In Spring 2006, UC Berkeley offered two diversity research seminars for undergraduates: Education 198 "Exploring Transfer Student Success" and Ethnic Studies 198 "The Prop 209 Project." The purpose of the seminars was two-fold: (1) to equip students with a set of methodologically sound research skills and tools with which to approach issues of diversity and inclusion; and (2) to provide a structured educational exercise that would give them the opportunity to practice the real-world application of sound scholarship that many will use in their lives as professionals and citizens after they graduate from Cal. The seminars were open to all upper division students in any major, and lower division students upon request of the instructors. Participation in the seminars and the selection of research project topics in the seminars were voluntary. Neither course was a graduation requirement or a pre-requisite to any graduation requirement. Rather, the seminars were designed to provide a special enrichment opportunity for students to engage in faculty-mentored research in a small group setting.

The Prop 209 Project, co-taught by Professor David Montejano (Ethnic Studies) and Professor Taeku Lee (Political Science), used a case study of Proposition 209 in order to deepen students' understanding of how issues of race and ethnicity interact with the ballot initiative process in the State of California. Within the limits of a two-unit 198 course, students learned a good deal, substantively, about voting behavior, political participation and mobilization, ethnic/racial politics, the initiative/referendum process in California, media framing, and political persuasion. They also learned a good deal, methodologically, about precinct-level, county-level, and state-level data analysis, exit polling, and public opinion polling. By designing a course that required students to apply research findings to real-world problems, the instructors sought to impart substantive and methodological points about political science in a much deeper, more enduring way than would be possible using a more traditional teaching method. Students were never at any time asked to engage in political or partisan activity as part of the seminar.

Case studies (even those with a directed point of view or starting point) are frequently used as a learning exercise here and on campuses around the country. The pedagogical approach employed in the seminar is a sound one and is consistent with The Regents' Policy on Course Content "that no campus, no academic college, no department, and no instructor distort the instructional process in a manner which deviates from the responsibilities inherent in academic freedom."

Best,

Christina Maslach
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
and Professor of Psychology

Cc:
Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau
UC President Robert Dynes
The UC Board of Regents
Professor David Montejano
Professor Taeku Lee
Senator Jack Scott, Education Chair