At a time when some pundits and critics contend that ethnic studies are no longer needed, the dean of the only U.S. college devoted to the discipline calls the struggle to survive a collective one.

 “The current attack on ethnic studies is really one on the public trust in general,” says Dr. Kenneth Monteiro, dean of San Francisco State University's College of Ethnic Studies. “This attack is against public support for accessible health, education, a variety of causes. We in ethnic studies aren't isolated anymore.”

 Monteiro's observations coincide with an academic conference kicking off today at SFSU called “Race, Resistance and Relevance.” The four-day event commemorates the 40th anniversary of the founding of the discipline and the founding of SFSU's ethnic studies college, which now boasts 50 full-time faculty teaching 6,000 students annually.   

 Scholars from more than 30 universities in seven countries are scheduled to present papers, films and performances exploring the state of ethnic studies in the world. Topics include: “Thinking about Race in the Twenty-First Century,” “Classical African Studies: Principles, Paradigm and Modern Issues” and “Reading and Teaching Asian American Literature.”

Universities across the country house hundreds of ethnic studies departments and courses. Monteiro says he is more worried about the future of ethnic studies programs outside SFSU, despite California's deep budget cuts to public education that have caused students and faculty at some campuses to stage walkouts. “Unlike us, if a school has only four faculty teaching ethnic studies, and three, or even two, lose their funding, the program is essentially dead,” Monteiro says.