Mission of the Endowed Chair

The Michi Nishiura and Walter Weglyn Endowed Chair is devoted to promoting the interdisciplinary study of ethnic and racial minority groups in the United States. The chair will design programs that will prepare students with the knowledge and skills they will need to meet the ongoing challenge of living in a culturally and ethnically diverse society. Furthermore, students will learn how to recognize and engage the underlying assumptions that guide our thinking about race, ethnicity and multiculturalism; they will explore arts and literature; language and philosophy; and they will examine historical, political, social, educational, economic and cultural developments that affect ethnic and racial minority communities in the United States.

Through a critical study of the significance of the constructions of ethnicity and race in shaping social relationships in the United States, students and the university community will be introduced to modes of intercultural learning and understanding to help them to develop the knowledge and sensitivities needed for the enhancement of multicultural communication. By examining the arts, literature, language, and philosophy of ethnic groups, students learn to appreciate the moral and aesthetic values of others. Moreover, through an interdisciplinary approach, they come to a clearer view of the historical importance of ethnic identity in America and a deeper understanding of the impact ethnic groups have had on Americans generally, their social thought, practice, and institutions.

The Endowed Chair is an opportunity for people who are invested in promoting diversity and multiculturalism to lend their support to a unique endeavor – a program of study in which students will learn the lessons and benefits of community. It is a broad-based effort that requires the involvement of the University, communities, businesses, government, and individual citizens.