Campus, News

CSULB adds new Cambodian minor

This fall semester, the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies will be introducing its new Cambodian (Khmer) Language and Culture minor program, which could lead students to new job and linguistic opportunities.

The new program was proposed by Teri Yamada, professor and chair of Asian and Asian American Studies, and aims to let students study the language, society and cultural aspects of Cambodia.

It will be an 18-unit minor and will largely focus on the introduction of the Khmer language with the hope to develop the language capacity of Cambodian heritage speakers. Yamada also hopes to interest those who are looking to fulfill their language requirements for their respective majors.

“We have probably the largest Cambodian student population of any university in the United States on this campus, because we have the largest Cambodian community outside Cambodia in Long Beach.” Yamada said.

According to Yamada, there are at least 600 students at Cal State Long Beach whose parents hail directly from Cambodia. For those students, this course would allow them to practice the language, as they are heritage language learners and don’t necessarily have the resources to fluently learn to speak or write the Khmer language like native Cambodians.

Yamada also mentioned that CSULB would become the only university to offer this minor in the U.S.

Greg Armento, a librarian at CSULB, applied for an alumni grant and got $2000 to support books for the minor.

Roman Kochan, dean of the CSULB library, then matched Armento and together contributed a total of $4000 to support textbooks and other Cambodian-focused books for the minor.

As of fall 2017, only one introductory course will be offered and depending on how much the program grows, it will expand to other courses as well.

The department has yet to hire professors for new classes.

“It’s really really difficult to find qualified people who can teach Cambodian,”Yamada said.“[In the meantime] our colleague at the neighboring high school is going to be teaching right now.”

Yamada said the structure of the program would allow students to transfer directly into the minor from Long Beach City College, which currently offers lower division courses in the Khmer language.

During the summer, students would also be able to study at institutions other than CSULB where related classes are being taught.

By the end of their degree, students are expected to be able to understand, give speeches or present research in Khmer. In some cases, depending on fluency, students can also pursue a job with the minor as well.

“If you’re adventurous, you can go to Cambodia – they have the fastest growing economy in southeast Asia,” Yamada said. “If you’re into real estate or accounting or banking, or international relations, it’s a pretty happening place right now.”

Graduates of the minor can also go into social or child services and become translators for local offices, she said.

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