The consolidation of four ethnic studies programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences into one is in its final planning stages.

The plan will combine American Indian Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies and U.S. Latino/a Studies departments into one central location — the Center for American Intercultural Studies — scheduled to open in Carver Hall next fall.

‘It will be an exciting new place to inspire students and faculty to be more aware of intercultural issues on-campus,’ said Eugenio Matibag, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures.

Matibag will serve as the center”s director.

Ethnic studies program directors have met with LAS administration throughout the last two years developing the model for the new center. Matibag said the combination is a result of the recent reorganization of the liberal arts and sciences college.

Michael Whiteford, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences dean, said the consolidation is not motivated by budgetary concerns.

‘In fact, we”re not looking at saving money, we”re looking at this as such an important investment to the university,’ he said.

The objective is to improve multicultural education at Iowa State, Whiteford said.

‘The center will be organizing ethnic studies at the university, supporting research and teaching about diverse ethnic groups of American society with an emphasis on interrelations and intercultural studies,’ Matibag said.

The center will combine the best of the intercultural studies approach with the best of the more traditional models found at Midwestern universities, Whiteford said.

Intercultural studies programs are the combination of several multicultural studies programs.

Ethnic studies at Iowa State now exist as a variety of semi-autonomous departments, with different mission statements and scattered locations across campus, Matibag said.

The consolidated center will allow the departments to pool their resources, said Hector Avalos, associate professor of religious studies and director of Latino/a Studies.

There are many multicultural issues on campus, and the new center should better prepare both ISU students and staff to address many of them, Matibag said.

‘We have a strong U.S. diversity and international perspective requirement for most majors, but there is a real shortage of courses to fulfill this requirement,’ he said. ‘The center will produce more classes to help fulfill these requirements.’

Along with a central location for ISU ethnic studies programs, and more classes for students to take to fulfill graduation requirements, the center introduces a new interdisciplinary studies major with an emphasis in intercultural studies, Matibag said. He said the degree, which will be available in the fall, will prepare students to enter a multicultural workplace.

The center will also target improving the cultural climate on-campus.

Matibag said most Iowa students have never had the opportunity to meet many multicultural students or learn about different cultures. He is confident that the new center will improve ISU students” understanding of other cultures and foster awareness of multicultural issues while on campus.

‘It will give ISU students the ability to study these lesser-known groups and to stage a public dialogue on matters relating to lesser-understood ethnic groups, such as Arabic-Americans,’ Matibag said. ‘The population of Iowa State is more ethnically heterogeneous than most all cities in Iowa.’