Two months after proponents of an ethnic studies concentration initiated a new wave of activism with a panel discussion, campaign organizer Tri M. Phuong '02 announced last night that students are ready to take concrete action toward the creation of an ethnic studies concentration.

The campaign's immediate aims include creating a cohesive, organized group of student and faculty activists and increasing the number of ethnic studies courses taught at Harvard.

The group also hopes to increase awareness through measures such as tabling at concentration fairs and presenting students' opinions on the matter to administrators.

Last night, Phuong and around 40 other students and faculty members gathered in the Mather House small dining room to carve out their plans.

"The dynamics of ethnic studies is intrinsic to my own identity and the world which I live in," Phuong said. "This dinner took a month to put together...I want this to be a productive discussion."

Students told faculty members of their frustration in trying to meld different ethnic courses into their already packed schedules and reiterated the need for a comprehensive ethnic studies department.

"I feel like I've been given the tools and foundation to study ethnicity," Tin-Ming Hsu '00 said. "But what we need to do is actually push [ethnic studies'] scholarship to the next level. And that won't happen when students are squeezing courses in on the side."

Hsu, a joint concentrator in social studies and religion, recently completed her senior thesis on the role of the church in Asian American communities.