Asian American Studies
Encyclopedia
Asian American Studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Asian ancestry in America. Closely related to other Ethnic Studies
disciplines such as African American Studies
, Latino/a Studies
, and Native American Studies
, Asian American Studies critically examines the history, culture, politics, issues, and experiences of Asian Americans. Drawing from numerous disciplines such as sociology
, history
, literature
, political science
, and gender studies
, Asian American Studies scholars consider a variety of perspectives and employ diverse analytical tools in their work. Unlike "Asian" Studies which focuses on the history, culture, religion, etc. of Asian people living in Asia, Asian American Studies is interested in the history, culture, experiences, of Asians living in America.
More recently, however, student protests as well as community pressures, have led to the development of several Asian American Studies programs throughout the U.S., particularly in states and at schools with a large Asian American student body.
Major programs in California include UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Davis, San Francisco State University
(SFSU), California State University, Long Beach
, California State University, Northridge
, California State University, Fullerton
, City College of San Francisco
, University of Southern California
and The Claremont Colleges. UCLA recently established a Department of Asian American Studies. Stanford University
recently launched a program in Race and Culture that includes Asian American Studies.
Outside of California, major programs include University of Washington
, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
, University of Colorado
, Cornell University
, State University of New York at Binghamton, and Columbia University
. Other rising programs include Arizona State University
, New York University
, Northwestern University
, University of Pennsylvania
and University of Minnesota
. Currently, several universities, including University of North Carolina
, University of Virginia
, Syracuse University
, and many others are in the process of developing Asian American Studies.
Master of Arts in Asian American Studies programs are available at UCLA and SFSU.
On the East Coast, the State University of New York at Stony Brook
created an Asian & Asian American Studies Department after a 52 million dollar donation by Charles B. Wang (the founder of Computer Associates). The Charles B. Wang Center is designed as a vital space for multi-disciplinary and multicultural dialogues. The 120000 square feet (11,148.4 m²) building was officially presented to Stony Brook University by Charles B. Wang on October 22, 2002. It was the largest single private gift ever received by the State University of New York 64-campus system. The Wang Center is used for conferences, art exhibits, film festivals, lectures, seminars, and performances. It is open to all Stony Brook students, faculty, and staff as well as the surrounding community. Sunita S. Mukhi serves as the director of Asian and Asian American Programs for the Charles B. Wang Center. Nerissa Balce in Stony Brook's Asian & Asian American Studies Department and Jeffrey Santa Ana in the English Department were hired in 2008 to teach courses in Asian American Studies. Shirley Lim, Associate Professor of History, also teaches courses in Asian American Studies at Stony Brook.
Queens College, City University of New York
, located in the heavily Asian neighborhood of Flushing
in New York City
, is home to both the Asian American/Asian Research Institute and the Asian/American Center. Both serve as hubs for research into Asian American issues, particularly focusing on the Asian diaspora in the New York area.
Ethnic studies
Ethnic studies is the interdisciplinary study of racialized peoples in the world in relation to ethnicity. It evolved in the second half of the 20th century partly in response to charges that traditional disciplines such as anthropology, history, English, ethnology, Asian studies, and orientalism...
disciplines such as African American Studies
African American studies
African American studies is a subset of Black studies or Africana studies. It is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans...
, Latino/a Studies
Latino/a Studies
Latino studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Hispanic ancestry in the United States. Closely related to other ethnic studies disciplines such as African American studies, Asian American studies, and Native American studies, Latino studies critically examines...
, and Native American Studies
Native American Studies
Native American Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America, or, taking a hemispheric approach, the Americas...
, Asian American Studies critically examines the history, culture, politics, issues, and experiences of Asian Americans. Drawing from numerous disciplines such as sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, and gender studies
Gender studies
Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
, Asian American Studies scholars consider a variety of perspectives and employ diverse analytical tools in their work. Unlike "Asian" Studies which focuses on the history, culture, religion, etc. of Asian people living in Asia, Asian American Studies is interested in the history, culture, experiences, of Asians living in America.
History
Asian American Studies was born in the 1960s as a part of the third world movement on the West Coast that gave birth to African American Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, and Native American Studies. While African American Studies, and to a lesser extent Chicano/Latino Studies, have spread quickly to hundreds of colleges and universities around the U.S., Asian American Studies (mostly due to smaller numbers of Asian Americans until the repeal of Asian exclusion acts) has not spread as quickly.More recently, however, student protests as well as community pressures, have led to the development of several Asian American Studies programs throughout the U.S., particularly in states and at schools with a large Asian American student body.
List of Asian American Scholars
- Nerissa S. Balce, State U of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook
- Danilo Begonia, San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
- Sucheng Chan, UCSB
- Catherine Ceniza Choy, UC Berkeley
- Wei Ming Dariotis, San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
- Harvey Dong, UC Berkeley
- Jane Dusselier, Iowa State UniversityIowa State UniversityIowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
- Yen Le Espiritu, UCSD
- Angie Fa, City College of San FranciscoCity College of San FranciscoCity College of San Francisco, or CCSF, is a two-year community college in San Francisco, California. The Ocean Avenue campus, in the Ingleside neighborhood, is the college's primary location...
- Kip FulbeckKip FulbeckKip Fulbeck is an American artist, spoken word performer, filmmaker and author. Fulbeck's work explores identity politics.His mixed race ethnic background is Cantonese, English, Irish, and Welsh...
, UC Santa Barbara - Kim Chi Ti Pham, UC Davis
- Dorothy Fujita-Rony, UC Irvine
- Evelyn Nakano GlennEvelyn Nakano GlennEvelyn Nakano Glenn is a Professor of Gender & Women's Studies and of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to her teaching and research responsibilities she serves as Founding Director of the University's Center for Race and Gender . The CRG is a leading U.S...
, UC Berkeley - Dan GonzalesDan GonzalesDaniel David Gonzales is a former Major League Baseball right fielder who played for the Detroit Tigers in and .-External links:...
, San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges... - Darrell Y. Hamamoto, UC Davis
- Bill Ong Hing, UC Davis/UC Davis School of Law (King HallKing HallKing Hall may refer to*Charles King Hall, a British composer;*UC Davis School of Law ; and*The mess hall at the United States Naval Academy....
) - Yuji IchiokaYuji IchiokaYuji Ichioka, was an American historian best known for his work in ethnic studies, particularly Asian American Studies. Adjunct Professor Yuji Ichioka . He coined the term "Asian American" to help unify different Asian ethnic groups Yuji Ichioka, (June 23, 1936 – September 1, 2002) was an...
, UCLA - Elaine H. KimElaine H. KimElaine H. Kim is an award winning writer, editor and professor in Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Kim is widely published in her field. Some of her books include Dangerous Women: Gender and Korean Nationalism ; Making More Waves: New Writing by Asian American Women...
, UC Berkeley - Claire J. Kim, UC Irvine
- Daniel Y. Kim, BrownBrownBrown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
- Susan Koshy, UIUC
- Him Mark LaiHim Mark LaiHim Mark Lai was an American historian. He was known as the “Dean of Chinese American History” by his academic peers, despite the fact that he was professionally trained as a mechanical engineer with no advanced training in the academic field of History.-Life:Him Mark Lai co-taught the first...
, independent scholarIndependent scholarAn independent scholar is anyone who conducts scholarly research outside universities and traditional academia. Independent scholars play an especially important role in areas such as art history and other humanities fields... - Robert G. Lee, Brown UniversityBrown UniversityBrown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
- Karen Leong, Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
- Wei Li, Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
- Shirley J. Lim, State U of New York at Stony Brook
- Huping LingHuping LingHuping Ling is internationally renowned historian and prolific award-winning writer. She is a Professor of History at Truman State University, and is the Executive Editor for the Journal of Asian American Studies, an Adjunct Professor, Wuhan Theoretical Research Center of Overseas Chinese Affairs...
, Truman State UniversityTruman State UniversityTruman State University is a public liberal arts and sciences university in Missouri, United States and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. About 6,000 students attend Truman, pursuing degrees in 43 undergraduate and 9 Graduate programs. It is located in Kirksville in... - John M. Liu, UC Irvine
- Lisa LoweLisa LoweLisa Lowe is a professor of comparative literature at the University of California, San Diego and a noted scholar in the fields of comparative literature, American studies, Asian American studies and the cultural politics of colonialism and migration. She was Visiting Professor of American Studies...
, UCSD - Mary Lui, YaleYALERapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
- Glen Mimura, UC Irvine
- Martin Manalansan IV, UIUC
- Gary R. MarGary R. MarGary R. Mar is an American philosopher specializing in Logic, philosophy of mathematics, contemporary analytic philosophy, and philosophy of religion . He studied under the late logician Alonzo Church and currently teaches at Stony Brook University...
, State University of New York at Stony BrookState University of New York at Stony BrookThe State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan.... - Sunita S. Mukhi, State U of New York at Stony Brook
- Lisa NakamuraLisa NakamuraLisa Nakamura is Director and Professor of Asian American Studies Program at the Institute of Communication Research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.-Education:Lisa Nakamura earned a B.A. from Reed College and a Ph.D...
, UIUC - Don Nakanishi, UCLA
- Mimi Nguyen, UIUC
- Viet Nguyen, USCUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
- Gary OkihiroGary OkihiroGary Y. Okihiro is an Asian American author and scholar. He is a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University in New York City and the founding director of Columbia's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. Okihiro received his Ph.D...
, Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the... - Glenn Omatsu, CSU Northridge, UCLA
- Michael OmiMichael OmiMichael Omi is an American sociologist. Professor Omi is best known for developing the theory of racial formation along with Howard Winant. Omi serves on the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley. Omi's work includes race theory, Asian American studies, and antiracist...
, UC Berkeley - Rhacel ParrenasRhacel ParrenasRhacel Salazar Parrenas is Professor of Sociology at USC. Prior to working at USC, she taught at Brown University, the University of California, Davis and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.-Career:...
, Brown UniversityBrown UniversityBrown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,... - Celine Parrenas ShimizuCeline Parrenas ShimizuCeline Parrenas Shimizu is an award-winning filmmaker and film scholar.Shimizu is a daughter of political refugees from the Philippines. Her family relocated to Boston when she was 14 years old. She attended the University of California, Berkeley and received a B.A. in Ethnic Studies in 1988. She...
, UC Santa Barbara - Jeffrey Santa Ana, State U of New York at Stony Brook
- Larry Shinagawa, University of Maryland College Park
- Stanley Sue, UC Davis
- Ronald TakakiRonald TakakiRonald Toshiyuki Takaki was an academic, historian, ethnographer and author. Born in Oahu, Hawai'i, his work addresses stereotypes of Asian Americans, such as the model minority concept.-Early life:...
, UC Berkeley - Linda Trinh Vo, UC Irvine
- Christine Bacareza Balance, UC Irvine
- Eric C. Wat, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach
- Theresa Mah. University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
- L. Ling-chi Wang, UC Berkeley
- Sau-ling Cynthia Wong, UC Berkeley
- Shawn WongShawn WongShawn Hsu Wong is an author and Professor of English and former Director of the University Honors Program , Chair of the Department of English , and Director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Washington where he has been on the faculty since 1984...
, University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University... - Ji-Yeon YuhJi-Yeon YuhJi-Yeon Yuh is a reporter, writer, editor and professor in Asian American history and Asian diasporas at the Northwestern University. Since 2005, Yuh is the director of Program in Asian American Studies at Northwestern University....
, Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees.... - Judy YungJudy YungJudy Yung is professor emerita in American Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in oral history, women's history, and Chinese American and Asian American history.-Life:...
, UC Santa Cruz - Sunaina Maira, UC Davis
- Richard KimRichard KimRichard Kim was an American karate teacher. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, he began studying judo as a child in the early 1920s, under Kaneko. Around the same time, he also began studying karate under Arakaki Ankichi. Before World War II, his service in the merchant marines took him to east Asia...
, UC Davis - Henry Yu, University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
- Chris Lee, University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
- Glenn Deer, University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
- Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, an Francisco State University]
Major Programs/Departments
The contribution of Asian American Studies at SFSU created the College of Ethnic Studies, the only such "college" in any U.S. university.Major programs in California include UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Davis, San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
(SFSU), California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach is the second largest campus of the California State University system and the third largest university in the state of California by enrollment...
, California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge is a public university in Northridge, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California, United States....
, California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton is a public university located in Fullerton, California. It is the largest institution in the CSU System by enrollment, it offers long-distance education and adult-degree programs...
, City College of San Francisco
City College of San Francisco
City College of San Francisco, or CCSF, is a two-year community college in San Francisco, California. The Ocean Avenue campus, in the Ingleside neighborhood, is the college's primary location...
, University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and The Claremont Colleges. UCLA recently established a Department of Asian American Studies. Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
recently launched a program in Race and Culture that includes Asian American Studies.
Outside of California, major programs include University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, State University of New York at Binghamton, and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Other rising programs include Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. Currently, several universities, including University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, and many others are in the process of developing Asian American Studies.
Master of Arts in Asian American Studies programs are available at UCLA and SFSU.
On the East Coast, the State University of New York at Stony Brook
State University of New York at Stony Brook
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....
created an Asian & Asian American Studies Department after a 52 million dollar donation by Charles B. Wang (the founder of Computer Associates). The Charles B. Wang Center is designed as a vital space for multi-disciplinary and multicultural dialogues. The 120000 square feet (11,148.4 m²) building was officially presented to Stony Brook University by Charles B. Wang on October 22, 2002. It was the largest single private gift ever received by the State University of New York 64-campus system. The Wang Center is used for conferences, art exhibits, film festivals, lectures, seminars, and performances. It is open to all Stony Brook students, faculty, and staff as well as the surrounding community. Sunita S. Mukhi serves as the director of Asian and Asian American Programs for the Charles B. Wang Center. Nerissa Balce in Stony Brook's Asian & Asian American Studies Department and Jeffrey Santa Ana in the English Department were hired in 2008 to teach courses in Asian American Studies. Shirley Lim, Associate Professor of History, also teaches courses in Asian American Studies at Stony Brook.
Queens College, City University of New York
Queens College, City University of New York
Queens College, located in Flushing, Queens, New York City, is one of the senior colleges of the City University of New York. It is also the fifth oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning. The college's seventy seven acre campus is located in the heart of the...
, located in the heavily Asian neighborhood of Flushing
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, is home to both the Asian American/Asian Research Institute and the Asian/American Center. Both serve as hubs for research into Asian American issues, particularly focusing on the Asian diaspora in the New York area.