Overview of Program | Mission Statement | History

Overview of Program

Asian American Studies (AAS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the history, arts, culture, and life experiences of people of Asian descent in the United States, ranging from recent immigrants to seventh- or eighth-generation Americans. Since its emergence in the academy during the 1960s, it has enriched the research methods and findings of traditional academic disciplines, such as sociology, history, anthropology and literature. Scholarship and teaching in AAS programs addresses contemporary issues, such as Asian immigration, community development, political empowerment, labor market status, gender and sexual relations, diasporic identities, cultural representations, and civil rights. Although first established in West coast universities, AAS programs are now prospering across the nation. The formation of these new programs has been a response to compelling intellectual forces in the academy.

Asian American Studies at IU is the result of a student and faculty initiative that began in 2001.

Mission Statement

As an integral part of a liberal education at Indiana University, Asian American Studies is an academic program that prepares students for the promise and challenges of the 21st century world. The program offers opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the multicultural and multi-racial history and character of the American experience, and to locate this experience in a larger global context.

An interdisciplinary program, Asian American Studies at IU aims to:
     - facilitate inquiry into the socio-political, historical, artistic and practical contributions of Asian Americans to American culture
     - foster awareness of Asian American experiences as part of the ongoing development of America, connected with the experiences of other racial groups in the U.S., as well as the lives of Asian migrants worldwide
     - enable students to develop domestic and global perspectives as effective and responsible agents in a rapidly changing world
     - equip students with traditional critical, investigative, and analytical skills, and the intellectual and creative resources that will serve them in their personal and professional lives

History

Indiana University Bloomington will soon join the ranks of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Minnesota universities in developing an Asian American studies program. With Asian Americans and Latinos being the fastest-growing minority groups in recent years, there was no question of the need to form an academic program that specifically addresses the issues of the various Asian American communities whose presence and impact in society have often been overlooked. As the official proposal for an Asian American studies program states, "[t]he introduction of Asian American issues... will add analytical complexity to the traditional paradigm of black-white relations and redress an often-ignored part of American history and culture." In addition, the program will "contribute to the university and the College goal of educating students to understand the increasingly global society in which they live."

As part of its advocacy mission, the Asian Culture Center brought together faculty and students to formulate a detailed proposal for an Asian American studies program, which was submitted to the College of Arts and Sciences in fall 2001. A representative cross-section of the student body - from freshmen to doctoral students and business to biology students - signed a petition to express their strong support for the creation of the program. The plan called for the hiring of three new faculty members, including a director, in key disciplines such as history, sociology, anthropology, or literature and the media. The program would first offer an undergraduate minor or certificate in Asian American studies, with a major and PhD minor to be developed in subsequent years. This proposal was unanimously approved by the College Policy Committee in fall 2002. In 2002-03, an Asian American Colloquium series was organized to foster intellectual discussions on Asian American issues on campus as a precursor to the eventual establishment of an AAS program. It was sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of Academic Support and Diversity, the Asian Culture Center, and several other academic departments and programs. The committee invited Professor Gary Okihiro of Columbia University as the keynote speaker because of his substantial contribution to the field. Preceding the talk, Dean Kumble T. Subbaswamy introduced the colloquium series by highlighting the importance of scholarship and instruction on Asian American history and culture in the curriculum.

This past summer, the primary budgetary hurdle to realizing this program was cleared when a College of Arts and Sciences proposal to promote research and teaching in non-Western area studies and diasporic studies received substantial funding through the campus Commitment to Excellence program. This interdisciplinary proposal covers diasporic communities from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, and includes a focus on immigration and acculturation of people from these areas in the United States. Three faculty lines have been designated for new faculty members who will focus on the study of the Asian diaspora in the United States and around the world.