Asian American studies

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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.

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[edit] 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.

[edit] List of Asian American Scholars

[edit] Major Programs/Departments

The contribution of Asian American Studies at SFSU created the College of Ethnic Studies, the first and 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 (SFSU), California State University, Northridge, City College of San Francisco 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, and Columbia University. Other rising programs include Arizona State University, New York University, University of Pennsylvania and University of Minnesota. Currently, several universities, including University of North Carolina, University of Virginia, Northwestern 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 has recently created an Asian & Asian American Studies department as a result of a 50 million dollar donation in the form of a building from Charles B. Wang (the founder of Computer Associates). However, no faculty in the field was hired, and no real Asian American Studies class is offered.

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.

[edit] External links