As we try to assess the challenges of the future, students and officials are thinking about a variety of ways to further develop the range of classes available at our institution. Last Monday, the Asian Student Union addressed the issue in a forum titled "Where Do We Go From Here? The History and Future of Asian-Pacific American Studies." The event featured a guest speaker and provided a forum for discussion on how to ensure the success of APA courses at the University. These public forums are useful for disseminating information and fostering new ideas, but ultimately students need to confront the University administration and demand greater numbers and variety for courses in neglected departments.
The APA studies forum featured a speech by Prof. Larry Hajime Shinagawa, who teaches at the University of Maryland. Prof. Shinagawa highlighted some of the main points regarding the historical progression of APA studies in general, mentioning their start in California and their growth eastwards. He analyzed APA studies in various regions of the United States and asserted that the nature of those studies depended heavily on regional context.
On the west coast, for example, Prof. Shinagawa emphasized that APA studies are much more ethnic-specific, concentrating on certain groups and their peculiar experiences, than they are in the east, where the focus is on interdisciplinary studies that explore the intersection of a variety of factors and issues and how they shape minority experiences. He stressed that universities needed diversity curriculums that are "relevant to the times."
The regional differences Prof. Shinagawa described become relevant in understanding the larger themes and forces driving the advancement, or lack of advancement, of APA studies at the University. In the east, ethnic studies are dominated by a black and white dichotomy that sometimes results in hostility for other groups, like Asian-Pacific Americans. And even though several generations of Asian-Pacific Americans have lived in the United States, Prof. Shinagawa argued that many universities in the east, reflecting these prejudices, do not make a strong distinction between Asian studies and APA studies.
The question-and-answer segment following Prof. Shinagawa's speech was more of an open discussion among University students about what to do with our stalling APA studies program, which has offered a minor since 2005, but has not improved much beyond that. One audience member accused the University of trying to terminate the program -- a move he said he agreed with because it would stir action towards a more vibrant APA curriculum, and because the University was doing little to foster its enlargement anyway.
Another person had an even more controversial charge, arguing that Asian-Pacific American students were not being proactive enough in staking a claim for APA studies and also claiming that they were not leveraging political influence equivalent to their numbers at the University. All agreed, that only continued activism and pressure on the administration would be necessary.
More than 13 percent of the University's undergraduate population is Asian-Pacific American. The Asian Student Union has shown that support exists for more classes aimed at that demographic. They should continue to actively lobby the University for greater coverage of APA studies and for a promotion of the current program to a full major. The program should be allowed to hire more professors -- there are currently only have two -- and all professors should be experts in only or mostly the field of APA studies, not be focused on other areas while temporarily picking up APA issues to teach a class or two.
The diversification and augmentation of our curriculum is critically important if the University wants to remain a nationally competitive institution. Now is the time for students and the University to come together and show that we are serious about curriculum diversification, with APA studies and a number of other potential programs. In a globalized world, cultural literacy is ideal, but knowledge about those who are already here -- in this country -- is indispensable.
Erald Kolasi's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at ekolasi@cavalierdaily.com.
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