Weinberg senior Paul Lee considers himself one-and-a-half generation. He was born in Korea and came to the U.S. when he was a baby. But growing up, Lee said he didn’t have a sense of understanding of the history of Asian Americans.
Coming to Northwestern, he took a freshman seminar called Asian American Memoirs, taught by Asian American Studies professor Ji-Yeon Yuh. Lee was fascinated by the fact that Asian Americans have been a part of American history for a long time, yet he knew little about it. He declared an Asian American Studies minor Spring Quarter of his freshman year.
During that quarter, Lee took a class within the program called “The Second Generation Asian American Experience,” and it spoke to his experiences.
“I think that class was something that I felt a deep connection with in terms of the books that I read,” Lee said. “I felt that that was something I could truly reflect on my own experiences, and I think that's when things started to put together like puzzle pieces.”
Since its establishment in 1999, the Asian American Studies program has grown to include a more diverse array of courses, including literature, cultural studies, theatre, gender studies, anthropology and more.
The Asian American Studies program today
Yuh said that in 20 years, the minor has moved from having no program, to having one faculty member, and now to having a director and four core faculty members from various fields. It’s a far cry from what Yuh recalls from when she first arrived in September 1999.
“At that time we had a small basement office in University Hall, right next to American Studies, no staff person,” Yuh said.
Currently, the Asian American Studies program is heavily humanities and qualitative social sciences based, Yuh said, while fields such as law, public policy, political science and psychology are less represented.
Carolyn Chen, Asian American studies and sociology professor who teaches classes such as “The 2nd Generation Asian American Experience,” will be leaving Northwestern’s Asian American studies program for Berkeley. Yuh and other faculty are currently putting together a request for one or more professors in Asian American studies to fill that spot.
“This program is at a juncture where the next two or three years are going to see change in the program in terms of its faculty composition,” Yuh said.
Asian American Studies also helps support and develop other ethnic studies programs on campus, such as the Latino/a Studies Program, and currently, a possible Native American Studies program.
What students have learned
Since the number of scholars in the field has grown, the Asian American Studies program has deepened and broadened its curriculum to now teach more comparative and diasporic topics. These topics focus on comparing the experiences of different ethnic groups in the U.S. and the spread of different ethnic groups to other parts of the world.
“Both of those features, the comparative race and the diasporic focus really make us unique and a leader in the field,” said Jinah Kim, assistant director of Asian American Studies. “Some other Asian American studies programs are starting to do that, but that's been a core of our commitment for a really long time, and I'd like to see us continue to grow in that direction.”
For Weinberg senior Tiffany Chang, what she learned in the courses about feminism, intersectionality and race relations between Asian and African Americans fascinated her.
“Learning the history of the Asian American position actually educated me and sparked my interest in speaking up,” Chang said. “We’re seen as the model minority. It’s really important to keep in mind that we have a position in society to demand changes. We cannot just be complacent with being the model minority.”
Lee recalls learning about this history of the Asian American studies program when he did research on the hunger strikes for his social inequalities class.
“I was truly fascinated with the amount of sacrifice all the student protesters who gave up everything and risked everything just to show the importance of having this program,” Lee said. “And I think that's something worth really commemorating … Education is to be able to better interact with and better communicate with others, and I think that's something I'm really grateful for.”
Even after students have graduated from the program, many remain devoted to it. Alumni attended the hunger strike’s 15-year anniversary to pay tribute to and demonstrate their support for this program.
Joseph Lee (WCAS ‘09) still keeps in touch with some professors in the program, and he continues to be involved in Asian American activism. He returned to the 15-year-anniversary as an alumni speaker.“It changed the entire course of my life,” Joseph Lee said. “Through the minor program and professors, I was so comfortable and proud of my heritage in being Korean American. Once I really was comfortable in my own skin, I was able to utilize my passion and strength to help others.”
Many students who took Asian American Studies courses have been active in changing the campus culture in regards to diversity and inclusion, as well as supporting a diversity requirement at Weinberg.
“All of us in Asian American studies teach on the controversial and difficult topic of race,” Kim said. “We model for our students how to talk about it, how to be leaders on that topic and in some ways, we recognize that this discussion makes people uncomfortable, but discomfort is when you're at the edge of learning. You're uncomfortable when you're about to grow more.”
Looking forward
As the Asian American Studies program commemorates the hunger strike’s 20-year anniversary, Yuh says it is important to continue increasing student interest. She hopes that the Asian American Studies program can eventually include not only a minor, but also a major.
During a strategic planning workshop on April 17, the faculty decided to submit a proposal for a major. This will likely be submitted next school year, in Fall 2015. Depending on the review process, if this is approved, it could be a major as soon as Fall 2016.
“It's 20 years since the hunger strike and 15 years since the program was founded,” Yuh said. “For undergraduates, that seems like a few lifetimes away, but it probably also seems to most students now as if the program is permanent … Whether or not it's visible to students, these programs and departments are always fighting for faculty, for funding, for staff, always fighting to keep what they have, not only fighting to grow.”
Yuh said it is important for students to learn about race relations and discrimination in the U.S. today, and Asian American Studies challenges this status quo by teaching about these topics.
“Everyone wants to think of themselves as I'm not a racist and I'm not a victim,” Yuh said. “It's hard for people to understand those are not absolute categories … There's a real benefit in thinking about and analyzing this history and this present in order to do a better job at creating a fairer and more livable future for everybody.”
