Asian Pacific American Studies at University of Virginia Reflect Growth and Change within APA University Life
By: Amanda Andrei
Charlottesville, VA -- Beginning in 2004 with only 2 students, the Asian
Pacific American Studies (APAS) minor at the University of Virginia has since then had or currently has 20 students enrolled. Out of all the colleges and universities in
the state of Virginia, UVA is the only school to offer an Asian American
studies program.
Last
year’s undergraduate populations of Asian American students were at 10.8%,
higher than any other ethnic minority at the University. Likewise, the number of APA alumni has
surpassed the number of African American alumni. UVA’s growing
population of Asian American students reflects Virginia’s own growth of APA inhabitants. As of 2000, more than 310,000 APAs reside in the state, ranking it as the third largest
in APA population among the southern states.
Demographers predict that within twenty-five years, Virginia will hold almost 15 percent of southern states’ APA
population—around 520,000 Asian Americans.
At least half of these individuals will hold bachelor’s degrees, making
it even more important for higher education to offer a diverse range of studies
and educational opportunities.
Momentum
for the APAS minor began building almost a decade ago, along with increased
Asian Pacific American (APA) activism and the first dean dedicated to APA
affairs, Glenna Chang. Vishal Patel, an assistant director for reunions and alumni
activities at Alumni Hall and a graduate from the UVA College of Arts and
Sciences, remembers that “quantitatively there were not enough APA students
until the late 80s, early 90s, but a critical mass of APA students on grounds were
pushing for a dean and a minor,” as well as other programs for Asian American
students.
In
the coming years, pan-Asian American organizations continued to grow. Along with the Asian Student Union, students
developed the Asian Pacific American Leadership Training Institute. This seminar-long workshop trained young APA
first-year and second-year students how to deal not only with other APA
organizations, but other UVA student government groups as well. In 2004, the same year the APAS minor became
official, UVA also hosted the East Coast Asian American Student Union
conference, a gathering of over 700 college students to discuss significant
issues within the APA community and unify Asian American organizations.
Along
with this dynamic growth, the APA deans changed as well—after Glenna Chang left
in 2001, there were three other deans, including Daisy Rodriguez, who helped
formulate the APAS minor in 2004. Before
the official creation of the minor, the dean at the time would teach Asian
American studies. Sylvia Chong, an assistant professor for English and American
Studies and the director of the APAS minor, recounts, “this was a big deal
because this was one of the first times [the class] was taught, and she did it
for free.”
Despite
student-initiated interest, the main issue that kept the APAS minor from
fruition for so long was the fact that there were not enough professors and
staff to teach the subjects. Richard
Handler, a dean of the College for seven years and a professor of anthropology,
recalls that many of his Asian American students came to him for advice and
administration help in producing the minor.
“Asian American students may not see APAS as a priority,” Handler
explains. "If enough faculty in a few years want it, it can happen. These types of things only happen if the
faculty wants it to."
During
this time, in an attempt to diversify the American Studies department faculty,
two professors were hired: Sylvia Chong in English,
and Pensri Ho in anthropology. Handler recalls, “[The department] didn't
hire Pensri and Sylvia to teach APAS, but it happened
that way.” Ultimately, achieving
official status of the minor occurs when the professors construct and teach
classes relevant to the program.
Students
need at least six of such classes (for a total of eighteen credits) to obtain
the minor. This requires a general
survey course on Asian Pacific Americans; a cultural, political, racial, or
gender-based theory survey course; and an Asian transnational or diasporic course in the modern era. The interdisciplinary minor also requires
three more electives, ranging from English to Education classes and
anthropological to political courses. Class
topics range from modern Chinese politics to Asian American Drama to Women and
Power in Indian History. In this way,
students can focus on certain regions as well as academic subjects while still
getting a broad overview of Asian American history, culture, and political
thought.
Acquiring
knowledge clearly remains an important attribute of the APAS minor, but it is
the application of this knowledge that makes studying Asian Pacific American
issues so important and relevant. Huong Nguyen, the former ‘03-‘04 Asian Student Union
President, a graduate of UVA’s College of Arts &
Sciences class of ‘05, and an honorary recipient of the APAS minor offers her
student perspective.
“I
was fascinated by race theory to begin with, so the logical procession was to
study race dynamics in America. [Asian
Pacific American Studies] informs the larger human experience, and it is a lens
to use to look at the white-black relations.”
In addition to majoring in Anthropology and minoring
in APAS, Nguyen supplemented her courses with African American Studies classes
to gain different perspectives on the experience of minorities in the United States.
As a
professor of many APAS courses, Sylvia Chong
explains, “Studying Asian Americans is really about studying America and how America deals with a racial minority group. For example, it’s not just ‘the Philippines’—we ask, what are the consequences? What do we make
of the World’s Fair? What does it mean that America held the Philippines as a colony yet still excluded them? What does this
mean for the Filipino veterans of World War II? APAS asks those questions—it’s
a difference in focus.”
Once
obtaining knowledge on the history of Asian America, students can contextualize
and apply their knowledge to current situations. Students may ask how to respond to hate
crimes on their campus, or how policies on immigration of Hispanics today
compare to historical immigration patterns of Asians. In this way, students gain valuable skills in
analysis and critical thinking. Officially
acknowledging and teaching these courses “legitimizes” this branch of ethnic
studies, and it makes these classes available to non-APA students as well. Most importantly, Chong
emphasizes obtaining an “APA consciousness” through these studies.
“Having
a presence on campus, students can see that they are not isolated but have some
kind of common cause,” Chong says. “An APA consciousness means students stepping
up and defending themselves. Without an
APA consciousness, would something that happens to an APA student be
interpreted as a racial incident?” This
awareness allows students to analyze and examine the deeper implications of
events within the Asian American community.
In
spite of its success and growth, the Asian Pacific American Studies program at
UVA has taken several hits. In 2006,
Professor Pensri Ho and Dean Daisy Rodriguez left for
reasons unrelated to the program. This
absence caused anxiety among the students who worried that the minor would no
longer continue since only one of the three coordinators remained to direct and
oversee it. As of 2007, a committee of
students and faculty is in the process of hiring a new professor. However, the loss of teachers did not
decrease the applications of students interested in obtaining the minor.
“Because
we’re small and don’t have lots of resources, we have to keep track of the
students,” Chong remarks on why students must apply
to APAS. “It helps build a community in
a small program and provides support. We
want everyone who applies to ask ‘Why [am I] applying?’ and finish the minor.”
“The
only thing I would fix about the minor is to get some staff out there ASAP,” Huong Ngyuen says. “It’s not a full-fledged program or chaired
by tenured professors.” Despite this, Ngyuen sees great room for growth of the Asian Pacific
American Studies program. “Culturally,
Asian American Studies in a Southern school gives an opportunity to have
discourse in a black and white binary.
Although there is a limit to which alumni can exert influence, I’d like
to see UVA eventually compete with Berkley and have research.”
Vishal
Patel echoes this sentiment by acknowledging, “It’s up to elite institutions to
push the envelope in academia and to identify new trends. UVA’s position in Virginia has much broader mandate than other schools [in Virginia]. There is a
gap between what is going on and what we’re studying—demographics are going in
such a heavy direction. If we’re not
examining research and critical theory, who’s going to
do it?”
Dean
Richard Handler concedes from his point of view, “It didn’t ever convince me
that Asian American students wanted [this program]—I believed they would take a
course on Asian Americans, but I never believed they would want a major. I told students it’s hard to get a minor or
major unless there were faculty members to do it. But this has made deans aware we need to be
thinking about this area [of study].”
“The
hope is from the program and deans that APAS is a good thing,” Professor Sylvia
Chong states, “and worth reinforcing and growing and
continuing to find affiliated faculty and allies. The existence of APAS enriches the university
as a whole.”
Thanks
to support and pressure from students and the creativity and encouragement of
faculty, the University of Virginia has taken a step forward to bettering its range and quality of
education through the Asian Pacific American studies minor. Especially as a southern institution of
education, UVA as well as its educational peers should strive to cater to the
dynamic growth within their student bodies.
The opportunities to gain the “APA consciousness” have increased
considerably, but improvement must be made in hiring staff and providing more
classes. With the growing number of
Asian Americans enrolling in colleges across the United States and the expanding influence between America and Asian countries, the nation needs more than ever young
professionals who understand where they came from, where they are going, and
how to analyze the world around them.
Photo caption:
Professor Sylvia Chong with APAS minor graduates of 2007: Drew Austria,
Government and American Studies double major, and Meghan Sweeney, American
Studies and History double major
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