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The undergraduate course focuses exclusively on the history and experience of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

By La Monica Everett-Haynes, University Communications
January 11, 2008

It took a multitude of faculty and staff across The University of Arizona’s campus to introduce a new colloquium this spring that will focus on the history and experience of Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

“There are faculty and staff on campus who want this. It’s a conversation we would always have when we got together socially,” said Theodore Tong, an associate dean in the College of Pharmacy and one of the colloquium’s facilitators. “We’d look around and say, ‘Don’t you think we should be sharing this information with the students?’”

Tong and others hope the class will create a better understanding of how heterogeneous the Asian population is and also jump-start student interest in studying issues relevant to the group, whether they be in health, law, economics or elsewhere.

The UA already offers a number of culturally and ethnically centered programs, such as those focusing on Hispanic, American Indian, Jewish, East Asian, African American and African populations.

But no degree program focused exclusively on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders exists, which is one reason why the undergraduate colloquium was introduced, Tong said. “We’re nowhere near offering a major, but if the colloquium catches on we may be able to do that.”

The “Introduction to Asian Pacific American Studies” is open to all students and creates a forum to discuss issues affecting Asian Americans – some historical and others related to education and politics or social changes.

Another purpose is to dissect the “model minority” and “perpetual foreigner” mentalities that have resulted in negative stereotypes against Asian populations.

“We have a very strong East Asian Studies program, but there is a need to look at topics that affect Asian American and Pacific Islanders,” said Marc Johnston, who directs the Asian Pacific American Student Affairs Center.

The elective course will cover topics in law, health, pop culture and self-identification, relying heavily on guest speakers from the Diversity Resource Office, the James E. Rogers College of Law and the Office of Academic Affairs among other areas of campus.

Students also will study issues through film screenings, class discussions and required journaling.

Johnston, who was at the forefront of introducing the colloquium and is one of its facilitators said, “There is so much to be covered.”

Class enrollment is capped at 30, said Johnston. He will co-teach the colloquium with Tong, East Asian Studies associate professor Dian Li and Dan Xayaphanh, a senior retention coordinator.

Despite the broad expertise of those teaching and serving as guest speakers, the course is not meant to be an in-depth review, but instead is an exploration “to raise awareness, consciousness, curiosity,” Tong said.

“I see this as our American history that has often been left out, overlooked, marginalized, forgotten and not even celebrated,” he added. “We want students to get engaged and thinking.”