Journal of Asian American
Studies
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Program Starter Kit
PART II - Asian American Studies Information
WHY ESTABLISH ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES?A BRIEF OPINION 1
The most common argument for establishing Asian American
Studies in higher education is the "numbers" argument. This
reasoning goes: "Since we have 20% Asian American students
on campus, we should have Asian American Studies". While
Asian American students should have courses relevant to
their interests, along with Asian American faculty and
staff as support and role models, there are other perhaps
more compelling reasons for establishing Asian American
Studies.There is an intellectual reason for Asian American
Studies which is more relevant east of California, where
many schools have small Asian American student populations.
Asian American Studies, and Ethnic Studies of which it is a
part, focuses on race as its primary unit for analysis.
Asian American Studies, through a comparative approach,
disrupts the common black-white definition of race so
common today, especially east of California. In this and
many other ways, Asian American Studies illuminates the
whole of American History and contemporary American
experience. But Asian American Studies must also account
for other positions, including those of gender, class and
sexuality. In other words, Asian American Studies should
exist on university/college campuses regardless of the
number of students on that campus. As an analogy, consider:
there are few Native American students on most college
campuses, but Native American Studies is a critical part of
Ethnic Studies and liberal arts. As a fundamental way for
understanding American experience, Asian American Studies
should be available, if not required, for all students on a
campus.
While not denying the importance of Asian American Studies
for Asian American students, opponents of Asian American
Studies can use the "numbers" argument to lable Asian
American Studies as merely "identity politics" or "minority
studies" and decry Asian American Studies as not a
legitimate field of study.
ASIAN STUDIES VS. ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES
One common confusion of Asian American Studies is its
relationship to Asian Studies. Asian American Studies is
not Asian Studies.
Asian Studies was established in the late 18th century as
Orientalism -- the desire to contain and structure
anxieties of difference and otherness. Oriental Studies
programs were established in concert with the rise of
European and U.S. empire in Asia and Africa to provide
critical information on the culture and society of
"natives." Asian Studies' main audience was the state and
capital, especially during World War II and during the Cost
War, when Asianists worked directly for the War Department.
Asian American Studies, in contrast, was established in the
1960s, in order to advocate the end of the exclusion of
people of color in university curricula. Asian American
Studies was also established to break down the "Ivory
Tower"; that is, to make university curriculum respond to
the needs and experiences of Asian American communities. It
was also established in solidarity with movements for
decolonization in the Third World. Thus, Asian American
Studies is emphatically rooted in the American experience;
its origins and goals more closely parallel those of other
Ethnic Studies programs (African American, Latino, and
Native American Studies) and of Women's Studies programs
than those of Asian Studies.
Asian Studies, as a long established field of study, enjoys
a relatively privileged position in relation to the state,
capital, and society in comparison to Asian American
Studies. Asian Studies scholars have been heavily involved
in shaping U.S. foreign policy, while Asian Americanists
have a very limited role in shaping public policy.
Asian American Studies does of course depend on the
insights provided by Asian Studies, including the
histories, cultures, and dispersions of Asian peoples. And
recently, Asian American Studies, in response to the
post-1965 immigration, has moved to consider more fully the
relationship between Asians in the U.S. and "Asia" both in
familial and capital relations. In addition, Asian Studies
has moved towards Asian American Studies. Some Asian
Studies scholars have, even before the founding of Asian
American Studies, questioned many assumptions of Asian
Studies. While there is this increased dialogue between the
two fields, it should still be clear that both fields have
distinct histories and are still distinctly different.
While not denying the importance of Asian American Studies
for Asian American students, opponents of Asian American
Studies can use the "numbers" argument to lable Asian
American Studies as merely "identity politics" or "minority
studies" and decry Asian American Studies as not a
legitimate field of study.
American Studies
American Studies takes many forms in higher education. Some
programs are premised on a traditional Eurocentric notion
of "America" as an essentially Euro-American enterprise,
with little mention of an analysis of race, while some
programs centralize an analysis of race and also look
critically at the historical and contemporary American
influence in the Third World. One way -- though not a
foolproof way -- to ascertain this is to look at the
faculty in the American Studies program or department. Do
they have any specialists in Asian American or African
American Studies? If not, chances are, the inclusion of
Asian American Studies into the American Studies curriculum
will just be an "add-on."
NOTES
(1) For a substantive description of Asian American
Studies, see "Opening the American Mind and Body: The Role
of Asian American Studies," Shirley Hune, Change,
November/December 1989, at the back of this packet.
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