| When Dr. Gang
Yue came to teach in the Curriculum in Asian Studies in Fall 1993,
there wasn't a single course on Asian American Studies offered at
the University. Though Gang's primary duties were to teach Chinese
and Chinese literature/culture, he took the initiative to develop a
new course in Asian American Literature (Asia 82), in part at the
urge of the Asian Students Association and its president, David Liu.
The course was first offered in Fall 1995. Under the leadership of
Dr. Judith Farquhar, Chair of Asian Studies at the time, Asian
Studies secured a small grant in 1996 for a new course in Asian
American Studies and began to offer Asian American Experience (Asia
89) in Spring 1997.
These piecemeal efforts were significant as the first step in the
right direction. But Asian Studies was a small and understaffed unit
with its own mission in teaching Asian Studies, not Asian American
Studies, as each belonged to International Area Studies and American
Ethnic Studies respectively in the traditional academic division of
labor. Efforts had to be undertaken at the University level to
support a more meaningful curriculum in Asian American Studies. As a
result, ASA launched a major petition for developing such a
curriculum in 1996, led by then President Jeff Huang and
Vice-President Albert Hwang (who succeeded Jeff the next year). The
petition campaign collected more than one thousand signatures from
the University community. It called specifically for the
establishment of a program in Asian American Studies with its own
faculty to teach regular courses. The letter was presented to the
late Chancellor Michael Hooker. While the Chancellor expressed his
sympathy and moral support, he also pointed out that initiatives had
to be taken first through the College of Arts and Sciences and its
academic departments, especially when it involved matters of
creating new faculty positions and academic units.
ASA then tried to discuss the matter with administrators and
individual faculty in the College. The ultimate issue boiled down to
funding. As the discussion dragged on and student leaders saw little
political will forthcoming, the campaign wound down. The conclusion
they drew at the time was this: the condition seemed not ripe until
more Asian American students were enrolled at the University and
took a more radical approach to push for their agenda. It should be
noted, however, that recent trends in American academe have been to
move towards Asian Diaspora Studies (that is, including but also
expanding Asian American Studies as it existed up to the mid-1990s
on the West Coast and the Northeast). I suggest that supporters for
Asian American Studies at UNC broaden its agenda in the context of
globalization (and push the right buttons such as "trans-pacific
Asian Diaspora") so as to enlist a wider support from the faculty
and the administration. |
