The University of Arizona is launching a new minor in Asian Pacific American studies, centered on what has become the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the United States.

The new minor, housed in the Department of East Asian Studies in the College of Humanities, is the result of more than two decades of work and comes at a time of highly visible anti-Asian racism and violence in the United States, related in part to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I am deeply grateful to all who worked to make this exciting new minor possible, and I am thrilled to see it launch, especially at this vital time in our history," said Liesl Folks, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

The field of Asian Pacific American studies analyzes immigrants and generations of their descendants from Asia and the Pacific islands, which includes over 50 nationalities represented in the United States. The minor will address four core research areas: immigration and diaspora studies; American international and domestic politics; cultural and media studies; and Orientalism, the term articulated by late Columbia University professor Edward Said to describe Eurocentric prejudice and commonly contemptuous depictions and portrayals of "The East."

"As the path to empathy and understanding, education is essential in combating prejudice and hatred. We hope that students from across the campus can join with world-class faculty to explore courses about the rich cultures that make up the Asian Pacific American experience," said Alain-Philippe Durand, dean of the College of Humanities. "For students who graduate with the minor, we are confident they'll be well-prepared with the global mindset and analytical skills necessary to compete and succeed in the 21st-century workforce."

Assistant professor of practice Brett Esaki conducted a feasibility study that showed a broad acknowledgement from students that the new minor fills an important need for to the 21st-century global workforce.

"When you learn about Asian Pacific Americans, you're learning about foundational aspects of our globalized world, and we want to have a very practical program, designed to be applicable and address a broad population," said Esaki, who helped shepherd the proposal for the minor, from East Asian Studies and religious studies faculty, to the final working group. "The positive thing for me is that this is something that has been developing for quite some time. It's not some kind of reactionary move. The working group is the latest manifestation and it's the right time now. We have the wind at our backs."

Students have been pushing for an Asian Pacific American studies program since the creation of the Asian Pacific American Student Affairs center, said Tia Hunt, a graduating senior majoring in electrical and computer engineering who worked at the center as a staff member and an intern for its board of directors. Hunt is also a former executive board member for the UArizona Filipino American Student Association.

"It's a win nearly 30 years in the making," she said. "For a long time, APA stories were missing in our local history. Growing up in Tucson, I was never aware of my own racial history right here in town, from the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground on Mount Lemmon to the Chinese grocers such as Lee Wee Kwon who once dominated Tucson's grocery business."

"It's been such an affirming experience for me to be able to take one of the foundational courses for the minor ... in my last semester here," Hunt said. "APA stories are foundational to the university and Tucson community, and they deserve to be told. Now, students have the opportunity to hear and learn from them."

Kimberly Jones, vice dean for academic affairs in the College of Humanities, was acting head of the Department of East Asian Studies in 2002, when student demand spurred a then-unsuccessful effort to establish an Asian American studies program.

"This has surfaced now and then over the years, but it's emerging at a time when it can really meet a need. This time around, there was community interest expressed as well, so it's not only students, but the Asian American community in Tucson," Jones said. "Now we have more faculty with specialties in this area, so we're able to offer a more robust slate of courses."

Joining Esaki as core faculty members are Jonathan Jae-an Crisman, assistant professor of public and applied humanities; Dian Li, professor of East Asian studies; and Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan, assistant professor of English and Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory.

Among the core courses for the minor are two that fulfill university-wide general education requirements: "Asian Pacific American Strategies: Confronting Challenges in the United States" and "Asian Pacific American Cultures in Public Life." Other courses include options that cover literature, film, religion, music, culture, history and politics. Electives also include courses in the Critical Languages Program, which offers study in five relevant languages: Cantonese, Hindi, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese.

"I really want to commend the students on campus who have been pushing for this minor for years," Crisman said. "I think the younger generation has been championing an ethos of care, mutuality and joy into their activism, and we've tried to incorporate that sensibility into the minor as well. It's not just going to be standard lecture-based learning, but engagement with one's own identity, with peers and with the broader APA community. And this actually harkens back to the early formation of Asian American studies that was really trying to rethink what education looked like."

The minor joins a group of existing UArizona programs that focus on the study of marginalized and underrepresented groups. Others include Africana studies, American Indian studies, gender and women's studies, and Mexican American studies, all of which address the university strategic plan's third pillar, The Arizona Advantage, which emphasizes driving social, cultural and economic impact by strengthening the university's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

"It's important to recognize that for people from minority or marginalized communities, there's some commonalities of experience as well," Esaki said. "To get solidarity, you have to give solidarity. If you want to be isolated, you can be isolated, but you can't expect others to empathize with you. That's exactly opposite of what we want to do. We want to get our students to understand those other contexts because it's essential."

Kenny Importante, Asian Pacific American Student Affairs director, said the  courses that make up the new minor will give students of various backgrounds valuable perspective for their own experiences.

"When they know their history, they're able to share more and encourage others to embrace their own racial and ethnic identity," Importante said.

Albert Welter, head of the Department of East Asian Studies, said the new minor complements the department's existing focus on language and cultural studies of China, Japan and Korea.

"I'm looking forward to the injection of Asian Pacific American studies into the department because it brings a contemporary relevance, not just in terms of international affairs, but also domestic affairs. This brings a whole new rich context to the department," he said. "The Asian Pacific American community at the University of Arizona is quite diverse and broad. The needs of those students in particular have not been well served by not having a program such as this. We're happy that it's finally here, and we're ready to celebrate."

EXTRA INFO

Students interested in more information about program requirements, or who want to declare a minor, should contact the College of Humanities Academic Advising Center at cohadv@email.arizona.edu(link sends e-mail).

As the university recognizes APIDA Heritage Month, assistant professor Joshua Schlachet explains how he and his East Asian studies colleagues are helping increase the profile of the university's Japanese studies offerings.

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Dr. Hai Ren has just published a blog essay on China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure project. The blog article, entitled “Infrastructure as a Planetary Sculpture: The Future of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Anthropocene” (https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/beltandroad/article/infrastructure-as-a-planetary-sculpture-the-future-of-the-belt-and-road-initiative-in-the-anthropocene/), was invited to reflect on the future effects of the BRI by the "Belt & Road In Global Perspective” initiative at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, the University of Toronto.

The Munk School has had a major presence in a number of global debates in recent years. The Munk Debates (https://munkdebates.com) famously pit major political figures and commentators in debates over leading topical issues.

Congratulations, Dr. Ren! It’s a really great honor to be featured on their website.

Dear EAS Colleagues and Students,

I join in the messages of the Dean and Provost’s Office in condemning the rise of hatred and violence against Asians, Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities. The recent spate of anti-Asian violence has no place in our communities and must be denounced forcefully if we are to move forward with a sense of confidence and hope in our futures. As recent events/presentations by our EAS colleagues and friends have indicated, while these events may be recent in their ferocity, they are sadly not new to an American experience built on anti-Asian sentiment that has sometimes manifested itself even in public policy. The challenge for the United States to rise to its ideals has never been more acute, the specter of its racist past rarely more evident. As an American, I feel we are at a critical juncture in the United States. We are facing two paths: a retreat to status quo racism that infected the past, or a progressive shift toward genuinely addressing and moving beyond the racist and biased aspects of our history, to seeing in the “other” but a version of ourselves. There is, sad to say, much work to be done. 

In the interim, I can offer only words of solace and support to my Asian and Asian-American colleagues, students, and friends. I remember as an undergraduate student many decades ago, learning of the Japanese internment camps during WWII and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. It disturbed me deeply, and has continued to resonate throughout my life. Recent events have made me realize this anti-Asian sentiment has only lain dormant, waiting for a spark to reignite it. I join in solidarity with those who will help to stamp it out. I am neither optimistic nor naïve enough to think hate can be eliminated, but I do believe it can be driven back and consigned to a place where it is not allowed to show itself. I am committed to this end. 

While I mourn for the victims of Tuesday’s murders in Georgia and condemn the violence and unacceptable rise of hate against Asian American Pacific Islander communities, my main concern is for you, here at the University of Arizona, who are subjected to ongoing abuse and discrimination in our own community. As indicated in the Dean’s message, various resources exist for support, education and advocacy, including Stop AAPI Hate and the Asian American Advocacy Fund. On campus, the Asian Pacific American Student Affairs staff has prepared a mental health wellness page, and the University provides an opportunity to report threatening behavior and/or bias on this page. Please avail yourself of these, as needed.

It has been a dreadful year for us all, and just as we begin to see a little light at the end of the tunnel, we are threatened yet again with the specter of hatred. I am reminded that departments like ours, while committed to the academic enterprise, are also engaged in a larger social mission to improve understanding across cultures, to replace fear with knowledge, to provide sustenance to our human community and to celebrate our common aspirations toward the accomplishments of individuals and to celebrate our mutual successes. It is now more important than ever that we reaffirm our goals and sense of shared purpose.

Please feel free to reach out if you wish.

In solidarity,
Albert Welter, PhD
Professor and Head, Department of East Asian Studies

Two books translated by Professor Gabriel are set to be published in April. One is Haruki Murakami's new short story collection First Person Singular, and the other is a best-selling Japanese novel called Lonely Castle in the Mirror. 

Haruki Murakami's First Person Singular is a collection of eight short stories, seven of which appeared in Japanese magazines between 2018 and 2019, plus one new story written specially for the collection. Three of the stories have appeared in The New Yorker in Professor Gabriel's translation.
 
Mizuki Tsujimura's Lonely Castle in the Mirror is very popular in Japan, and won the annual Japan Bookseller's Prize in 2018. It deals with seven junior high age children who refuse to attend school. Part fantasy, part social commentary, it's a touching story of struggle and friendship. The translation will be published first in the UK, then later in the US.

Congratulations, Professor Gabriel!

A new wide-ranging grant in Japanese Studies will fund faculty, graduate and undergraduate scholarships, research materials and more, a significant step toward the goal of being one of the country’s top programs.

The grant, about $250,000 over three years, is the largest award the Japan Foundation offers in the United States, and the University of Arizona is the only institution to receive the grant this year. The project, “Building an Integrated Approach to Japanese Studies: Classical Culture, Global Encounters,” includes eight components: a new tenure-track faculty position, an annual workshop series, a visiting lecture series, graduate research assistantships, library acquisitions, sponsored film screenings, graduate student fellowships, and undergraduate scholarships.

“It’s meant to be a comprehensive grant that provides much-needed funding for a variety of initiatives to create a transformational opportunity for our program,” says Joshua Schlachet, one of the principal investigators and an assistant professor in the Department of East Asian Studies. “We are thrilled to have this support to continue building on our departmental successes in Japanese Studies.”

Co-investigators on the grant are Takashi Miura and Nathaniel Smith, specialists in Japanese religion and anthropology, who join other current faculty experts on history, linguistics and modern literature, with chronological expertise spanning from the 17^th through the 21^st centuries. With the grant, the department has been able to hire premodern Japanese literature expert Kaoru Hayashi as the new tenure-track assistant professor.

“We see this as a way to increase our integration across the department and really improve the research profile of our Japanese Studies program, putting the U of A and College of Humanities in that conversation as one of the top places to go and learn about Japan, both at undergraduate and graduate levels,” Schlachet says. “We have many of the pieces together and we feel like we’re building upon that strong foundation to bring our reputation in line with the quality of the program.”

Key to the long-term plan is the hire of Hayashi, who extends the program’s research and teaching capacity into classical Japan, complementing the range current faculty and extending the program’s research and teaching capacity into time periods and themes of study lacking sufficient attention.

“I am thrilled to join a department that continues to grow in its role as a leading program in the field. Studying premodern Japan and its texts is trans-regional and interdisciplinary by nature, and I am excited to contribute to bolster the intellectual foundation of East Asian Studies,” Hayashi says. “Collaborating with such a diverse body of faculty in the Department and the larger College of Humanities gives us the chance to show how the study of classic literature is alive and relevant, as the 'classics' have never been static entities—they are continually reconstructed and reinterpreted down to the present day.”

The East Asian Studies Department is transitioning to a cluster model based on time periods as well as geographical foci, which will encourage cooperation between specialists in premodern Japanese and Chinese cultures. The department is particularly grateful for the ability to hire a tenure line in classical Japanese as part of the grant, which will encourage further developments in this direction, says Department Head Albert Welter.  

“The study of classical Japan is an essential component of any strong East Asian Studies program. Not only does it provide a base for Japan Studies more generally, but it also provides links across boundaries and an interdisciplinary synergy to explore commonalities intrinsic to a broader East Asian culture,” Welter says.

Other components of the project, like the themed workshops, sponsored lectures, library acquisitions and film series, will build networks across the university’s research community and connect the University of Arizona to a national and international network of Japan scholars. A pilot workshop, “Interdisciplinary Edo: New Perspectives on Early Modern Japan,” took place in 2019.

Dedicating a significant portion of the Japan Foundation grant to undergraduate scholarships and graduate research assistantships and fellowships will be crucial to not only supporting those young and emerging Japanese Studies scholars, but fortifying the University as an academic destination in the future. In terms of curriculum, the project focuses on integrating humanistic inquiry with concrete career training in fields across the university, since undergraduates in the Japanese language and culture programs routinely pursue double-majors in a variety of fields.

“We took great care to design and include comprehensive graduate and undergraduate student funding packages to attract, retain and reward our best students,” Smith says. “Study abroad programs give our students immersive learning experiences and many past participants have gone on to pursue career opportunities in Japan. Creating new scholarships helps us engage more students in this critical aspect of cross-cultural education.”

Significantly, the College of Humanities has defied national trends of declining enrollment in humanities programs and East Asian Studies is uniquely poised to set regional and even national standards for growth among peer institutions. From 2013 to 2018, the number of East Asian Studies undergraduate majors focusing on Japanese culture and language increased 57 percent, from 44 to 69, while minors over the same period increased 76 percent, from 119 to 209.

University of Arizona Alumna Michelle Yang, focuses on Asian American identity, feminism, and mental health. Her writings have been published by InStyle, Reader’s Digest, Parents, HuffPost, and more. Read her recent article “Why 'Over the Moon' is the film my son and I desperately needed”.