The annual Undergraduate Research Symposium hosted by the Asian American and Diaspora Studies Program (AADS) at Duke University took place on March 30, 2023, providing a platform for undergraduate students to present their research on topics related to Asian American and Diaspora Studies. The symposium was a culmination of the students' hard work and dedication to their respective research topics. The event drew a diverse audience comprising of students, faculty, and special guests, including Dr. Pawan Dhingra of Amherst… read more about 2023 AADS Undergraduate Research Symposium in Review »
David Lee (T ‘23) is one of the first students to minor in Asian American & Diaspora Studies at Duke. The AADS program started in 2018 and the minor was approved for students for Fall 2022. Its first class graduates this spring. Lee has been involved in student organizing for Asian American Studies since his first year, in spaces where maybe “the real Asian American studies are the friends we made along the way.” He joined the Asian American Studies Working Group (AASWG) and found not only a much-lauded base of… read more about First Cohort of AADS Minors to Graduate in May »
The Friends We Made Along the Way: Interview of Graduating AADS and AASWG Student, David Lee David Lee (T ‘23) has been involved in student organizing for Asian American Studies since they were a freshman, in spaces where maybe “the real Asian American studies are the friends we made along the way.” In AASWG (the Asian American Studies Working Group), he found not only much-lauded base of student investment in Asian American Studies, but also a kind of “political home” rare at Duke. Over the last 20 years, AASWG… read more about The Friends We Made Along the Way: David Lee Interview »
How can scholarship on Asian Americans deepen our understanding of race and immigration in the United States? Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor Pawan Dhingra made a case for broadening the reach of Asian American studies to involve popular discourse and revise long-held public perceptions. Speaking to a full house of students, faculty and community members, Dhingra said the stereotype of “the model minority” ignores key aspects of American society that opened avenues for Asian American advancement. He used… read more about Duke Today: Keohane Professor Brings Together UNC and Duke Faculty and Students to Energize Asian American Scholarship on Both Campuses »
One year ago, the Arts and Sciences Council approved the Asian American and Diaspora Studies (AADS) minor. The first of its kind in the American South, the minor is led by Esther Kim Lee, AADS director and professor of theater studies, international comparative studies and history. The minor requiresfour electives and one introductory course — either Introduction to Asian American History or Introduction to Asian American and Diaspora Studies. Lee shared how, after only a year, the… read more about Duke Chronicle: Duke’s Asian American Diaspora Studies minor nears one-year anniversary »
How can scholarship on Asian Americans deepen our understanding of race and immigration in the United States? Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor Pawan Dhingra made a case for broadening the reach of Asian American studies to involve popular discourse and revise long-held public perceptions. Speaking to a full house of students, faculty and community members, Dhingra said the stereotype of “the model minority” ignores key aspects of American society that opened avenues for Asian American advancement. He used a… read more about Keohane Professor Brings Together UNC and Duke Faculty and Students to Energize Asian American Scholarship on Both Campuses »
Eileen Cheng-yin Chow, associate professor of the practice in Chinese and Japanese cultural studies, speaking on ABC’s Nightline in the aftermath of the Monterey Park shooting, about the important role senior centers serve in Asian-American communities. You can view the interview here. read more about Eileen Cheng-yin Chow speaking on ABC’s Nightline in the aftermath of the Monterey Park shooting »
Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Yun Emily Wang Our Spring 2023 tgiFHI series continues with Yun Emily Wang. Here's an interview with Prof. Wang on her research interests, method, and practice. Tell us about your research interests and how they developed for you. My current body of work focuses on Asian Canada, and more specifically the Chinese diaspora in Canada. The geocultural areas and topics I work on include East Asia, Asian America, and transpacific circulation/migration… read more about Spring 2023 tgiFHI series: Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Yun Emily Wang »
Haley Warren, Trinity Communications Though her office is small, it is filled with the stories of former students. Printed out copies of journal articles and clippings from graphic novels are pinned to her walls. Essays and collections cover her desk. She proudly points them all out, explaining the research these papers originated from and how excited she is to have them published in various journals. She looks at one, explaining how the essay’s author writes about the plight of the “no-no boys,” a group… read more about From Footnote to Main Idea: Award Winner Teaches Writing via Asian American Narratives »
Observations from an Asian American & Diaspora Studies Program Student Photos by John West, Trinity Communications It’s easy to let something momentous wash soundlessly into a current of small logistics: the shoes that tape won’t hold, the baby quiet in a corner, the caterers folding black tablecloths and the blue folders waiting to be filled. Still, it was impossible to miss the waves of newness at the inaugural Southeast Conference on Asian American Studies – the… read more about Speakers, Panelist Discuss Goals and Future of Asian American Pedagogy »
Traveling to many corners around the world, lawyer-turned-filmmaker Joseph Juhn was surprised to find familiar faces nearly everywhere. All around the United States as well as in South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Germany, and in Cuba, Juhn encountered members of the Korean diaspora, many of whom are native-born descendants of Korean migrants. This revelation inspired his first documentary, Jeronimo(link is external), which examined the Korean-Cuban community and the fascinating narrative of Jeronimo Lim Kim, a law… read more about Asian American & Diaspora Studies Advance at Duke »
National recognition and respect for Asian Americans is surging, and yet, racial violence against Asian Americans is rising as well. Rather than seeing these as opposing trends, it makes more sense to understand how they are connected, suggests Amherst College Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty Pawan Dhingra. “To combat anti-Asian violence, we need to get at the root of what's behind it. Celebrating Asian Americans will not adequately meet that goal,” said Dhingra, who has been appointed as the… read more about New Keohane Visiting Professor to Explore the Asian American Experience During Professorship at Duke and UNC »
Speakers from universities across the nation discussed the challenges of creating Asian American Studies programs and the importance of student activism at the inaugural 2022 Southeast Conference on Asian American Studies on Saturday. read more about Duke, UNC co-hosts first southeastern regional conference on Asian American Studies »
Duke’s pioneers are the people and organizations who push the University forward, relentlessly reimagining every aspect of our community with boundless energy and passion. They question the status quo and refuse to accept anything that is unjust or unsatisfactory. The pioneers of this year’s Chron15 list trekked through uncharted territories, leading to new academic programs, community connections, athletic success and scientific breakthroughs. Nina King Duke Athletics saw significant changes this year, from… read more about Asian American Studies Working Group Among 2021-22 Chron15: Pioneers »
Since joining Duke in 2018, Esther has made a significant impact on the university through her directorship of the Asian American & Diaspora Studies program. Building on a foundation of advocacy by Duke students, alumni and faculty like AADS founding director Aimee Kwon, Esther successfully guided the creation of a new minor in Asian American & Diaspora Studies. Housed within the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, this new minor is dedicated to an interdisciplinary study of the people of Asian… read more about AADS Director Esther Kim Lee is awarded the 2022 Dean's Diversity Award »
TEDxDuke 2022: The Bones of Strangers and other Chinatown Stories with Eileen Cheng-yin Chow Instead of asking a stranger, “Where are you (really) from?”, Eileen Cheng-yin Chow suggests that “How did you get here today?” might yield a more meaningful exchange. Learning about the histories of Chinatowns and their inhabitants is to see how people who have been perceived as perpetual outsiders developed powerful strategies for survival and mutual care, in life and in death. And in turn, by shifting our attention… read more about TEDxDuke 2022: “How Did You Get Here Today? On caring for strangers, and other Chinatown Stories” »
Shania Khoo was a freshman in high school in 2014 when Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, Mo. The killing of the Black teenager by a White police officer fueled a national resurgence in conversations about race. Khoo began advocating for an ethnic studies curriculum to bring these discussions into her classrooms in Cary, N.C., to educate herself and her peers about structural racism and social justice. She continued that activism at Duke University, building on the work of past organizers in calling for the… read more about The Washington Post: A minor in Asian American studies at Duke is a major win for student activists »
20 years ago, students held Duke’s first teach-in for Asian American Studies – a teach-in that represents only a moment in a much longer lineage of Asian American student organizing, but still a moment worthy of commemoration. Last weekend, AASWG (Asian American Studies Working Group) invited back alumni from the last 20 years who were involved in Asian American organizing spaces during their time at Duke. The alumni spoke about their experiences at a three-part panel centered around ‘resisting, recovering, remembering.’… read more about AASWG's Resisting, Recovering, Remembering Panel »
Asian American history is part and parcel of American history. Asian American experiences emerge within an American context and in relation to the many other cultural, institutional, and political aspects that comprise contemporary life in the United States. And yet, beginning with the initial moments of immigration to the United States by people from Asia, large swathes of white Americans have deemed these histories and experiences as somehow un-American. Several historical moments have laid bare this tendency to… read more about Duke University Libraries spotlights the Asian American Studies collection »
On March 16, 2021, a series of shootings in the Atlanta-area claimed the lives of eight people—including six women of Asian descent. The Duke community came together in remembrance of the victims exactly a year later. Both Duke’s Asian American and Diaspora Studies Program and the Center for Multicultural Affairs hosted events to help Duke’s community grieve the losses of the victims. AADS hosted a panel on March 16 to address the violent sexualization of… read more about Duke's Remembrance of the Atlanta Shootings »
‘An incredible achievement’: Students, faculty prepare for launch of new Asian American Diaspora Studies minor. read more about The Chronicle covers the launch of the new AADS Minor »
The Chronicle covered the AADS panel discussion with speakers including Helen Jin Kim, assistant professor of American religious history at Emory University; Vernadette Gonzalez, professor of American studies at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa; and Kate D’Adamo, a partner with Reframe Health and Justice. Anna Storti, assistant professor of gender, sexuality and feminist studies at Duke, moderated the event. read more about AADS panel discusses Atlanta spa shootings one year later »
After decades of advocacy and a unanimous vote from the Arts & Sciences Council in February, Duke undergraduates have a new option to consider when registering for fall 2022 classes: a minor in Asian American & Diaspora Studies. The Asian American & Diaspora Studies Program (AADS) has partnered with the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) to offer the thematic minor, which will be housed in AMES and administered by AADS. “AMES really was the natural choice,” said AADS Director Esther Kim… read more about After Student Activism, Duke Launches Asian American & Diaspora Studies Minor »
The Duke community will come together in remembrance of the victims of the Atlanta Salon Shootings on March 16—exactly one year after the attack. Last March, a series of three Atlanta-area shootings claimed the lives of eight people—six of whom were Asian women. Both Duke’s Asian American and Diaspora Studies Program and the Center for Multicultural Affairs will host events to honor the victims of the shootings and process the horrifying attack. AADS will host a “Brown Bag Conversation” led by Dr. Anna Storti to facilitate… read more about Remembering the Atlanta Shootings »
On February 18, Dr. Anna Storti gave a rich and necessary talk on what she terms “racist intimacies.” She explored the inextricability of race from desire, and the ways this interplay is both grounded in violent histories and entangled in our contemporary. In her analysis of racist intimacies, Dr. Storti reframes the politics of multiracialism and the clashing, converging histories which produce mixed race subjects. What does it mean for Asian America, and Asian/American bodies, to be adhesed to empire’s erotic life?… read more about Racist Intimacies: Asian America in Thrall to Desire »
The Asian American Diaspora Studies (AADS) program is proud to announce its new minor degree! We are in a productive and exciting partnership with the Asian Middle Eastern Studies as our minor will be housed in their department. The Arts & Sciences Council voted unanimously on February 3rd to approve the new minor. The minor itself will consist of five courses with one required introductory course, in which students can choose between “Introduction to Asian American History” (History/AADS 198) or ‘Introduction to… read more about AADS Minor Program Celebration! »
New Minor in Asian American and Diaspora Studies I’m very happy to announce that we have a new minor in Asian American and Diaspora Studies (AADS)! The Arts & Sciences Council voted this afternoon to approve the new minor. It has taken decades of student activism to get to this moment, and I want to thank every one of the students who organized, protested, and demanded that the Duke curriculum reflect our collective and diverse histories and experiences. I want to thank the faculty and… read more about New Asian American and Diaspora Studies minor! »