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For more than 50 years, Asian American studies has been a recognized field at American colleges and universities. But outside of California, students who want to study it as a major or minor are usually out of luck.<\/p>\n
However, the tide is beginning to turn.<\/p>\n
Duke University\u00a0created an academic minor in Asian American studies<\/a>\u00a0in 2022. Harvard University,\u00a0long criticized<\/a>\u00a0for not offering enough courses in ethnic studies, hired\u00a0two tenured faculty<\/a>\u00a0members in Asian American studies over the past two years.<\/p>\n Vanderbilt University announced its\u00a0new major and minor<\/a>\u00a0in the field in 2023. That same year, Williams College\u00a0started its concentration<\/a>, akin to a minor, and\u00a0Fordham University<\/a>\u00a0started its minor.<\/p>\n Amherst College, where\u00a0I teach<\/a>,\u00a0recently created<\/a>\u00a0a major in Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, to start in the fall of 2024. Amherst will be the first liberal arts college in the country with its own major in the field.<\/p>\n Southern California\u2019s\u00a0Claremont Colleges<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps \u2013 have collectively offered a shared major for 25 years. Public high schools across the country have\u00a0similarly experienced growth<\/a>\u00a0in content on Asian Americans.<\/p>\n These programs did not get going overnight. Students on these campuses \u2013 and others \u2013 campaigned for Asian American studies for years. Across the nation, student activists in\u00a0the South<\/a>,\u00a0the Northeast<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the Southwest<\/a>\u00a0continue to lobby for more courses and for majors or minors in the field.<\/p>\n But if student activism and faculty interest were all it took to achieve curricular change, Asian American studies and related fields would have been popping up on campuses long ago. At Amherst, students had been pushing for greater attention to Asian American studies for\u00a050 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n The recent commitment to teaching more courses and hiring permanent faculty \u2013 as opposed to visiting faculty \u2013 stems, in part, from tragedy. Programs began to grow as attacks on Asian Americans, including the\u00a02021 murders of spa workers<\/a>\u00a0in Atlanta,\u00a0increased during the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>. Former President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated reference to COVID-19 as the \u201cChinese virus<\/a>\u201d added rhetorical fuel to racial animosity.<\/p>\nDecades of lobbying<\/strong><\/h4>\n