- Overheard at Berkeley (by myself)

I really, REALLY hope that I am not the only one thorougly disgusted by this exchange. This is particularly so because Berkeley is the epicenter of ethnic studies, and yet there still exists a pervasive, deleterious notion among APA students that Asian American studies is essentially a bullshit subject. Our shared racialized history is quintessentially what distinguishes us as a community. To deny one’s self this knowledge (let alone dismiss it as being “not useful at all”) virtually affirms the existing hierarchy and outcasts one’s self from the Asian American community’s collective advancement. Even more saddening is the relation between these incidents and my hypothesis that APAs’ ignorance (and as apparently evidenced above, our INTENTIONAL ignorance) of this history contributes directly to such distressing problems as Asian-on-Asian racism, violence, and other self-inflicted detriments that our community faces.

Discussing this earlier today with my friends Mike and Joy, I was faced with the question, “So, did you curse him out? Did you kick his ass?” I fear that my failure to do so cements my complicity with this destructive mentality.

Anyway, buddy, good luck passing Japanese. I’m sure you’ll hella need it, dumbass.

—-

April 26, 2009

Dear Faculty and Staff of the A/P/A Studies Department:

As students deeply concerned with the future of Asian/Pacific/American (A/P/A) Studies, as well as other academic programs within the Social & Cultural Analysis (SCA) Department, we would like to address the tentative dismantling of the A/P/A major and minor program into a concentration.

First, we are disappointed by the hasty and exclusive manner in which information was shared with the students who would be affected by this major decision. Potential students who would have spoken on behalf of this concern were unable to exercise agency due to logistical constraints. One week ago, Professor Lok Siu informed a select group of students interested in A/P/A Studies about a meeting on Friday, April 24, to discuss the “future of A/P/A Studies.” Unfortunately, it was not until the night before the meeting that three students discovered that the topic of discussion was in fact regarding the tentative dismantling of the A/P/A major and minor program. The short time-span between the point of discovery and the time of the meeting made it difficult to contact and disseminate this information to other concerned classmates. As students who are a part of SCA, we are asking:

 Why was the informational meeting limited to only some A/P/A Studies students from Prof. Siu’s class Friday afternoon?

 Why wasn’t there a town hall meeting for all SCA students?

SCA taught us the necessity of critical analysis- challenging the status quo as opposed to passively abiding by the given set of rules and explanations of “The Man.” Therefore, as critical students, we feel the obligation to question and challenge the inherent power structures, which everyone occasionally falls victim to. SCA is a unique department that prides itself in its deep historical inquiries and applied knowledge regarding modern developments. While we do acknowledge and esteem the transdisciplinary nature of SCA, we also believe it is crucial to provide an opportunity to focus on a specific discipline involved in the intersectional links we study. Without the option for a narrower focus, we believe it would be difficult to adequately study and address the issues relevant to these intersectional relations.

Second, at this meeting on Friday, a group of nine students learned that the “SCA” administration was considering the so-called alteration of not only the A/P/A major and program, but the other SCA programs as well. It was revealed that due to management issues, budgetary concerns and lack of student interest, “SCA” was therefore converting the A/P/A major and minor into a concentration. Students were assured that this action would not “shrink” the program and the number of course offerings.

However, we find it difficult to believe that the A/P/A studies program would not eventually be downsized for the following reasons:

 There are currently only four full-time faculty that teach in the A/P/A Studies Department, one of only whom is not teaching in any other department at NYU. If the current major and minor are eliminated, we are concerned that the A/P/A Studies would lose legitimacy as a program, making it difficult to hire new, permanent full-time faculty.
 Further consolidating all ethnic studies programs into one massive concentration could cause a scramble for already scarce resources among the SCA disciplines, rather than foster cooperation.
 If we allow A/P/A and other programs to be lumped into one massive category, we would be agreeing that all these minority groups are the same and don’t need any specialized focus, but we know that, while our histories do overlap and intersect, we also have different stories. At a time when ethnic studies are undervalued on college campuses and by the general public, ethnic studies programs are even more prone to being marginalized in the hierarchies of university academia.

Third, NYU always prides itself in being located in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. However, by attempting to diminish the importance of ethnic studies and lumping the programs into one huge category, NYU would be reinforcing the same Eurocentric curriculum that our SCA classes have been teaching us to challenge all along. In doing so, the administration would be implying that the history and struggles of A/P/As, as well as other marginalized groups, are not important enough to be considered a real major. As students, we acknowledge the danger of a so-called post-racial society in an era which has seen the election of the United States’ first Black president. In light of the general fear of addressing race in this country (under the assumption that racism doesn’t exist anymore), we need specific ethnic studies classes as a safe haven to engage in that dialogue. New York City is a “crucible” for SCA’s work, “both in its community orientation and its connections to global networks,” according to principles of the department. It would be hypocritical of NYU to flaunt its multi-ethnic demographics while neglecting to tend to the needs of these populations.

We believe there is indeed a huge interest in establishing a space for dialogue specific to A/P/A history and issues. Just recently, on April 18, the 3rd annual NYC Asian American Student Conference (NYCAASC) brought together 350 students from around the NYC area onto NYU’s campus to discuss and learn about issues pertinent to the A/P/A community. Students at the City University of Hunter College, for example, have been fighting hard to establish A/P/A Studies at their own school, similar to the ones at institutions such as NYU and Columbia University. While the issues and knowledge of the history of A/P/As are widely overlooked in allof the United States, the East Coast, in contrast to the West, must address its relatively younger generation of Asian-Pacific Americans.

We do not want to spend two pages stating the obvious problems with the elimination of our major and other majors in SCA. Instead, we want to focus our energy on strategies to strengthen the programs that are already established. The following suggestions and comments are based on the limited amount of information that we have as of this moment:

 As students, we are committed to uphold the values that SCA & A/P/A promote. We see a strong need to distinguish East Asian Studies and A/P/A Studies.
 The A/P/A program needs more visibility on our campus. We believe that it is not a lack of student interest, but rather a lack of exposure to information. We should focus on a campaign to expose NYU students to the unique offerings of these different programs in SCA. One way is to advertise substantially during Welcome Week. Another way is to list A/P/A Studies as one of the majors that NYU offers, when brochures are sent to prospective students.
 In order to truly progress, we need to address present issues that are taking place. This can only happen if there are more course offerings and more professors. Following the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Professor Dent offered a course entitled, “Deconstructing Obama.” Likewise, the A/P/A Department should also provide course offerings responsive to student needs.
 It is important to empower SCA students with knowledge and transparency. For instance, none of the nine students on Friday knew about the A/P/A program budget for student development. If students were involved from the very beginning, they would have been more likely to utilize those funds to help our program flourish.

Overall, we feel very strongly about the A/P/A program, and the last thing we want to see is its deterioration. We want to help it progress and grow stronger. By allowing our program to disintegrate, we would be going against the founding principles of the A/P/A Institute. We would like to thank you for your time and hope that we can work together to think of more ways to address this dire issue. Please continue to keep us involved in this dialogue.

Sincerely,

Janice Liao, History, Art History, Subaltern Studies [Gallatin]
Joseph Lin, Social and Cultural Analysis (Asian/Pacific/American and Latino Studies)
Chi-Ser Tran, Asian/Pacific/American Studies

In support:
Carina Don, Asian/Pacific/American Studies & History
Michelle Geslani, Asian/Pacific/American Studies & Journalism
Emerald Maravilla, Social & Cultural Analysis (A/P/A and Africana Studies)
Karen Yi, Social & Cultural Analysis (A/P/A and Latino Studies) & Journalism
Melissa Zhang, Psychology, Asian/Pacific/American Studies

3rd annual NYC Asian American Student Conference committee
NYU Asian Heritage Month committee

———————-

(Special props to my girl Chi-Ser Tran [NYU ’09] for informing me of this situation and allowing me to reprint their letter. The highlighted portions are the words that elicited my strongest reactions and are my own editing.)

There’s not much more information or commentary here, because right now all the students know about the situation are detailed in the letter above. Of course, this change to the SCA program would bring similar changes to other ethnic studies disciplines offered by the university. As a New York native raised in the NYU area who is thoroughly familiar with the evils of the university administration (especially upon neighboring communities), I find the hypocrisy behind heralding NYU’s location for its diverse and cultural values while denying ethnic studies its proper recognition within academia absolutely abhorrent. This is especially true, considering that this would come as a blow to one of the better and more developed A/P/A study programs on the East Coast—not that there were many to start with.

Right now the decision is being postponed, but that still leaves this program vulnerable. With the recent graduation of the (as of this writing) only 3 A/P/A majors from the university, it’s important we keep informed about our friends on the East Coast fighting the same good fight that we are (don’t tell me any of that letter didn’t sound familiar to you). I continue to be wholly impressed by the active role students are taking in the movement. Hopefully, with all the shit we need to get done at Berkeley, we can get more of this kind of leadership going.

Fight on, NYU kids.