Conditions of Success: The Asian American Studies Social Movement in the Midwest, 1990–2009

• In Event: Higher Education Activism Across Time and Space

Abstract

This historical case study at Indiana University (IU), in the years 1990 to 2009, explores how the Asian American Studies (AAS) movement gained traction in the Midwest. This paper examines how activists initiated an academic curricular change despite a small critical mass of activists, political passivity, institutional racism and bureaucracy. Activists’ efforts spanned 20 years starting with a student-led initiative and culminating into multi-level and cross-racial alliances with faculty, staff, and other ethnic organizations on campus to intellectualize the need for an AAS program within a traditional curriculum offering. Findings from this paper continues the effort to document Asian American education history beyond the West Coast and the study of social movements as a mode of change within post-secondary institutions.

Author

• Stephanie Thanh Xuan Nguyen, Indiana University - Bloomington