Centering Asian American Midwestern Voices in Educational Historiography

Session Type: Virtual Symposium

Abstract

This session will center the histories and voices of Asian American college student activists in the Midwest who are largely invisible in the educational historiography. These students advocated for culturally and racially relevant curricula and student services in the 1990s- 2000s on predominantly white campuses. Using archival document analysis and oral history interviews, these papers will examine these movements in order to broaden the higher education historical narrative and discuss current day policy implications with the rise of anti-Asian hate and legislations banning discussions of racial inequity in curriculum.

Sub Unit

• Division F - Historical Inquiry in Education

Chair

• Leanne Kang, Grand Valley State University

Papers

• How Asian American Women Leaders Fought for Culturally Supportive Spaces at Indiana University Bloomington - Stephanie T.X. Nguyen, Indiana University

• Creating an Asian Pacific American Cultural Center: The Asian American Movement at the University of Iowa 1998–2003 - Jin Chang, University of Iowa

• Advocating for the Next Generation: Oral Histories on the Importance of Asian American Studies in Illinois - Sharon S. Lee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Discussant

• Leanne Kang, Grand Valley State University