Records of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute

In response to student interest combined with the University’s commitment to global excellence, the Asian/Pacific/American (A/P/A) Institute at NYU was established in 1996 by Founding Director Jack Tchen (who led the Institute through 2018). A/P/A provides a space for the sharing of scholarship, art, activism, and other cultural and political exchanges about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in New York City and beyond. Its community of staff, affiliated faculty and students, artists-in-residence, visiting scholars, and invited guests cultivate dialogues about Asians and Pacific Islanders in the diaspora and across the world. A/P/A seeks to understand the histories that have shaped Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, their lived experiences, and solidarities they have formed. Through collaborative programming, research, exhibitions, publications, and archival projects, the Institute promotes connections across heterogeneous communities and encourages interdisciplinary conversations that span Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas.

Currently located in NoHo, the A/P/A Institute continues to serve the community with public programs based on research, cultural production, and scholarship on contemporary issues facing Asian/Pacific/American communities and discourse. The Institute provides a nexus for scholars, community leaders, and artists who are working on advancing scholarship in the field and bringing theory into practice.

The records of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute, dated 1994-2020, document the activities of the Institute and reflect student events, faculty affairs, and collaboration with the A/P/A Studies program. The collection contains photographs, memoranda, correspondence, student surveys, meeting and conference agendas, syllabi, proposals, posters, flyers, and brochures. It also includes audio cassettes, VHS tapes, mini DVs, and archived websites.

To learn more about the Records of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute located at New York University Archives, view the collection’s finding aid.

Image: Photograph of staff members at the Asians in America conference, 1995; Records of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute; RG.21.35; Box: 16; Folder: 1; New York University Archives, New York University Libraries.