Asian American Studies across CUNY: Reflections, Connections, Futures
- Venue: Fiterman Hall
- Address:
245 Greenwich Street
New York, NY
Presented by the Asian American / Asian Research Institute at the City University of New York. Co-sponsored by the Borough of Manhattan Community College, Queens College, Department of Ethnic and Race Studies at BMCC, and the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU.
The City University of New York (CUNY) has a long history of efforts that engage Asian American studies and communities but these activities have rarely been sustained over time. Yet, despite an overall lack of institutionalization, CUNY has been the home to vibrant student activism and organizing, collaborative networks built of scholars and practitioners, and creative interventions made to support Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students, staff, and faculty across the university and beyond. The Asian American / Asian Research Institute is hosting a day-long symposium to reflect upon the histories of this work, build connection and community, and collectively vision the future possibilities and directions for Asian American studies at CUNY.
Work in Asian American studies at CUNY takes place in the context of New York City, home to one of the largest and most diverse AAPI communities in the US, and made up of groups that have a long history of migration to the US (i.e., Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Koreans) as well as newer migrant groups (i.e., Nepali, Burmese, Tibetan, Bangladeshi), refugee communities (e.g. Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese), and diasporic communities (e.g. Indo-Caribbean). AAPIs are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in New York City (and the US), currently making up 18% of the population. This demographic shift has been reflected at CUNY, with an increase to 22% of students identifying as Asian.
The symposium organizers invite students, scholars, and/or practitioners, within and outside of CUNY, to share their innovative research and creative works, pedagogical projects, programmatic efforts, models for organizing and activism, and other activities at CUNY that address critical issues in Asian American studies and/or communities.
Accessibility note: For access needs, please email info@aaari.info.
Photograph of A/P/A BRIDGE (NYU undergraduate student collective) writing letters and making phone calls in support of CRAASH Hunter and their fight for Asian American Studies on the campus, 2017.