3230 Campbell Hall |
Expand our scholarly capabilities and deepen the public understanding of Asian American and Pacific Islander lives towards a healthy, just, democratic, and compassionate society for all.
A healthy planet where all people are valued and treated as equal members of a democratic and inclusive society.
1. Deepen research on Asian American and Pacific Islander populations across disciplinary and epistemic boundaries.
2. Disseminate knowledge about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the scholarly community and the broader public from informed perspectives.
3. Apply knowledge and scholarship on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the service of positive social change.
I offer this message currently serving as the Acting Director while Professor Karen Umemoto is on her research sabbatical. We wish Professor Umemoto a productive leave and I look forward to working with the Center's amazing group of dedicated Center staff through the end of the calendar year. I offer this message currently serving as the Acting Director while Professor Karen Umemoto is on her research sabbatical. We wish Professor Umemoto a productive leave and I look forward to working with the Center's amazing group of dedicated Center staff through the end of the calendar year.
The Center's mission to foster and promote research on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in today's tenuous times is one that I commit to continue as Acting Director. I began my term just days before the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Trump v Barbara case and the application of birthright citizenship for Americans on April 1st. The established precedent on birthright citizenship was decided in the landmark U.S. v Wong Kim Ark in 1898 which upheld that Wong Kim Ark was a citizen of the United States by nature of his birth on American soil. This case makes plain the trailblazing efforts of many Asian Americans who used the legal system to advocate for their rights during a time when they were formally excluded from most other established areas of representation. But as I listened to the Supreme Court Justices's deliberations and the oral arguments for the Barbara case as they discussed the Wong Kim Ark case, I reflected on how important of a role Asian American Studies has played in not only documenting but also contextualizing the politics surrounding Chinese immigration in the nineteenth century so that we can better understand the similarities and differences between immigration politics then compared to now.
Legal scholars, historians and other scholars today can build upon the longstanding work of Asian American Studies as they wade through the arguments of Barbara and the historical development of birthright citizenship and immigration policy. While we do not yet know what the Court's decision will be, we do know that the knowledge developed in Asian American Studies help us to make better sense of how historical events connect with the issues of today.
The lessons learned from the Wong Kim Ark case show how important it is that we continue to support the teaching and research in Ethnic Studies. This Spring, we will be hosting several exciting events. Please find more details below. We hope that you can join us for the celebration and official release of the Foundations and Future Asian American and Pacific Islander Multimedia Textbook on May 9th.
In solidarity,
Natalie Masuoka
Acting Director
Professor of Political Science and Asian American Studies
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