Asian American Studies Program Oral History Project

In the classroom, in scholarship, and through campus and community advocacy, the Asian American Studies Program (AASP) is committed to examining the histories and experiences; social and community formations; politics; and contemporary concerns of people of Asian ancestry in the United States and other parts of the Americas. 

Project Purpose

The Asian/Asian American Oral History Project aims to gather, preserve, and share the stories of Asian/Asian American students, faculty, and staff at Cornell in order to have a better understanding of the history and impact of Asian/Asian Americans throughout the university's history. We will track the various academic and social/political efforts of these groups while at Cornell, including the fight for and implementation of Asian American Studies on campus, to provide a more robust institutional and historical record of this community's activities. We also see this as an opportunity for current Cornell students to connect and collaborate with Asian American alumni -- to understand the groundwork these alumni laid for current students and for alumni to understand the changing demographics of Cornell students and the changing landscape of student life. 

Making an Impact

The project complements course offerings in Asian American history, Asian American studies, and the Cornell Public History Initiative by drawing on interdisciplinary methodologies, including ethnography, literature, social theory, and memory studies.

Your support will help fuel our effort to: 

• facilitate collaborative research, civic engagement, and digital technologies to make history accessible, connecting classroom learning and academic study to the broader Cornell community, including alumni
• provide a lasting archive of oral histories and other forms of documentation about the experiences of Asian/Asian American students at Cornell.
• the research will gain a broader and deeper understanding of the role of diversity -- and diverse student bodies -- at Cornell and in higher education more generally.

PLEASE JOIN US AND MAKE A GIFT TODAY!

Symposium

Join us on Saturday, Nov 12th as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Asian American Studies Program (AASP) featuring keynote speaker Prof. Gary Okihiro (founding director of AASP) and former alumni Prof. Mary Lui (History, Yale University), Prof. Thuy Linh Tu (American Studies, NYU), Pawan Dhingra (Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty, American Studies, Amherst College), and Prof. Dylan Rodriguez (Media & Cultural Studies, UC Riverside)