Asian American Studies Program — The Program
The intercollegiate Asian American Studies Program offers intellectually challenging, emotionally engaging, and locally grounded opportunities to study the voices, contemporary issues, historical experiences, and contributions of diverse Asian communities in the US. By drawing on shared commitments of faculty, staff, and students from each college within the university, the program provides rich, interdisciplinary, comparative approaches in teaching and research with dynamic linkages to local communities and supportive learning environments for students of all backgrounds.
The program enables students to develop critical thinking skills, competencies, and sensibilities to understand, contribute to and thrive in a culturally diverse world, with particular attention to urban populations, institutions, and environments. The program strives to integrate culturally-responsive instruction in the classroom with holistic practices of mentoring, community-building, and advocacy to address the social and academic needs of students. The program collaborates closely with the university’s Institute for Asian American Studies (IAAS) in relation to new course development, ongoing research and service learning opportunities, speakers and special events, publications, and graduate/undergraduate student support.
The program collaborates as well with many other UMass Boston academic and administrative departments. These include several areas in the College of Liberal Arts (Africana Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, East Asian Studies, English, Psychology, Sociology); the CPCS Center for Immigrant and Refugee Community Leadership and Empowerment (CIRCLE) and the intercollegiate Latino/Latina Studies program; the CM’s Center for Collaborative Leadership; the GCE’s Teacher Education program; the Division of Student Affairs; the Office of University Advancement; and the Center for the Improvement of Teaching.
Graduate students from any area, including American Studies, Applied Sociology, Business Administration, Clinical Psychology, Counseling, Dispute Resolution, Education, and Public Policy, who have Asian American Studies interests serve as teaching/research assistants, mentors to undergraduates, and special project developers for the program. High school students—in UMass Boston’s pre-collegiate programs such as Upward Bound and Urban Scholars, and those involved with the Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth (CAPAY)—a nationally- recognized youth leadership network sponsored by the Asian American Studies Program—are encouraged to take advantage of the program’s learning opportunities. Community members and organizations also participate in the program’s activities in both short- and long-term ways.
The Asian American Studies Program has contributed to a national curriculum transformation project focusing on democracy and diversity, sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), and is a partner with the
The Asian American Studies Program is open to matriculated students from any UMass Boston college, as well as to non-matriculated students. For matriculated students, successful completion of the program is recorded on official University transcripts. Non-matriculated students receive a certificate of completion which provides documentation of expertise that is especially useful for working professionals and practitioners in education, social work, community development, business, and other fields affected by the recent demographic growth of the Asian American population.