Asian/Pacific/American Studies Major Lacks Adequate Representation At NYU
Students and faculty members have called on the university to allocate more resources for Pacific Islander and Indigenous students and include more courses that focus on Pacific Islander cultures.
(Illustration by Natalia Palacino via Washington Square News)
by Nicole Lu
This story was originally published on New York University’s Washington Square News.
Students and faculty in NYU’s Asian/Pacific/American Studies major — one of the six concentrations offered by the university’s department of social and cultural analysis — have criticized the program for having inadequate resources to support Pacific Islander students. Several students cite a lack of courses in the major that focus on the history and culture of Pacific Islanders.
The program’s introductory core class, “Cultures & Contexts: Asian/Pacific/American Culture,” covers the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the history of U.S. imperialism in the state. The class has come under criticism for not discussing any other Pacific Islands or exploring additional aspects of Pacific Islander history. The department also only offers two non-language courses about APA history this semester, named “History & Literatures of The South Asian Diaspora” and “Asian American Literature.”
Elizabeth Ouyang, a Social and Cultural Analysis professor, currently teaches a course titled “Constitution and People of Color,” which explores the impacts of the discrimination of marginalized racial communities due to COVID-19. Although the course fosters discussions about topics ranging from hate crimes to equitable allotment of resources, Ouyang said the amount of course material does not allow room for a proper analysis of the history of these communities.
Read the rest of the story at Washington Square News.