Author: Fuwei Yang

“In February 2014, the Coalition for Critical Asian American Studies (CCAAS) published an Open Letter about how Asian Pacific Islander Middle Eastern Desi American (APIMEDA) students experience UC San Diego. This Letter made a list of demands that included an increase in hiring Asian Pacific Islander American faculty who teach and do research on APIMEDA people, the…

The racist events that happened at USC and UCLA led AAPI UCSD students to reflect on their own campus climate. Many felt like the needs of AAPI students have been historically overlooked, so they demanded inclusive changes to provide more resources and community support for AAPI students. This led to them widely sharing the CCAAS…

In the spring of 1986, UCSD has had its first Asian American Studies class. Instructed by Dr. James Lin, this class aims to fill the gap between East Asian Studies and American History in the UCSD curriculum. However, according to the syllabus, this is more than an academic class. It is also a personal development…

“My duties as chair have simply been too great considering the obstacles I and my committee have encountered.” [Lists 5 critical examples] “Because these candidates are recognized nationally as the best in their field and have been treated poorly by UCSD, I cannot in good faith imagine that other candidates of similar stature would be…

Source: Asian and Pacific Islander Student Alliance, ‘Asian and Pacific Islander Student Alliance’s Asian American Studies Committee Letter and Petition Signatures to Chancellor Atkinson.” 14 June 1988. University of California San Diego University Records, Special Collections, RSS 1000 B8 F6.

In this resolution, Associated Students of UCSD, the student government body, participated and support the community effort to establish an Asian American Studies program at UCSD. In addition to explicitly demanding one additional FTE to hire for the purpose of funding an Asian American Studies course, the resolution expressed the student body’s recognition of the…

Source: Ikeda, Edna. “A Lot of Class.” Pacific Citizen, May 1986. University of California San Diego University Records, Special Collections, RSS 1000 B2 F2.

In the Spring of 1983, the History Department instituted a new upper division course entitled ‘Asian American History’, and appointed professor Ling-chi Wang as a visiting associate professor to teach it. Student response was most positive. Students (enrollment: 38), Asian American and otherwise, found the course content informative, meaningful, and stimulating. In addition, Chinese Studies…