Mayra Beltran/The Daily Titan

Asian American Studies at Cal State Fullerton is a young program, approved in the summer of 1996. The minor was approved at the same time and the Ethnic Studies B.A. Option in Asian American Studies was just approved in summer 1999. Both are designed for all students, whether of Asian heritage or not, who have a particular interest in learning more about the experiences of Asians and Pacific Islanders in America, including those from central, south and southeast Asia, east Asia, the Philippines and the Pacific Islands.

Cross-disciplinary in nature, both the major and the minor draw from a variety of courses throughout the university including its own. There are at present twenty different courses offered by the Asian American Studies Program. We are also moving toward departmental status with the addition of its own tenure-track faculty, the first of whom, Dr. Thomas Fujita Rony, was appointed in fall 1998. The second, Dr. Eliza Noh, joined us in fall 2003, is completing a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA. Additional teaching faculty have appointments in departments such as Communications, English, Speech Communications, History, Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, American Studies and Human Services. Other resources include an established Center of Oral and Public History with a strong collection on the World War II Japanese-American relocation, and two supporting organizations, the Asian Pacific Students Association and the Asian Faculty Staff Association. Currently the Asian American Studies Program Council, consisting of about 20 supportive faculty and administrators from across campus, administers the Program.

What are the goals of the Asia American Studies Program?

The goals of the program are:

Paul Sakuma/AP

(a) to inform students about the history, challenges and triumphs of Asians and Pacific Islanders in America, including their contributions to this country.
(b) to build interracial and interethnic understanding and cooperation.
(c) to promote study and research in the area.
(d) to contribute to Asian American communities in southern California to develop critical thinking and communications skills.
(e) to prepare students in selected career paths where knowledge and understanding of the Asian American experience is important, particularly in business, law, counseling, human services, public administration, health professions and teaching on K-12 or college levels. (A single subject waiver program in social sciences and a multiple subjects waiver program has been developed for students planning careers in K-12 teaching.)

For additional information, please contact
Dr. Eliza Noh, Coordinator
(657)278-2013
enoh@fullerton.edu