As the number of students declaring Asian-American studies minors has grown steadily in the program’s first two months, students and staff are optimistic about the program’s future.

In mid-January, four students had declared the minor. There are now 16 official sign-ups, and students say word of mouth and the popularity of Asian-American studies classes have increased awareness of the program.

To recruit more actively for the minor, the Asian-American studies office has set up an information table at Norris University Center where students can ask questions and sign up for the minor on the spot. One of the 16 students in the minor signed up after stopping at the table.

“There seemed to be a lot of word of mouth,” Asian-American studies program assistant Ziehyun Huh said to explain the increased number. “A lot of people didn’t know (the minor) was there.”

The struggle for an Asian-American studies minor began in 1991, when Asian American Advisory Board members submitted a proposal to administrators asking for an adviser to create the program. After a highly publicized hunger strike in 1995 and regular student rallies, Northwestern hired two full-time Asian-American studies faculty in 1999 and launched the program this quarter.

Huh visited the three Asian-American studies classes offered this quarter to tell students about the minor. Many of the minors currently are taking Prof. Dorothy Wang’s Asian-American literature course, which fulfills a core requirement for the minor.

“It’s brought up some interesting issues that are relevant to my life,” said Education junior Peggy Chung, who declared the minor this month. “Taking the class with Professor Wang has caused me to rethink my history and identity as an Asian-American. I never really knew that the Asian-American identity went back into the early 1900s.”

Wang will teach another literature course next quarter. Other spring classes falling under the minor will include Asian-American history, Asian-American women’s history and gender concerns in Indian and Indian-American literature.

Huh said publicity about the minor has spread through Asian student groups. Adam Wu, who signed up for the minor last week, said he first heard about it through the AAAB and Chinese Student Association listservs. Wu, who is also in Wang’s literature class, said he declared the minor after talking to Wang and Huh.

“Listservs and word of mouth was the trigger,” said Wu, a Speech sophomore.

The Asian-American task force, a group of Asian student leaders that the Asian-American studies office put together Fall Quarter, also has been working to promote the minor. Task force members taped fliers on the backs of chairs at the Technological Institute, Harris Hall and Swift Hall last week so students would know about course offerings before registration. And AAAB members distributed more fliers at their H.T. Chen and Dancers event Saturday.

Teresa Kao, a member of AAAB and the task force, is on a task force subcommittee to promote the minor. As a student, she knows where and how to reach other undergraduates who might not know the program exists, she said.

“If you have the least bit of interest, it’s really beneficial (to declare the minor) because you have all these resources,” Kao said of the newly formed office, which boasts two full-time professors and an opportunity to network with other Asian faculty and staff members on campus.

Huh said the increased number of minors helps shape the program because they provide feedback about everything, from the look of the flier to the times courses are offered. With more students on board, the program can broaden to include more than just classes, Huh said.

“Definitely now we’re going to start a brown-bag lunch for the minors with a member of the community or with a professor,” she said. “We can get more input from (students). Traffic has seemed to increase in my office, too. It gets the program linked with students in a more intimate way.”

Wu said he likes the minor because it is a newer field and encompasses many different departments. Wu is also an Asian studies major, but the Asian-American studies minor gives him a fresh perspective on his culture, he said.

“With the Asian-American (minor), there’s a lot of interaction with other races that also add to the viewpoint and attitude,” Wu said. “Also, with Asian Americans there’s a conflict between their Asian and American heritages. It’s a study of how to combine those two.”