Due to an editing error, a story in Monday’s Daily reported that the Asian American studies department only is made up of three core faculty members. The department also has a lecturer, a program director and a staff member.
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An associate director of Asian American studies was granted tenure last week for the first time in the program’s six-year history — a milestone for a department still struggling for legitimacy.
Ji-Yeon Yuh’s tenure comes the same week students and faculty members commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the student hunger strike that pushed administrators to create the Asian American studies department.
Students used the three-day event to reflect on the program that they say still has a long way to go.
“Ten years ago we had nothing. Now there is something,” said Eric Salcedo, Weinberg ’99. “Do we need to look at it as a glass that’s half full or half empty? The glass is half empty. It is up to the university and students and alumni to continue to fill that glass, along with students in the program.”
Half Empty
Students frustrated with the program’s progress point to high faculty turnover, a lack of class variety and low student interest in declaring it as a minor.
Although 16 percent of Northwestern’s student population consider themselves Asian American, only 25 students are pursuing Asian American studies as a minor this year.
“The program has been running off student efforts and has been plagued by instability,” said Rosa Nguyen, a Weinberg junior who is pursuing a minor in Asian American studies.
Students say a lack of resources and faculty turnover are indications that administrators aren’t committed.
The department has three core faculty members — one lecturer, one program director and one staff member.
“We need a commitment from the University. If they are serious about the quality of education we get, then they will commit,” said Yaejoon Kwon, a Weinberg junior and president of Asian Pacific American Coalition.
Students suffered a blow this year after English Prof. Dorothy Wang announced her plans to leave NU at the end of the next academic year and relocate to Williams College in the fall. Wang has been a core faculty member since the department’s inception.
“I never had any sign from the administration that they were committed (to the program),” Wang said. “I never saw any evidence that they valued my presence at Northwestern.”
She said the university never told her when she could apply for tenure.
The department will also lose its director this year. It will be the third time in five years that the position has changed hands.
Aldon Morris, who pledged to serve as director for three years, said he will give up his position at the end of this academic year as planned.
Morris, a sociology professor, does not have a background in Asian American studies. Students said the program needs a director who is an advocate and an administrator.
“The director has never been someone trained in Asian American studies, which obviously gives way to many problems,” said Nguyen, an Asian American studies minor. “The person who should be the biggest advocate of the program is not always in touch with all the issues that are important in Asian American studies.”
Half Full
Administrators and faculty say there are signs of progress: Yuh’s tenure, for one, and 16 class offerings this year — the highest ever.
“Right now the program is on an upswing,” Yuh said. “We have seen steady growth over the past six years and I expect to see continued steady growth in the program.”
University administrators will begin making a national search next academic year to find Wang’s replacement and will also seek to expand core faculty, Morris said. Yuh’s commitment to the Asian American studies program also makes her a likely candidate for director, Morris said.
Another sign of success is this weekend’s commemoration of the program’s inception, Morris said.
“The fact that this conference could bring leading scholars across the nation is a clear indication of (the program’s) strength and recognition,” he said.
Howard Lien, an NU alumnus who graduated last spring and was hired as program coordinator, expressed hope for the program’s future.
“The faculty and staff in Asian American studies will try to build the best Asian American studies program in the Midwest and in the nation,” Lien said. “However, we won’t be successful in that task without the things that we, as students, have been asking for.”
REFLECTION
“We wanted to welcome back the alumni to show them that we’re looking to strengthen the program and that their efforts were not in vain,” said Kwon.
The group hosted a rally at the Rock Friday afternoon that featured alumni and student speakers calling on administrators to improve Asian American studies at NU.
“If we don’t do it, rest assured it won’t get done,” said David Ely, a Weinberg senior in African American studies, explaining that student activism is necessary to push for ethnic studies programs.
For many of the scholars who attended the conference, Asian American studies is an important discipline because it traces part of an American identity that would otherwise be lost between generations.
The conference included 35 speakers from across the country and touched upon topics such as the NU hunger strike, cross-racial coalitions, diaspora, the role of students in creating Asian American studies and new directions in ethnic studies.
“Our program here has great potential and could be one of the best in the area,” Kwon said. “We should have one of the best programs in the Midwest.”
Reach Allan Madrid at [email protected].
