Histories and Legacies of Asian Americans in Higher Education

12/15/22 • 37 min

Defining Our Roots/Routes: Asian Americans in Higher Education

Histories and Legacies of Asian Americans in Higher Education explores how Asian American faculty, students, and scholars are actively mobilizing and giving voice to their past and current struggles on campus and beyond. Our guests discuss the real-life impacts of stereotypes such as the model minority myth and articulate their thoughts on what are at stake for Asian America today, against the backdrop of Supreme Court cases challenging affirmative action policies in education.
Our guest speakers are:
Dr. Jen Nazareno, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor at the Brown University School of Public Health and Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs & Innovation at Brown's School of Professional Studies. Her research focuses on social structural determinants of health as it relates to immigrant populations and immigrant entrepreneurship.
Dr. Catherine Ceniza Choy, Ph.D. is Professor of Asian American & Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley and Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, & Justice in UC Berkeley’s Division of Computing, Data Science, & Society. She is the author of Asian American Histories in the United States (2022), Global Families: A History of Asian International Adoption in America (2013), and Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History (2003).
Joseph Tsuboi is a recent graduate from UCLA’s Asian American Studies Master’s Program. Joseph’s research looks at progressive Asian American organizing spaces in the greater Los Angeles area and their specific techniques towards cross-community solidarity.
Claire Nakamura graduated from UC Davis, majoring in History and Psychology with a minor in Asian American Studies. Her undergraduate thesis reexamined the history of Japanese American World War II incarceration through her grandfather's lens as a Kibei Nisei under the theoretical framework of family separation. She is currently an HR professional.
Podcast Editor: Clare Boyle

Next Episode

Asian American Panethnic Identities in Higher Education

Asian American Panethnic Identities in Higher Education delves into the formation and evolution of Asian American panethnic identities and spaces within higher education institutions. Our guests explore the impacts such developments had both on students and the institutions, the tensions and possibilities within panethnic identities, and what it means for cross-cultural and intersectional movements.
Our guest speakers are:
Myra Liwanag is the Executive Director of Iskwelahang Pilipino, one of the oldest Filipino cultural schools in the USA, and is an experienced non-profit and corporate management consultant . Prior, she was the Director of Regional & Multicultural Programs for Alumni Relations at Brown University.
Dr. Robert (Bob) G. Lee, Ph.D. is Associate Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Brown University. He is the author of Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture (1999), which received a number of Best Book awards. He was awarded the Association for Asian American Studies' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
Saveena Dhall is an educator and organizational change consultant. Previously, she held multiple leadership roles at Yale University, including Associate Dean of Student Affairs for the School of Nursing, and Assistant Dean for Yale College. She was the Director of the Asian American Cultural Center at Yale University for 16 years.
Tommy Woon is currently a consultant and therapist. He is a retired academic senior administrator with experiences at numerous higher education institutions, including being the Director of Diversity & Inclusion at Naropa University, Director of Diversity & First-Generation Program and Assistant Dean of Students at Stanford University, Dean of Multicultural Life at Macalaster College, and Associate Dean at Dartmouth College as well as Brown University. From 1982 to 1990, he was Assistant Dean and Director of Asian American Affairs at Oberlin College.
Podcast Editor: Clare Boyle