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Program Building

Program Building

Program Building - 1999-2010

Introduction

This chapter illuminates both the visible and invisible work of students, faculty, staff, and university administrators who built IU Bloomington's Asian American Studies program. Several years before AAST’s official launch in September 2008, university members create an Asian American Studies Committee to write a program proposal. In turn, the AAST Committee receive proposal writing, funding, and political support from Asian American student organizations, senior-level administrators, department chairs, directors of the Latino Cultural Center and Afro-American Studies program, and other Asian American Studies programs within the Midwest. IUB’s AAST acknowledges the significant contributions of its university, Bloomington, and Midwest allies.

Early Spring 1999—Asian Culture Center Director Organizes a Student-Faculty Asian American Studies Committee

To continue the momentum started by Asian American student activists, Asian Culture Center Director Melanie Castillo-Cullather prioritizes the creation of an Asian American Studies program. She identifies faculty members and graduate students to join a student-faculty committee to spearhead this campaign.(1)

Melanie Castillo-Cullather, Director of the Asian Culture Center, is instrumental in organizing the Asian American Studies Committee that writes AAST’s program proposal.

Spring 1999—IUB Asian American Studies Committee Meets to Strategize a Program Proposal

The IUB Asian American Studies Committee meets several times to strategize a proposal for an Asian American Studies program. The committee includes seven members: Melanie Castillo-Cullather (Director, Asian Culture Center), Committee Chair Angela Pao (Associate Professor, Comparative Literature), Principal Writer Indermohan Virk (Visiting Lecturer, Sociology), Radhika Parameswaran (Assistant Professor, Journalism), Michael Robinson (Associate Professor, History and East Asian Languages and Cultures), David Takeuchi (Professor, Sociology), and Carol Shin (PhD candidate, Counseling and Psychology, School of Education).(2)

July 4, 1999—White Supremacist Murders IUB Graduate Student Won-Joon Yoon

Benjamin Smith, a former IUB student and self-identified white supremacist, goes on a three-day shooting spree across Indiana and Illinois. He kills IUB graduate student Won-Joon Yoon and former Northwestern University men's basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong. He injures several others. According to Asian Culture Center Director Melanie Castillo-Cullather, Yoon’s murder demonstrates the need for an AAST program to educate the campus community about racial violence and Asian American issues.(3)

Memorial to Won-Joon Yoon outside of the Korean United Methodist Church where he was shot on Independence Day, 1999

November 2000—IUB Asian American Studies Committee Attends Regional Meeting on Asian American Studies

IUB AAST committee members attend the first Committee on Institutional Cooperation meeting on Asian American Studies in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. Hosted at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IUB representatives learn how peer universities start their Asian American Studies programs and brainstorm ideas on how to craft IUB’s AAST proposal.(4)

Fall 2001—Local and Regional Peers Help Write IUB’s AAST Program Proposal

IUB AAST committee members consult IUB administrators from 15 campus departments as well as current and former directors of AAST programs at other Big Ten universities for feedback on appropriate policies, approval channels, course offerings, and operating expenses.(5)

October 2001—IUB Student Leaders Mobilize Campus-Wide Support for an Asian American Studies Program

Caroline Shin (IUB PhD candidate, AAST Committee member) and Chris Sinclair (IUB undergraduate student, 2001-2002 President, Asian American Association) host a mass student meeting to advocate for an AAST program. At the request of IUB administrators, Shin and Sinclair collect evidence of campus-wide support including a signed petition as well as letters of support from IU Asian Alumni Association Board of Directors and African American and Latino student organizations.(6)

Caroline Shin ... and Chris Sinclair ... host a mass student meeting to advocate for an AAST program.

November 5, 2001—IUB Asian American Studies Committee Submits Program Proposal

IUB AAST committee members submit the final AAST proposal to Dean Kumble Subbaswamy (College of Arts and Sciences), Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm, and Charlie Nelms (Vice President for Student Development and Diversity). In the proposal, the AAST committee members advocate for three new faculty hires, including a director, in key disciplines such as history, sociology, anthropology, literature, and media studies. AAST committee members also propose degree-program offerings including an undergraduate minor or certificate in Asian American Studies and future development of an AAST major and PhD minor.(7)

February 2002—IUB Dean of College of Arts and Sciences Defers Program Proposal as a Strategic Move

The AAST Committee meets with Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Kumble T. Subbaswamy, who backs the AAST program proposal. Dean Subbaswamy, however, defers formal consideration of the AAST program to fall 2002. He foresees the need to increase student interest in AAST in order to convince the Chancellor and the College of Arts and Sciences to approve the program. The Dean and the AAST Committee agree to host an Asian American Studies colloquium series in 2002-2003 to generate campus attention to AAST.(8)

April 2002—IUB Dean of College Arts and Sciences Authorizes $10,000 for Asian American Studies Colloquium Series

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Kumble T. Subbaswamy uses his political savviness to help the AAST Committee host an Asian American Studies colloquium series. He authorizes $10,000 of College of Arts and Sciences funding for “New Paradigms in Asian American Studies.” Dean Subbaswamy submits the AAST proposal for formal consideration to the College Policy Committee in IUB’s College of Arts and Sciences.(9)

[Dean Subbaswamy] authorizes $10,000 of College of Arts and Sciences funding for 'New Paradigms in Asian American Studies.'

September 20, 2002—IUB Launches Year-long Asian American Studies Colloquium

The AAST Committee kicks off “New Paradigms in Asian American Studies,” a year-long colloquium series to foster intellectual discussions on Asian American issues on campus and generate student enrollment in future AAST courses. The AAST Committee invites Columbia University professor of International and Public Affairs Gary Okihiro, who lectures on his 1994 book Margins and Mainstreams. The College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of Academic Support and Diversity, the Asian Culture Center, and several other academic departments and programs sponsor this colloquium.(10)

September 27, 2002—IUB’s College of Arts and Sciences Approves Asian American Studies Program

The College Policy Committee—a faculty committee under the College of Arts and Sciences—unanimously approves AAST program proposal, thus allowing the AAST Committee to begin developing a formal program within the College of Arts and Sciences.(11)

June 2003—IUB Asian American Studies Committee Receives Major Funding to Hire Faculty

IUB’s AAST Committee overcome a major financial hurdle when the College of Arts and Sciences approves three faculty hires to focus on the study of the Asian diaspora in the United States and around the world. This new funding comes from IU’s Commitment to Excellence Program, an effort to promote research and teaching in non-Western area studies and diasporic studies. AAST Committee Chair, Associate Professor Angela Pao, begins the search for faculty hires.(12)

IUB hires four Asian American specialists in 2006-2007. Three are pictured above: Dr. Lee (top), Dr. Inouye (bottom-left), and Dr. Wu (bottom-right).

2006-2007—IUB Hires Four New Asian American Specialist Faculty Members

IUB’s Sociology and History departments each hire an Asian American specialist, Professors Jennifer Lee and Ellen Wu, respectively. (The College never fills the third line originally promised with the Committee to Excellence funds). Separately and coincidentally, the Department of English and the American Studies Program hires Asian American specialists, Denise Cruz and Karen Inouye, respectively.(13) Although the latter two hires are not part of the College of Arts and Sciences Commitment to Excellence Funding Program, they are nevertheless a victory for the IUB AAST Committee. These faculty recruits diversify IUB’s course offerings and lay the scholarly foundation for Asian American Studies at Indiana University.

Fall 2007—College Names Dr. Joan Pong Linton Interim AAST Program Director, CIC Asian American Consortium Director Visits IUB

With approval from the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences Bennett L. Bertenthal, IUB’s AAST Committee appoints Dr. Joan Pong Linton (Associate Professor, English) as the program’s inaugural director. Dr. Pong Linton’s directorship focuses on the crucial work of making IUB’s AAST program official. Notably, she establishes an undergraduate AAST minor, secures annual program funding, and recruits students to enroll in AAST courses. Without her leadership, the AAST program would not be here today. Dr. Pong Linton serves as the first director until fall 2010.(14)

To further establish AAST as a legitimate field of study, Dr. Pong Linton and the AAST Committee invite Dr. Josephine Lee, director of the Committee for Institutional Cooperation Asian American Studies Consortium, to IUB on November 15-16, 2007. Dr. Lee visits campus and meets with administrators, faculty, and students. She comments that IUB has the “human resources” in place to build a strong and vibrant program.(15)

As the first director, Dr. Joan Pong Linton secures funding, course enrollment, and governance approval to establish AAST as an official program in September 2008.

2007-2008—Newly-Hired IUB Affiliate Faculty Expand AAST Course Offerings

Three affiliated faculty teach four Asian American Studies-related undergraduate courses and one graduate course during the fall and spring semester. Dr. Ellen Wu, History, offers “Asian American History” (undergraduate), “Hawai’i and the United States” (undergraduate), and “Immigration, Race, and Nation in Modern America” (graduate). Dr. Karen Inouye, American Studies, teaches two undergraduate courses: “Comparative American Identities: What is Asian America?” and “Democracy on the Home Front: Race and Labor from WWII and Beyond.” Dr. Denise Cruz, English, rolls out “Literatures in English, 1990-Present” and “American Literature, 1960-Present,” both undergraduate courses.(16)

Fall 2008—IUB Establishes Asian American Studies Program

On September 25, 2008, the College of Arts and Sciences formally establishes IUB’s Asian American Studies Program. Continuing as inaugural director, Dr. Joan Pong Linton (English) begins seeking approval through the College of Arts and Sciences College Policy Committee to establish an Asian American Studies undergraduate minor.(17) During its first semester as an official program, AAST offers three courses: “Sociology of Asian Americans” with Dr. Jennifer Lee, and “What is Asian America?” and “Race and Labor from World War Two and Beyond” with Dr. Karen Inouye, both joint-listed with American Studies.(18)

Spring 2009—College Policy Committee Approves AAST Undergraduate Minor

Under Dr. Joan Pong Linton’s directorship, the College of Arts and Sciences College Policy Committee approves AAST’s undergraduate minor.(19)

Fall 2009—AAST IUB AAST Debuts Minor, Co-Hosts Inaugural Graduate Student Conference in Asian American Studies

AAST introduces its undergraduate minor for the first time after the College of Arts and Sciences Policy Committee approves it in Spring 2009.(20) AAST co-hosts with Purdue University its first graduate student conference, “Crossroads: Asian America/Asian Diaspora Across Disciplines,” on September 25-26, 2009. Funded by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the conference facilitates graduate students to share cutting-edge AAST research and network with faculty and students from across the Midwest. Professor Josephine Lee, President of the Association for Asian American Studies and Director of the Asian American Studies Consortium for the CIC, delivers the keynote speech.(21)

Dr. Vivian Nun Halloran, AAST’s second program director, builds AAST through new course offerings, campus programming, and a digital presence.

Fall 2010—Dr. Vivian Nun Halloran Serves as Second AAST Director

Dr. Vivian Nun Halloran (Associate Professor, Comparative Literature), becomes the second director of IUB’s AAST program. Dr. Halloran’s directorship focuses on the behind-the-scenes work of building the program. Notably, she writes governance documents, secures AAST’s first physical office space (then located at 814 E. Third Street), and builds a digital presence through the program’s newly designed website and social media mediums. She diversifies AAST’s course catalog with two Asian American literature courses at the introductory level (A200) and advanced level (A320). She succeeds in having four AAST courses approved as General Education credit for the undergraduate core curriculum. Finally, under her directorship, she institutes program traditions including the inaugural Asian American Studies Research Symposium and MOVEMENT: ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICA annual film series in 2012. Dr. Halloran serves as the director until Fall 2014.(22)

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