Mention "best-seller" and author Amy Chua in the same breath and, chances are, a person's thoughts turn immediately to her controversial parenting memoir, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." Indeed, national backlash has shadowed Chua for months since publication of the book, which describes her rigid parenting style in what she loosely calls "the…

Every time Dr. Larry Shinagawa teaches his "Introduction to Asian American Studies" course at the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park, he finds that 10 to 20 percent of his students are adoptees. Among other things, they hunger to better comprehend the social and political circumstances overseas leading to their adoption. In…

Even as a little girl, Dr. Nitasha Sharma aspired to become a college professor like her parents, whose careers let the family spend entire summers or longer in either her mother's native Brooklyn, New York, or her father's native India. She dreamed of long vacations as a grown-up and going home for lunch on weekdays. But during a stay in India…

When Dr. Chia Youyee Vang arrived at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee five years ago, numerous Hmong students along with community residents called for more courses specifically examining their life experiences. Now, her university offers a certificate in Hmong diaspora studies. It's part of a growing tide within Asian American studies--more…

For years, New York health-care providers have treated Asian-Americans afflicted by serious, even life-threatening illnesses with ever-increasing frequency. Many doctors in the nation's largest city agreed that Asians seemed particularly at risk for specific health problems, but there was neither research nor statistics supporting physician…

Since its inception in 2000, Pan-Asian American Community House's (PAACH's) education mission has bridged Asian-American studies to student life. PAACH initiatives have helped spread Asian-American diaspora to thousands of students at the University of Pennsylvania. They have also helped students determine for themselves what it means to be a…

This article reports on the popularity of golf, which grew in Seoul after it held the 1988 Olympics, and the emergence and competitiveness of Korean golfers in which U.S. college coaches are now witnessing. According to Dr. Kyeyoung Park, an associate professor of anthropology and Asian American studies at the University of California, Los…

Many efforts have helped increase the number of women and ethnic minorities in college presidencies the past two decades, but Asian Americans have not kept pace with other historically underrepresented demographics. In fact, Asian American presidents are barely replacing themselves on the national landscape as they retire. This fact appears even…

This article discusses the initiatives of Purdue University President France Cordova in boosting minority and female representation among administration and students and in improving overall undergraduate performance. Dr. France Cordova is by no means the first college president to declare increasing the presence of women and minorities on campus…

In this article, the author discusses the work of Dr. Grace Lee Boggs. It begins with a history of her childhood and education, then provides an account of Boggs's awakening to the cause of Black liberation, the history of her work within the movement, and her current activities. Throughout the article, other scholars discuss their deep…

Asian-American performers were few and far between when Dr. Oliver Wang was growing up in the 1970s and '80s. Looking back, Dr. Wang, an assistant professor in sociology at California State University-Long Beach, says the lack of artists may have been the result of a lack of role models, since Asian immigrants did not begin to arrive in the United…

This article features the life of Yuri Kochiyama as a social, political and civil rights activist. Kochiyama is one of many whose social, political and civil rights activism was inspired by Malcolm X. She is one of the few non-Blacks often associated with him and has forged multi-ethnic coalitions, especially between Asian Americans and Blacks. An…

Ask the average person what comes to mind at the mention of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Odds are the answer involves armed African-Americans winding up in shootouts with police. Those images have overshadowed the Panthers' free breakfast programs, medical clinics and other efforts to improve poor Black neighborhoods in the late 1960s. Also…

Historically, the absence of Asian-Pacific Islanders (APIs) from college sports has been due largely to the lack of role models in professional and amateur leagues. For years, coaches on the recruiting trail overlooked Asian athletes, often dismissing them as too small, too slow and too wrapped up in their studies. API parents, meanwhile, often…

During his career as the publisher of a Vietnamese newspaper, Yen Do would frequently buy articles from writers even if he never intended to use them--just because he knew how badly they needed the income. For that reason, Yen would sometimes pay a triple fee to freelance writers. And for the same reason, he typically wouldn't fire the occasional…