Department History

1930s

• Indian Student Association (ISA) founded

1940s

• Philippine Student Association (PSA) founded (group traces its roots back to the 1919 Philippine Illini)

1970s

• The Asian American Alliance was established; it disbanded several years later.
• The Korean Undergraduate Student Association (KUSA, now KASA) was founded.

1983

• The Vietnamese Students Association was established.

1985–1986

• The Asian American Association was founded, with Assistant Dean Yuki Llewellyn as its first sponsor.

1987–1988

• The first Midwest Asian American Students (MAAS) Conference was held at the University of Illinois.

1990–1991

• The Asian Pacific American Coalition to Combat Oppression, Racism, and Discrimination (ACCORD) was formed to promote APA community needs and concerns. ACCORD is credited for first initiating and promoting the need for an APA Cultural Center at UIUC.
• The Taiwanese American Students Club was formed.

1991–1992

• In the spring, Anthropology Professor Nancy Abelmann taught Anthropology 298 Korean Diaspora, Koreans in the United States, Japan, Soviet Union, and China: Ethnicity, Class, and Gender.

1992–1993

• A new coalition continued ACCORD's petition drive to pursue the creation of a cultural center; a petition for the center was presented to university Administration.
• The Asian American Artists Collective (publishers of Monsoon Literary Journal) was formed.
• The Asian American Alumni Association (AAAA), Hindu Students Council (HSC), and Asian American Pacific Islander -Law Students Association (AAPILSA) were established.
• Anthropology Professor Clark Cunningham and other invited guest lecturers taught the first semester of Sociology/Anthropology 287 Asian American Experiences.

1993–1994

• The Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) was formed.
• The new APA Cultural Center proposal was presented to university Administration.
• In April, Sociology Professor John Lie and Nancy Abelmann co-organized the SSRC conference, "Transnational Korea," at the U of I.

1994–1995

• The first Asiantation, an Asian Pacific American new student orientation was conducted.
• The Asian Pacific American Resource Board (APARB, now APARC) was formed as a result of dialogue between students and Chancellor Michael Aiken.
• The Midwest Asian American Students Union (MAASU) Conference was held at U of I.
• In the spring, initially developed as a discovery course, Professor Pallassana R. Balgopal taught the first semester of what would become Social Work 297 Asian Families in America.
• Graduate students Anne Tanaka and Tai Chang co-taught LAS 110 Introduction to Asian American Literature.

1995–1996

• The first APA Teach-in on lack of APA studies was held; Northwestern University and Illinois State University students also attended.
• The first three-day APA Film Festival with Asian and Asian American directors at U of I was showcased.
• APA student leaders met with university administration, in particular, Assistant Provost David Liu, to discuss the establishment of an APA studies program.
• An ad-hoc APA studies committee was formed, chaired by Professor John Lie.
• A UIUC Lambda Phi Epsilon colony chapter, an Asian fraternal organization, was founded.

1996–1997

• Jonathan Ying was hired as the first Assistant Dean of Students for APA student affairs.
• APAC and APA students rallied to increase awareness of hate crimes following a series of racist incidents on campus.
• Political Science Professor Wendy Tam was hired.

1997–1998

• The Asian American Studies Committee (AASC) was reorganized with Professor George T. Yu appointed as chair and Clark Cunningham appointed as vice-chair.
• AASC Staff Associate Lena Choe was hired.
• English Professor Juliana Chang was hired for the following academic year.
• The first AASC student interns selected—Anita Banerji, James Bui, and Mohammad Faisal Hadi.
• The brown bag seminar series in Asian American studies was established.
• Faculty searches in anthropology and social work were begun.

1998–1999

• The Asian American Studies Executive Committee's second year members included Professors George Yu, Pallassana R. Balgopal, Clark Cunningham, Nancy Abelmann, doctoral candidate Debjani Mukherjee, and undergraduates Jim Albovias and Mohammad Faisal Hadi. Undergraduates Sam Shin and Alice Cho served as interns for the program.
• Anthropology Professor Martin Manalansan, EPS Professor Yoon Pak, and Psychology Professor Sumie Okazaki were hired for the following academic year.
• Notable events for the year included a keynote address by Prof. Gary Okihiro (Cornell), the spring film series, and council meetings on ethnic studies and student involvement in Asian American Studies.
• Work on a minor program in Asian American Studies continued, headed by Professor Chang's Courses & Curriculum subcommitee.

1999–2000

• Graduate Assistant Ida Fadzillah was hired.
• Jim Albovias and Faisal Hadi left the Executive Committee after graduation, undergraduate Paula Kim was appointed to the committee along with Professor Chang. Undergraduates Mai Dinh, Monica Zarazua, and Sophoan Khoen served as interns for the committee.
• Staff Associate Sharon Lee was hired during the spring semester.
• History Professor Augusto Espiritu, Sociology Professor Moon-Kie Jung, and Theatre Professor Esther Kim were hired for the following academic year.

2000–2001

• The AASC became an ethnic studies program under the college of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the program began developing an interdisciplinary minor.
• Notable events for the year included a Working Paper Series highlighting new works in Asian American Studies, a film series co-sponsored with the Asian Educational Media Service and invited filmmaker Regge Life, a lecture on the Wen -Ho Lee case by Ling Chi Wang (UC Berkeley) and the Spring Council meeting which featured Shamina Singh, former executive director of the White House Commission on API Affairs.
• The AASP also hosted the first ever meeting of Asian American Studies programs in the Big Ten System, co-hosted with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC).
• Graduate Assistant Yoo Jung Kong was hired for spring semester. Interns for the 2000-2001 year included: Stephanie Lee Moy, Emily Wu, Monica Zarazua (Fall 2000), Jennifer Lau (Spring 2001), and Michelle Yu (Spring 2001).
• A post-doctoral fellowship program began with one position open for the 2001-2002 year.

2001–2002

• The program continued the work of developing curricula and a minor. It welcomed its first post-doctoral fellow Min Song from Boston College, new graduate assistant Kapila Sankaran, a visiting scholar Susan Moynihan from Purdue, and three new interns: Katherine Chuu, Frances Gestoso, and Cate Macapagal for the 2001-2002 year.
• Events during the year include the first ever all-state conference in conjunction with the Office of the Governor to discuss Asian American Studies in Illinois in November 2001.
• Work on the moved AASP house continued.

2002–2003

• The AAS house was renovated and open to the public at 1208 W. Nevada.
• The minor in AAS was made available for students.
• Kent A. Ono, of U.C. Davis, was hired as the program's director.
• The internship was made available for independent study credits under AAS 290.

2003–2004

• Yutian Wong was hired in Dance and Asian American Studies.

2004–2005

• Lisa Cacho was hired in Latina/Latino Studies. Susan Koshy was hired in English and Asian American Studies. Junaid Rana was hired in Asian American Studies.
• Groundbreaking on the new Asian American Culture Center took place October 13, 2004.

2005–2006

• AACC completed and opened.

2006–2007

• Tenth Anniversary was celebrated on March 2, 2007.
• Soo Ah Kwon was hired in Asian American Studies and Human and Community Development. Lisa Nakamura was hired in Speech Communication and Asian American Studies. Fiona Ngô was hired in Asian American Studies and Gender & Women's Studies. Mimi Nguyen was hired in Asian American Studies and Gender & Women's Studies.
• The first baccalaureate degree in Asian American Studies at UIUC is awarded to Erlinda Garcia.

2007–2008

• Martin Manalansan serves as Acting Director.

2008–2009

• Lisa Nakamura is appointed Director.

2009–2010

• The graduate minor in Asian American Studies is approved.