Why explore Asian identity and presence in Arkansas through the lens of ethnic and area studies?
First, this project acknowledges that we are researching histories and experiences that take place On the land of the 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰𐓓𐒷 𐒼𐓂𐓊𐒻 𐓆𐒻𐒿𐒷 𐓀𐒰^𐓓𐒰^(Osage), Caddo, Koroa, O-ga-xpa Ma-zho (Quapaw), Chahta (Choctaw), Tayoroniku (Tunica), and the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ nations. In doing so, we acknowledge and respond to a long history of colonialism, the on-going removal of people from land, exclusion, and trauma.
In 1968, students from San Francisco State University and University of California Santa Barbara and Berkeley, composed of different ethnic groups and associations joined together as the Third World Liberation Front to protest the lack of diversity and access in education and the lack of space dedicated to the study of ethnicity and identity within the university space. The strike was a catalyst for the future of student protests but it was also a movement for multicultural education and ethnicity studies across the US.
Why did students fight for this? Universities have long been spaces dominated by white scholars and administration who uphold the US imperialism narrative and the efforts of the students were a way of forcing the education systems to reevaluate and reflect the growing changes of the nation as well as the changes in the the student body as a result of the demographic changes happening locally and nationally. They realized the need for faculty and curriculum that reflects all aspects of society and incorporates all narratives of peoples and cultures.
This is where studies of culture, language, ethnicity, underrepresented history, and identity comes in. While Area Studies, like International Studies and Global Studies, has existed within American academia since the 20th century, the purpose was more so to serve US imperialism and the efforts of the American government while sustaining US dominance in other regions. Stemming from the anti-war movements of the 1960s, area studies scholars have been critical and led transformations of the discipline that have been beneficial for elevating narratives that are not the typical Euro-centric histories prevalent in academic spaces. Ethnic studies rose from the grassroot efforts of students and community members to challenge the narratives and facilitate the inclusion of underrepresented peoples and histories within American society specifically.
In an interview on the “They Call Us Bruce” Podcast with Pawan Dhingra, 2022-2024 president of the Asian American Studies Association and Associate Provost and Associate Dean at Amherst College, Dhingra shared that studies of culture and identity are key to the studies of America because it acknowledges the roles of all people groups within the American experience that are often excluded and erased when viewed through the mainstream lens. This effort responds to the cases of people groups only being acknowledged when used to placate race relations or undermine other races. Because of the isolation of these studies across fields, we notice that ethnicity/area studies programs are often created in response to exclusion, oppression, and persecution of people groups. However, this surge shows the need for education and an interdisciplinary approach.
The goal of this project, Asia In Arkansas, is to ask questions and find answers to this topic within the Arkansas narrative and the larger story of the US South. In researching and learning about Asian Studies, African/African-American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Latin American/Latino Studies, Middle Eastern Studies (these are the local programs offered), and other ethnic/area studies, these programs are not meant just for those who identify with those groups but they are meant for everyone to learn from so that they can have a better understanding of the place where they find themselves and the local history within the bigger picture. This project specifically looks to explore this through the lens of the Asian/Asian-American community of Arkansas and the meaning of these labels.
Check out the resources used for this post and more resources to keep learning:
They Call Us Bruce Podcast – They Call Us Asian American Studies
The History, Development, and Future of Ethnic Studies by Evelyn Hu-DeHart
Racializing Area Studies, Defetishizing China by Shu-mei Shih
Asia in Arkansas 
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