University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Asian Americans and Cultural Identity at the University of Illinois

Choi, Sunny; Ku, Sigmund; Kuo, Stephanie; Sonn, Mara; Young, Ryan

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/16376

Description

Title
Asian Americans and Cultural Identity at the University of Illinois
Author(s)
  • Choi, Sunny
  • Ku, Sigmund
  • Kuo, Stephanie
  • Sonn, Mara
  • Young, Ryan
Issue Date
2009
Keyword(s)
  • Asian American
  • identity
  • culture
  • AAS 346
  • Fall 2009
Abstract
Our research consisted of determining how Asian American students at the University of Illinois identify themselves racially and culturally. We conducted observations of various Asian American student organizations, campus events, and individual interviews to gather data and information for our research. We found that Asian American students identify themselves differently according to their environment, their past experiences, and current experience here at the University. There is no specific way in which Asian American students identify themselves here at the University because it is constantly changing and evolving.
Series/Report Name or Number
Asian American youth make up one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. In this course we will explore the ways that second-generation Asian American youth are actively shaping the U.S. landscape in terms of identity formation, youth culture, education, and activism. These experiences will be examined within larger historical, economic, racial, social and political forces in the United States. In addition to an engagement of texts from different academic disciplines to provide us with theoretical perspectives of young people, this course will provide students with first hand research experience as part of The Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI) by engaging students in the research process and meaningfully interrogate the U of I. A desired outcome of the course is that engagement with both theory and research practice of issues concerning youth, and Asian American youth in particular, will allow students to gain a fuller understanding of race, class, culture, diversity, and gender in U.S society. Moreover, in conducting research related to Asian American youth on campus such as student organizations, sororities or fraternities, student housing life, religious life, and cultural houses, the course will provide students with the opportunity to closely examine issues of student racial diversity at the University of Illinois.
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/16376

Owning Collections

Diversity on Campus/Equity and Access PRIMARY
This collection examines ways in which the U.S. university and the American college experience are affected by diversity, and difference. In particular, these student projects examine experiences of diversity on campus, including important contemporary social, cultural, and political debates on equity and access to university resources.