Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month—a celebration and recognition of the rich and diverse contributions from AANHPI communities across the nation. These contributions have profoundly shaped the CLA community, too, and we are honored to shine a light on the following AANHPI stories and resources.
Alumna Aeriel A. Ashlee's experiences of belonging and unbelonging inspired her to write her own story into existence.
Read about Ashlee's transformative journey toward healing in "The Journey to Belonging"
Associate Professor V.V. Ganeshananthan discusses how her new novel, Brotherless Night, explores a complex period of Sri Lankan history through an intimate lens.
Read "Brotherless Night: A Tamil Family Faces the Beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War"
Martin Manalansan, a specialist in subjects from queer theory to aspects of the Filipino diaspora, returns to a topic that requires only our senses: food. This project explores the emotions and experiences of Filipino immigrants with Filipino-American cuisine.
An adoptee born in Seoul, South Korea in 1975, Megan Rye (MFA ‘03, art) explores themes of migration, citizenship, remembrance, war, and democracy through paintings, drawings, photography, and artist books.
Read "Rye’s art rooted in experience from foundling to “forever home”
Richard Lee, a distinguished McKnight Professor in the psychology department, gave a TEDx Talk about how conversations on racism can help communities heal from trauma and create a better future.
Postdoctoral fellow Deborah B. Yoon researches identity and identity uncertainty in people who have been adopted—including international adoptees—and explains how studying communications can help them access life-changing information.
In a course on museum practices, undergraduate students curated the artwork of C.C. Wang, a Chinese American artist who combined Chinese ink painting with techniques from New York City's postwar art scene.
Read "A Multicultural Framework for American Art: Curating C.C. Wang"
Launched in January, “The South-Asian Migrant Identity: Narratives, Spaces and Constructs” is a mixed-media online exhibition of South Asian migrant artists that grew out of a collaboration with scholars from the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies.
Pao Houa Her, Tetsuya Yamada, and Kao Kalia Yang were selected as 2023 Guggenheim Fellows by a rigorous peer review process, making the University of Minnesota a top ten institution with affiliated winners this year.
Learn more about the recognition of this trio and their work
Looking for your next read? The UMN Bookstore has curated an impressive list of books by authors of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage and cultures, including a number with CLA connections.
Asian American Studies Program
AAS offers an exceptional platform for studying this interdisciplinary field. With a commitment to community engagement, the program aims to create innovative approaches to teaching and researching Asian American history, politics, literature, and cultures.
Learn about CLA's Asian American Studies Program and its undergraduate minor.
Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
AMES is a dynamic and innovative department offering courses on the cultures, media, literatures, and languages of Asia and the Middle East. Its interdisciplinary courses cover a range of topics, from the histories of the premodern world to the challenges of the global 21st century.
Learn about CLA's Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies and its undergraduate and graduate degrees.
