Professor Okihiro has published extensively in Asian American Studies, including the following books: Margins and Mainstreams: Asians in American History and Culture; Cane Fires: the Anti-Japanese Movement in Hawaii, 1865-1945; Japanese Legacy: Farming and Community Life in California's Santa Clara Valley; and Whispered Silences: Japanese Americans and World War II. Okihiro's lecture was based on his research for his current book project on American history.

The lecture was co-sponsored by the departments of Anthropology; Curriculum and Instruction; Economics, Educational Policy Studies; English; History; Political Science; Psychology; Social Work; Sociology; and Theatre.

"A Part Yet Apart: Do South Asians Belong in Asian America?" a lecture by Lavina Shankar, Bates College
October 20, 1998.

The term "South Asian" is growing in acceptance in the U.S.. this is partly because the term acknowledges commonality while allowing for difference among various South Asian populations. This construction parallels the gradual acceptance of the term "Asian American" by peoples primarily of East and Southeast Asian ancestry who often found reason to claim a shared identity in dealing with officialdom and racism in the U.S.. In academic institutions and society generally, there are vexed questions about the term's inclusiveness. Professor Shankar explored the extent to which South Asian Americans are and ought to be included within "Asian America" as that term is applied to academic programs and admission policies; grassroots community organizing and social and identity politics more broadly; and critical analyses of cultural product and diaspora.

The lecture was co-sponsored by the departments of Anthropology; Comparative Literature; Educational Policy Studies; English; History; Human and Community Development; Political Science; Sociology; and Women's Studies.

L. Shankur (center) in discussion with students

Asian American Studies Council Meeting

Council Meetings are held regularly throughout the year to engage the campus community in the development of the program. Two Council meetings took place during the 1998-99 year.

The Fall 1998 Council meeting took place on November 19, 1998 and addressed the future of ethnic studies at UIUC. Speakers included John Braden, Associate Provost and Charles Stewart, Professor of History and Associate Dean of LAS. The presentations and disucssion addressed sugestions and projections for the future integration of Asian American Studies into the LAS curriculum.

The Spring 1999 Council meeting took place on April 8, 1999 and included a panel discussion titled, "Creating Asian American Consciousness: Student Involvement and Asian American Studies." The meeting focused on the growing involvement of Asian American Student leaders and activists with the UIUC academy, campus, and community. Students presented and discussed their unique entry and continued involvement with Asian American issues and studies on campus.

AASC Film Series

The AASC hosted a film series during the 1998-99 Spring semester relating to Asian American histories.

February 25, 1999
Blue Collar and Buddha
A Laotian community in Rockford, Illinois survives anti-Asian violence and drive-by shootings at its local Buddhist temple. This is a provocative look at an immigrant population's confrontation with anit-Asian sentiment.

March 4, 1999
Meeting at Tule Lake
Among the internment camps that imprisoned 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII, Tule Lake Segregation Center was the site for over 18,000 "disloyals." fifty years later, seven former internees discuss their past and how they came to terms with their politicla and social identities.

Heart Mountain
A home movie documentary collage of life at Heart Mountain, a concentration camp in Wyoming where more than 10,000 Pacific coast japanese and Japanese Americans were incarcerated during WWII. Personal accounts, historical footage, and photographs combine to detail the politicla and personal experience of the times.

March 25, 1999
Roots in the Sand
This video challenges prevailing impressions of the rugged frontier by enriching the landscape with stalwart Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu settlers in this Mexican-Punjabi version of the "taming of the Wild West." One of these pineering figures, Purn Singh, arrives from the Punjab, India to southern California's Imperial Valley at the turn of the century. There, he settles with hopes of owning land. He and other PUnjabi immigrants soon discover that they must learn to circumvent racism, misegenational aws, and a mob of Anglo farms seeking vengeance for the murder of one of their own.

The AASC sponsored a conference titled "Asian Americans and Higher Education" on April 10, 1999, featuring research beyond campus and research of UIUC faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The conference provided a forum for open conversation concerning the range of issues concerning Asian Americans and higher education.

Presenters included:

"Asian American Education: Historical Background and Current Realities," Professor Emeritus Meyer Weinberg

"What do Asian American College Students Do When they Need Help?" David Chih, Assistant Dean for APA Affairs

"Issues in Asian American Therapy: In Theory and in Practice," Teresa Mok, Clinical Counselor, and Debjani Mukherjee, graduate student in Psychology

"Heritage Language Learning and Ethnic Identity: Korean Americans at UIUC," Hye-Young Jo

"Korean American Catholicism at UIUC," Matt Malooly

"Model Minority or Hype: Unveiling the Myth," Sieglinde Lim, graduate student, Educational Policy Studies.