Dartmouth Asian American Studies Collective
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A Call for Asian American Studies at Dartmouth
In Fall 2021, Dartmouth Asian American Studies Collective (DAASC) released a petition to the administration demanding the institutionalization of an Asian American Studies (AAS) Program by June 2023. Their statement addressed common misconceptions around Asian American Studies and institutional barriers toward its establishment. At the time, they found that 42 courses related to Asian American Studies had been offered since 2004, and only 9 had been taught for more than three terms. DAASC organizers also incorporated student perspectives from across campus to emphasize the personal importance of AAS.
The petition was signed by 1264 students, alumni, faculty members, and other supporters, and remains a crucial document to the organization, because continuing to fight for the demands, which have undergone slight edits since, is still DAASC's main focus today.
Click here to read the petition.
Click here to sign the petition.
In subsequent terms, DAASC released public letters, providing updates to the student body. On February 8, 2022, they met with senior members of Dartmouth administration to discuss plans for establishing Asian American Studies at Dartmouth. While they were able to outline a feasible timeline for the program’s establishment, students came away with the sense that the Asian American Studies program would not have the necessary amount of administrative support.
Community Building & Organizing
Regardless of this discouraging sentiment, the collective has continued their efforts to push for the program. Although DAASC is dedicated to the institutionalizing Asian American Studies at Dartmouth, students in the group have also taken on the responsibilities of community building and organizing, as well as being a political voice for Asian American students on campus.
After the 2023 Lunar New Year shootings in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay, and Oakland, DAASC organized a vigil to collectively grieve and honor the victims within and in proximity to the Asian American community. In this vigil, members of DAASC, Asian American student leaders, and Asian American faculty spoke, honoring the victims of the shootings and calling the Dartmouth community to action in favor of solidarity in support of Asian communities and against anti-Asian hate.
Other examples of community building and education involve:
- Providing a list of the Asian American Studies course offerings in upcoming terms
- Organizing a teach-in discussing anti-Asian hate at Dartmouth, in response to a violent hate crime against 4 South Asian graduate students just off of campus
- Screening films centered around Asian American diaspora in collaboration with the Hopkins Center for the Arts
New York Times Feature
A momentous occasion for DAASC was when they were featured in a New York Times article. On January 13, 2022, Anna Kambhampaty published an article titled "The Fight for Asian American Studies." While the article described the nation-wide phenomenon of schools petitioning for Asian American studies in light of the rise of anti-Asian hate, it had an overwhelming emphasis on the fight at Dartmouth. Covering some history on Asian American Studies at Dartmouth, the piece included interviews with DAASC members, Dartmouth alums, past and present faculty members (including Aimee Bahng), and Diana Lawrence, the associate vice president for communications at Dartmouth. Overall, the piece pushed for Asian American Studies across the country and was successful in increasing DAASC's exposure and recognizing their efforts.