Mission Statement and Land Acknowledgement
The Asian & Asian American Studies Certificate is an interdisciplinary program that provides students with (1) a thorough understanding of both Asian and Asian American histories, experiences, and contemporary issues and (2) multi-disciplinary and multi-method research, analysis, and critical thinking skills, both of which prepare students for the increasingly diverse, globalized, and interconnected world of the 21st century.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst acknowledges that it was founded and built on the unceded homelands of the Pocumtuc Nation on the land of the Norrwutuck community.
We begin with gratitude for nearby waters and lands. We recognize these lands and waters as important Relations with which we are all interconnected and depend on to sustain life and wellbeing. The Pocumtuc had connections with these lands for millennia. Over 400 years of colonization, when Pocumtuc Peoples were displaced, many joined their Algonquian relatives to the east, south, west and north. That includes Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag, Nipmuc, Narragansett, Mohegan, Pequot, Mohican, communities and Abenaki and other nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy. These Native peoples still maintain connections and relationships of care for these lands today. We also acknowledge that the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a Land Grant University. As part of the Morrill Land Grant Act, portions of land from 82 Native Nations west of the Mississippi were sold to provide the resources to found and build this university.
As an active first step toward decolonization, we encourage you to learn more about the Native Nations whose homelands UMass Amherst now resides on and the Indigenous homelands on which you live and work. We also invite you to deepen your relationship to these living lands and waters.
Statement of Solidarity with Pro-Palestine Protesters
The Asian and Asian American Studies Certificate Program (AAASCP) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst is writing to express our solidarity with and support for the UMass community who are standing against the genocide taking place in Palestine. We were appalled and offended to learn of the events that occurred on the night of May 7th, 2024. No individual should ever have to face police brutality and armed law enforcement for exercising their constitutional right to peacefully protest, and the UMass community should never have to experience our security and welfare being jeopardized and threatened by the decisions of the leaders we should be able to trust.
We commend the brave students, faculty, staff, and community members who firmly stood up for what they believe in, and we condemn Chancellor Javier Reyes for his administrative decisions that, in no way whatsoever, reflect the AAASCP's values. We welcome peaceful protest, and all the more encourage the uplifting of the voices that are too frequently unheard and suppressed. Given that the AAASCP was built on the legacies of protests against the Viet Nam War, activism to build ethnic studies, and dreams for Asian and Asian American representation in academic spaces and on campus, we understand all too well the importance of fighting to be seen and heard. We hope to use our platform to further reiterate our condemnation of the active harm and violence inflicted by the current UMass Amherst administration and publicly condoned and rationalized by the President's Office and Trustees. They failed in their legal obligation to protect our students and faculty, and we stand alongside the many other undergraduate registered student organizations (RSOs), student businesses, and academic departments and programs on campus that have also condemned such behavior.
As history has shown us, transformational change and progress cannot be made without defending what is right and just, and it is extremely important that our right to free speech and peaceful assembly not be threatened by the fear of violence. We will continue to advocate for a safe campus environment where all are empowered to use their voices. We fully stand behind the belief that institutions of learning must remain places where positively changing the world is possible. As Yuri Kochiyama said, "we are all part of one another."
Click here for Resources to Deal with Anti-Asian Hate and How to Support the Asian & Asian American Community
What's New
Like many programs on our own campus and throughout the nation, the AAASCP is still dealing with the ongoing societal and global challenges that affect student engagement and programmatic interest. Nonetheless, as summarized in this report, we were able to collaborate with numerous departments and offices on many important and activities and events. Most importantly, we graduated four students who completed the Certificate (up from three last academic year):
- Catherine Brooks (Chinese Language & Literature / French & Francophone Studies)
- Alicia Chhung (Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration / Information Technology)
- Kama Kay (Spanish)
- Shreya Pullela (Psychology)
(L to R): Kama Kay, Catherine Brooks, C.N. Le, Alicia Chhung, and Shreya Pullela
Senior Seminar capstone project presentation event, May 9, 2025
Cate, Alicia, Kama, and Shreya worked extremely hard throughout all of their Certificate courses and on their respective Senior Seminar capstone projects. Completing the Certificate is an important accomplishment that they should definitely feel proud of, particularly given the challenges of these last few years. It is students like these who sustain the AAASCP and help make it vibrant and dynamic. We wish them the best of luck as they graduate, start the next chapter of their educational journey or their careers, and bring their knowledge and wisdom to their own communities.
The 2024-2025 year included many other highlights. Internally, we bid farewell to one of our two undergraduate program assistants, Alicia Chhung, as she left the position to focus on the last semester at UMass before graduation. We are extremely grateful to Alicia for her service and hard work for these past 2 years. Fortunately, we still have our other undergraduate program assistant Nicky Tran and the AAASCP continues to rely on her energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to make the AAASCP as successful as possible.
TAs part of the AAASCP’s ongoing work to promote Asian and Asian American (A&AA) history, experiences, and creative and artistic works, we were awarded a $2,500 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to conduct a multi-day Asian and Asian American Film Festival on March 1, 2025, March 2, 2025, and March 5, 2025 that brought together students, faculty, staff, filmmakers, and community members from diverse backgrounds to celebrate the artistic expression of filmmaking within the A&AA community. Each of these film screenings facilitated open dialogue, civil discourse, and better understanding of important global and domestic political, economic, and social issues, and promoted the ongoing expansion of narrative plenitude that encompasses the rich variety of A&AA stories. Working in collaboration with on- and off-campus partners such as the Office for Equity and Inclusion, Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success (CMASS), the Yuri Kochiyama Cultural Center (YKCC), the Asian & Asian American Defined Residential Community (A&AA DRC), and the Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission, the film festival showcased the following films and included interactive audience discussions with their respective filmmakers and actors.
- Inay (documentary about how transnational migration and separation affects Filipina mothers and their children across borders) and Q&A with filmmaker Thea Loo
- Dear Mother (documentary about a Korean American rock climber and how a near-death climbing accident prompted him to reunite with his birth family) and Q&A with filmmaker Jon Glassberg and lead actor Cody Kaemmerlen
- Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story (documentary about the life and work of Corky Lee, renowned journalistic photographer) and Q&A with filmmakers Jennifer Takaki and George Hirose
Each film screening event also included delicious award-winning cuisine specially prepared by UMass Dining Services. Overall, we were very gratified to hear so many positive comments and thanks from attendees for conducting each of the film screenings and Q&A sessions and providing a welcoming space for the UMass community to come together. Ultimately, we were very proud of our efforts to spotlight the work of several A&AA filmmakers and artists and to contribute to enlightening the UMass community about the value and beauty of artistic expression within the A&AA community
In addition, throughout the 2024-2025 academic year, the AAASCP was very proud to co-sponsor and/or collaborate with other programs on bringing the following speakers to the UMass campus:
- Elena Shih (Brown University), Oct. 1, 2024, "Manufacturing Freedom: Sex Work, Anti-Trafficking Rehab, and the Racial Wages of Rescue"
- Collaboration with the Asian American Student Association RSO, Oct. 20, 2024, "Snack and Unpack: Discrimination Faced by South and Southeast Asians in the Asian American Community"
- Collaboration with the Art Department, Nov. 14, 2024, "Colors of Unity: Round Table Discussion on Social Justice"
- Collaboration with the Asian & Asian American Arts and Culture Program (Fine Arts Center), Feb. 18, 2025, "Conversation with The Power and the Glory with Fleur Barron and Kunal Lahiry"
- Collaboration with Hampshire College, Feb. 19, 2025, "Alice Wong: An Activist's Life"
- Collaboration with the Asian & Asian American Arts and Culture Program (Fine Arts Center), Feb. 25, 2025, "Conversation with Kristina Wong on Food Banks and Food Insecurity"
- Collaboration with the 5 College Pan Asian Network (5PAN), Mar. 29, 2025, annual student conference
- Daisy Deomampo (Fordham University), April 1, 2025, "Conceiving Asian Babies: Racial Capitalism and the Market in Human Eggs"
- Collaboration with the Asian American Student Association RSO, April 9, 2025, "Snack and Unpack: South Asian Women & Gender Discrimination"
- Collaboration with Prof. Rebecca Hamlin (Legal Studies Program, Political Science department), April 17, 2025, "Community Dialogue on the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon"
Each of these events were important opportunities for participants to share their academic/professional expertise and personal experiences with the audience, and to reinforce our commitment to collaborating with and mutually supporting diverse programs and communities that are facing many political, economic, and cultural challenges. In connecting what we teach in the classroom to address real-world challenges, we honor and reinforce the power of higher education to make a meaningful difference in the everyday lives of vulnerable members of the community.
To build on the success and momentum of the Asian and Asian American Film Festival and our other events throughout the past academic year, the AAASCP has applied / will apply for more grants and funding to organize efforts to commemorate Fall 2025 as the 25th anniversary of the AAASCP's founding, in collaboration with the A&AA Defined Residential Community that will commemorate its 30th anniversary. Tentatively planned for October 2025, we hope to conduct a half-day schedule of events that will include a delicious variety of Asian food catered by UMass Dining Services, a panel discussion of UMass faculty, staff, students and community members, artistic performances from A&AA RSOs, and campus-based student vendors. This event will bring together students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to reflect on the past three decades and strategies that both the AAASCP and AAA DRC can undertake to strengthen their programs and build closer collaborations with other offices and program at UMass and with the surrounding communities.
A History of the Program
By the mid-1990s, three significant trends became increasingly prominent across many colleges around the U.S. -- (1) a recognition of the growing importance of globalized international affairs, particularly focused on Asia; (2) the political, economic, and cultural growth of the Asian American population; and (3) demographic trends and a large increase in the number of Asian and Asian American students enrolling in college. As a reflection of these developments, many students and scholars pushed for the expansion of Asian Studies and Asian American Studies at their campuses.
In the late 1990s, students at UMass Amherst engaged in numerous forms of activism, including protests and occupying the administration building, to demand the creation of an Asian American Studies program. Their efforts successfully culminated with the creation of a new joint undergraduate program in Asian and Asian American Studies in the spring of 2000. Since then, the Asian & Asian American Studies Certificate Program has graduated close to one hundred students from diverse personal and academic backgrounds who have gone on to apply their knowledge and skills in numerous careers and pursuits.
As U.S. society becomes more diverse, multicultural, and globalized, and in the context of the cultural and economic emergence of Asian countries such as China and India, the Asian & Asian American Studies Certificate gives students the opportunity to learn about the interconnections between two similar but unique sets of histories, cultures, and issues -- Asia and Asian America.
With course offerings and faculty specializing in numerous academic disciplines, the Certificate is designed to give students (1) an understanding of different Asian and Asian American ethnic groups and the range of historical, political, economic, demographic, and cultural issues related to their experiences and (2) interdisciplinary and multi-method research and learning skills to communicate and collaborate across cultures. In turn, these skills will give the student a competitive advantage in both their studies at UMass and in whatever career they enter once they graduate.
Please refer to the menu on the right for links to more information about the Asian & Asian American Studies Certificate, including requirements to complete the certificate, frequently asked questions, and an updated listing of courses that count toward the certificate. For additional information, please contact:
C.N. Le, Director
Senior Lecturer II, Department of Sociology
Thompson Hall 916
Email:
For an updated listing of upcoming talks, events, and other activities related to the Certificate program, remember to check out and 'like' our Facebook and Instagram pages.
