my thesis ch. 2 is about how everyone sux @ AsianAm Studies now????
While no one now in Asian American Studies opposes serving the community, this mission is defined narrowly, according to traditional academic criteria. Today, serving the community means offering student internships and field studies in social service agencies, training students in research methodology, encouraging professors and researchers to provide professional expertise with off-campus organizations, and defining students and teachers as advocates who can change public policy through their research. Certainly, these are all valuable activities, but are they enough for a field forged from the fires of student and community struggles? Do these activities fulfill our founding mission of producing teachers and students who defy "a thousand pointing fingers" while willingly serving the community?
In the spirit of Lu Xun, in this essay I propose the need to develop expanded ways of thinking about – or a re-visioning of – the mission of Asian American Studies in our communities. We need to stretch our thinking beyond traditional academic criteria. On the 30th anniversary of the founding of the field, we have a unique opportunity to promote dialogue about an expanded vision. Obviously, this new vision should be based on an understanding of our roots, but we also need to take advantage of changing conditions, especially the growth of the field.
Glenn Omatsu, “Defying a Thousand Pointing Fingers and Serving the Children: Re-envisioning the Mission of Asian American Studies in Our Communities” (1999)
