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By Alison Hog

Starting Spring 2025, Barnard students will be able to minor or concentrate in Asian Diaspora and Asian American Studies (ADAAS) after the official proposal submitted in Spring 2024 was accepted by the Barnard Committee on Instruction (COI).

ADAAS will be housed in the Barnard Consortium for Critical Interdisciplinary Studies (CCIS) under Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, one of its three major disciplines together with

Africana Studies and American Studies. Students majoring in one of these three fields may concentrate in ADAAS, with majors outside the CCIS having the option to minor. For both, the requirements are the same, consisting of five courses: one introductory class, two intermediate classes, and two advanced seminars.

The program takes an interdisciplinary approach to explore the histories and experiences of the Asian diaspora in the US and beyond, building on existing research on transnational and intersectional feminism, Black, Indigenous, and critical ethnic studies, postcolonial studies, and queer diasporic critique.

ADAAS’s curriculum, modeled after the other CCIS concentrations, was built by drawing from courses already offered by different departments across the college and taught by faculty whose research overlaps in the field of ADAAS. Courses for Spring 2025 span various disciplines including Architecture, Education, and Theatre, among others.

This program has become a reality after nearly three years of organizing by both students and faculty. A Student Advisory Board—made up of Julie Wu (BC ‘25), Aurelia Tan (BC ‘25), Kristen Santarin (BC‘24), Christina Park (BC‘26), and Nithiya Meng (BC‘26)—was created specifically to lead the initiative’s efforts. They were supported by Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Professors Manijeh Moradian, whose work focuses on the Iranian diaspora, and Neferti Tadiar, who researches Philippine and Filipino cultures. Professor Moradian currently serves as the first ADAAS Director at Barnard.

To read the entire article: https://bwog.com/2024/11/new-asian-diaspora-and-asian-american-studies-minor-and-concentration-becomes-available-at-barnard