SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

Over the past twenty years, demand for a formal Asian American Studies (AAS) program has grown concurrently with the increase of the Duke Asian/American student population to approximately 20 percent of the undergraduate student body, second only to white students. AAS is a subset of Ethnic Studies whose departmentalization has been at the center of Duke Asian student activists’ efforts for decades. Earlier this year, Duke approved the establishment of an Asian American and Diasporic Studies minor. Though well-deserved, this achievement certainly did not come about without persistent student-led organizing and campaigning. This study analyzes the institutional barriers standing in the way of the departmentalization of AAS, as well as the implications of such obstacles for Duke Kunshan. It also aims to make the case for the incorporation of Ethnic Studies, an inherently interdisciplinary field, into Duke Kunshan’s innovative liberal arts and sciences curriculum.