Localized Histories and Disrupting Colonial Logics: AANHPI Youth-Driven Curriculum in NY State

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April 18, 2025 | 11:45am to 12:45pm

Westin Boston Seaport District – Marina Ballroom IV
425 Summer Street, Boston MA 02210

This panel discusses the “Localized History Project,” which addresses the lack of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) history in New York State’s Eurocentric, test-driven curriculum. The Project advocates for both a “content and pedagogical revolution” to shift who is perceived as a historian and knowledge creator. The Project is youth-driven, centering young people through Youth Action Boards in various regions of New York, who develop resources for an archive and classroom use. Utilizing oral history, semi-structured interviews, and surveys, the project explores how the absence of AANHPI history impacts youth and aims to create a “living history” that challenges traditional, colonial frameworks of history education. The ultimate goal is to provide a community archive of localized histories to fill educational gaps and inspire revolutionary change.

Panel was part of the Association for Asian American Studies 2025 Annual Conference

Author Bio

Shreya Sunderram is the K-12 Project Director of The Localized History Project. A New York City-based educator and scholar-activist, Shreya investigates the ways that colonialism, racism, and structures of violence are upheld within sites of knowledge production-K-12 schools, academia, museums and how youth driven classrooms, curriculum, and world building are the key to dismantling harm. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the CUNY Graduate Center in the Urban Education program. Her most recent publication in the Journal of Curriculum Studies discusses the ways in which The New York State Regents Exam perpetuates colonialism and narrative erasure of the Global South. Shreya is doing her Ph.D. at the CUNY Graduate Center in Urban Education.


Tui Katoana is the Long Island site director for The Localized History Project, and freshman at Stony Brook University/SUNY, pursuing majors in Economics and Applied Math/Stat. He originally hails from Roosevelt Island, which has a small but tight-knit Pacific Islander community. Tui joined the Project's Youth Asian Board because of his passion for learning about Asian American history and for sharing Pacific Islander culture. At Stony Brook, he also writes News and Opinion pieces for the Stony Brook Press. In the future, he hopes to research the economics of illicit markets, looking at the illicit drug market in Fiji as a case study. In his freetime, he enjoys watching comedy shows (The Golden Girls and Insecure are his favorites), listening to Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek, reading, and trying out new restaurants with his family and friends.


Jake Xie is an Undergraduate Research Assistant for The Localized History Project, and undergraduate in the Macaulay Honors Program at Brooklyn College/CUNY, majoring in Psychology with minors in Children’s Studies and Sociology. Raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, which hosts one of New York City’s largest Chinatowns, Jake places great importance on preserving cultural heritage through oral history. As a second-generation Chinese-American, Jake is committed to uncovering and showcasing the lived experiences of the AANHPI community. His overarching aim is to make meaningful contributions to a more inclusive and rich classroom curriculum in New York State.


Eva Schmidt is an Undergraduate Research Assistant for The Localized History Project, and undergraduate in the CUNY BA program at Hunter College/CUNY, studying mixed methods research and Asian American studies. Originally from Arizona, with a background in the performing arts, she continually looks for ways to blend and find connections within her varied interests. Inspired by her personal experiences, she seeks to contribute to the field in a meaningful and representative way where voices, often marginalized and underrepresented, are amplified and celebrated.