Non-AAARI News

While people of MENA heritage are by no means monolithic, they do share one common experience in the United States. On official forms, most don’t see themselves represented among the check boxes for race or ethnicity. With few good options, many end up being counted as “white.”

The new Department of Social and Critical Inquiry unites four CLAS formerly non-departmentally organized units into a single department: the American Studies Program, the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative, and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. 

Based on data from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department, the suicide risk among service members and veterans of Asian American and Pacific Islander descent (AAPI) was 350% higher than the national average.

On May 11, 1972, in a letter to The Student, Asian and Asian American students at Amherst made the first call for an Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies major. 52 years later, the college has finally begun to listen.

In New York City, efforts have focused specifically on connecting Asian American kids and teens with mental health resources, as statistics put them at an especially high risk of suicide or self harm.

Earning a Ph.D. in Chemistry, Yixian Wang says, prepared her for a faculty role.