Release of AAST 2021-22 Annual Report Including Director, Dr. Julie Park's Note

AAST just published the program’s 2021-2022 Annual Report, highlighting the program’s milestones and work during the last year. The report opens with a Director’s Note from Dr. Park, where she shares reflections on the 2021-2022 academic year and her five years of serving as Director of AAST.

The 2021-22 academic year has been one of transitions. After three semesters of virtual learning, we transitioned back to in-person learning. We welcomed Dr. Binod Paudyal as teaching faculty, Alexandria Grant as our Business and Scheduling Coordinator, and Kai Kai Mascareñas as our Program Coordinator. After eleven years of serving as a pillar of the program, Jessica Lee (Program Coordinator) retired from the campus. We continued to organize virtual programming including the Chandni Kumar Annual Lecture as well as the AAST Open Class Series. We were excited to bring back some limited in-person events including the Minors Dinner, Kat Chow’s Seeing Ghosts: A Memoir book talk, cross-racial solidarity workshops, and the End-of-Year Celebration.

Through these transitions and the persistent pandemics of COVID-19 and anti-Asian hate, the program continued to grow. AAST again reached a record number of minors (over 110 students). The Undergraduate Studies (UGST) Dean and Associate Provost Bill Cohen recognized the growth in the number of minors and student demand for AAST courses and funded an additional teaching faculty position. This is the first addition to the core AAST full-time faculty since its inception in 2000. We will welcome Dr. Jennifer Cho as new AAST core teaching faculty in Fall 2022. 

In Spring 2022, AAST minors and other Asian American Student Union (AASU) students pushed for the hiring of additional AAST faculty to establish an AAST major with a petition and letter to the provost. AAST faculty, affiliates, staff, donors, and community immediately submitted a letter of support for the students’ demand. Provost Rice responded supportively about the importance of Asian American Studies in our curriculum at UMD. We had our first meeting with Provost Rice in May 2022, and we look forward to seeing how this progresses.

This was also my last year of my five-year term as AAST director. As I work to wrap up my work, I am excited to share that Professor Janelle Wong will be transitioning back as Director starting on July 1, 2022. As I said elsewhere, I look forward to Dr. Wong’s leadership through the next exciting phase for the program. I am proud of my time as Director and include some highlights here. The number of AAST minors grew to record numbers every year. The program also received two new endowments, the Major General Antonio Taguba Profiles in Courage and Leadership Endowment and the Juanita Tamayo Lott Endowment in Asian American Studies. I received the Donna B. Hamilton Award for Teaching Excellence in Undergraduate Studies. 

Most significantly, I cherish the relationships with students, alumni, staff, and faculty that this role facilitated. I learned more than I taught, I received more unwavering support than I extended, and I grew more than I ever thought was possible. I appreciate the opportunity to lead and serve the wonderful AAST community. We continue to thank all those who spoke to, for, and with the AAST community throughout the year. Thank you to our faculty and students for getting through a transition year back to classrooms with COVID-19 protocols. A special thank you to our AAST staff and undergraduate students. This program would simply not function without you. As I transition into a year-long sabbatical, I look forward to seeing what the next year holds for AAST.

Read through the entire 2021-2022 Annual Report to learn more about courses and enrollment, program highlights and recognition, people within AAST, scholarship recipients, and our students who completed the minor this academic year.