BA in Asian and Asian American Studies
The department encourages work that is interdisciplinary, comparative or global in methodology and theory, as well as work that is specialized locally or regionally. It also supports work that examines the study of Asia and Asian diasporas as complex nexuses of sociological, geographical and political regions, as well as economies, histories and ideas across national and oceanic boundaries. Students benefit from the cross-national work and research agendas of both Asianists and Asian Americanists in productive dialogue.
The BA in Asian and Asian American Studies consists of three fields:
-
Asian American and Diaspora Studies
-
Asian Comparative Studies
- South Asian Studies
Requirements
Asian American and Diaspora Studies
The Asian American and Diaspora Studies program offers students an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Asian diasporic communities. The program's intellectual purview includes the study of Asian communities situated outside Asia, as well as communities that reside as minorities within the continent, with special interest in studies of majority-minority relations. Particular focus is paid to Asians in the Americas, which includes those in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The course offerings are wide-ranging and rigorous, consisting of lower- and upper-division undergraduate courses and advanced-level graduate courses.
Through its diverse curriculum and sponsorship of Asian American- and Asian diaspora-related events, the program provides students with an invaluable education into the historical, cultural, and political dimensions of diasporic and minority experiences. The program endeavors to not only build bridges between but amalgamate distinct but related scholarly arenas, including ethnic studies with area studies; Asian American Studies with African American, Latino, Caribbean, and Native American Studies; and Asian and Asian American scholarship with global, transnational, and diasporic approaches.
The program is also committed to the important task of narrowing the traditional gaps that have hindered beneficial relationships between academy and community, faculty and students, and knowledge and experience.
Asian American and Diaspora Studies Faculty

Ramaesh Joseph Bhagirat
Assistant Professor
Research Interests
- Race, racism, and mixed race studies
- Asian and African Diasporas in the Americas
- Latin American and Caribbean history
- South Asian diasporas
- Festivals, music, and performative culture
- Indigeneity

John Cheng
Associate Professor
Research Interests
- comparative transnational and intersectional studies of race; gender; and nation
- popular culture; media; and technology
- the history of earth; life; and human sciences and of computing
- historiography and critical theory

Ji-Song (Robert) Ku
Associate Professor
Research Interests
- Asian American literature and culture
- Asian diasporas
- cultural politics of food

Cynthia Marasigan
Associate Professor and Undergraduate Director
Research Interests
- U.S. Empire and comparative race relations
- Afro-Asian histories
- Philippine and Filipino American history

Lisa T. Yun
Associate Professor
Research Interests
- Immigration and Migration
- Humanities for Justice
- Digital Storytelling
- Digital Pathways to Community
- Community Engagement
- Afro Asian Connections
- Asian American Literature and Culture
- Asians of the Americas
South Asia Studies Faculty

Charles A. Goodman
Professor
Research Interests
- Asian Philosophy
- Ethical Theory
- Applied Ethics