About

Message From The Director Charles Tien

Welcome to Asian American Studies at Hunter College. Our program was established in 1993 and is a multidisciplinary program that aims to expose students to a wide range of topics that impact the lives of the growing Asian American population.

Asian American Studies at Hunter College offers a 12-credit undergraduate minor, and exciting public programming. Our mission is to help students understand and engage the Asian American community through fields of study that include but are not limited to art, anthropology, economics, history, culture, public health, literature, language, sociology, film, theater, media, race and ethnic studies, and politics. Our faculty are committed to helping Hunter’s students succeed in college and beyond.

I look forward to working with the Asian American community at Hunter College and New York City to fulfill the program’s mission.

–Charles Tien, Director of the Asian American Studies Program

The Asian American Studies Program (AASP) at Hunter College of the City University of New York provides students with a multidisciplinary undergraduate education in Asian diasporas with a focus on the United States and New York City. The Asian American Studies Program at Hunter proceeds from the premise that studies of Asian American experiences are needed to understand American history, immigration, law, politics, labor, health and cultures; and that knowledge of the rapidly growing Asian American communities, as part of post-1965 large scale immigration, informs our understandings of globalized cultures, economies and politics. Our curriculum and programming pays attention to race/ethnicity, national origins, socio-economic status, sexual identity, and gender, along with coalition building among diverse Asian American groups and across racial/ethnic lines to build the common good.

Our undergraduate curriculum focuses on the historical and contemporary experiences of Asians in the United States, Asian American communities and Mental Health and Asian American Civil Rights & Law. The curriculum includes exciting survey courses on Asian American Literature, Asian American Art, and Asian Pacific American Media. Furthermore, we offer courses with in-depth analyses of specific populations and topics, such as South Asian Women's Literature, Filipino American Literature, and Muslim Diasporas. In our 28 year history, we have offered more than 90 undergraduate courses, in the humanities and social sciences.

The program reflects the diverse Hunter student body and Hunter's deep connections to New York City and contributes to the growing scholarship in the vital field of Asian American Studies and serves as a resource for New York City's Asian American communities and community-based organizations.

The mission of the Asian American Studies Program is to prepare students with the knowledge and skills necessary to make meaningful contributions to the city and nation’s growing APA communities. The program reflects the diverse Hunter student body and Hunter's deep connections to New York City and contributes to the growing scholarship in the vital field of Asian American Studies and serves as a resource for New York City's Asian American communities and community-based organizations.

The Asian American Studies Program at Hunter College was founded in 1993 through the efforts of student activism and support from the community, faculty, and administration, including Dr. Shirley Hune, Professor Emerita of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies University of Washington, during her tenure as Associate Provost at Hunter from 1990-1992. Dr. Peter Kwong served as the founding director from 1993-2001 and was succeeded by Dr. Robert Ku and Jennifer Hayashida. Dr. Joong Oh has also served as interim director. Vivian Louie served as Director from 2018-2024. Student, faculty and community engagement have been defining features of Asian American Studies at Hunter.

Throughout our three-decade history, we have offered more than 90 undergraduate courses in the humanities and social sciences.

Faculty and Staff
Courses