New Book Provides Context for Asian American Studies’ Key Terms

Keywords for Asian American Studies is co-edited by Linda Trinh Vo and includes contributions from Asian American Studies Department Faculty

Linda Trinh Võ, associate professor of Asian American studies, director of the Vietnamese American Oral History Project and president of the national Association for Asian American Studies, is co-editor of Keywords for Asian American Studies (New York University Press, 2015), a collection of essays that explore the complex, interdisciplinary and often-shifting meanings of Asian American studies’ most integral terms. Published earlier this month, Keywords for Asian American Studies includes 61 essays, each centered on a term of importance. Three faculty members from UC Irvine’s Asian American Studies department contributed essays to the book.

Asian American Studies as a field of inquiry was born out of the Civil Rights and Third World Liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s and is characterized by transnational, trans-Pacific, and trans-hemispheric considerations of race, ethnicity, migration, immigration, gender, sexuality, and class. In addition to acting as co-editor, Võ contributed a chapter on “community”; Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, professor of Asian American studies, authored an essay on “gender” and James Kyung-Jin Lee, chair and professor of Asian American studies, authored an essay on “multiculturalism.” This is Võ’s second book publication this year. Vietnamese in Orange County, a history of the largest population of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam, co-authored with Thuy Vo Dang, archivist of the new Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive Center at UCI Langson Library, and Tram Le, associate director of the Vietnamese American Oral History Project, was published in March by Arcadia Publishing.

Fittingly, Keywords for Asian American Studies’ publication coincided with a number of historical anniversaries relevant to the study of Asian American history, including the seventieth anniversary of the end of World War II; the fiftieth anniversary of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act; and the fortieth anniversary of the “end” of the Vietnam War.

“This interdisciplinary project combines cultural studies, humanities, and social sciences research, capturing the impressive academic growth of the field of Asian American studies since its inception. We were able to include contributors across the country who have written foundational books in the field and hope this collection will influence the research trajectories of a new generation of scholars and students,” said Võ.

Accompanying the book is a website that includes the book’s introduction, ten full essays, the list of works cited, information about the contributors, a note on classroom use, and a blog. This book is part of a new Keywords book series by NYU Press.

For more information on Keywords for Asian American Studies, please click here.
For more information on UCI’s Asian American studies department, please click here.

Keywords for Asian American Studies at a Glance:
– Co-edited by Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, associate professor in English and Asian/Asian American studies at the University of Connecticut, Storrs; Linda Trinh Võ, associate professor of Asian American studies; and K. Scott Wong, the James Phinney Baxter III Professor of History and Public Affairs at Williams College.
– 61 essays, 295 pages
– Publisher: New York University Press
– Publication date: May, 2015
– ISBN: 9781479803286
– $25 paper

 

http://www.humanities.uci.edu/SOH/about/press_release_det.php?id=158