Like any program, UMass Boston’s Asian American studies has a wish list, and the hiring of more full-time faculty with Southeast Asian roots is high on that list. Kiang knows of only one full-time Vietnamese faculty member in the entire university.
That UMass Boston’s program is larger than so many of its neighbors is no tiny feat considering some of their budgets and endowments. Course catalogs for Amherst College, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology each list fewer than 10 courses on Asian American people, diaspora and contemporary life.
UMass Boston has no department or full-time faculty dedicated to Asian American studies. Instead, faculty across many disciplines tack Asian American classes onto their teaching loads, which often run higher than their private university peers.
Why bother? Or, why not move a few miles and start a new program?
Leong test-drove that notion one semester at Tufts University. As adjunct faculty, he taught his law course. He quickly noticed “students there were more privileged than U-Mass students.” Leong says he feels more compelled to teach at UMass Boston for this reason and because it allows him to teach both law and Asian American studies courses.
He adds, “Here, I know I’m making a difference.”
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