Asian American Studies at Cornell
Ethnic studies developed out of the Civil Rights Movement. The fight for the inclusion of Ethnic studies was long and difficult as students in many schools went on strike. Cornell’s department of Asian studies was founded in 1946 originally as the department of Far Eastern studies. Differing from the Asian Studies department we know today, the program was originally set to train people to work for the government. However, the program has developed to being more humanities-based with classes on literature, cultural studies, language and more. The program continues to develop and is ever changing and growing. The department has 3 primary programs in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia. The department strives to change the ideas around Asian studies and to make humanities include literature, religion and language of Asia.
Cornell also has an Asian American studies program that teaches students about the history and community of Asian Americans in the United States. Out of the many strikes and long nights arose a change in the curriculum of many schools. Students understood what was missing from their education and fought for it. There is a continuous fight for an Asian American studies major at Cornell.
Other than Asian Studies and Asian American studies, Cornell offers African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Latina/o Studies and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies all in the College of Arts and Sciences.
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