Asian American Studies Commons^™

Remaking Life: The Culture Of Chinese Transcontinental Railroad Workers, Caroline Jordan

The Purdue Historian

This paper examines the methods by which Chinese immigrants involved with the construction of the first transcontinental railroad maintained cultural ties to their native China, as well as the changes they made to adapt to their new surroundings. The United States’ first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, primarily at the hands of Chinese immigrants. Despite their massive contribution, no primary documents from Chinese workers themselves are known to exist. Their role in the railroad’s construction was largely forgotten until relatively recently. Chinese workers faced hostile living and working conditions during their life on the railroad. This paper covers multiple …

Poets, Pioneers, And In-Betweeners: Musicians Of The South Asian Diaspora, Kancana Preetika Kathiravan

Music Undergraduate Honors Theses

Sid Sriram, Arooj Aftab, and Ganavya Doraiswamy are three Asian American musicians who have experienced a meteoric rise over the past five years. These artists are signed to major labels, receive mainstream media exposure, have multiple Grammy nominations, and tour internationally. Through different avenues, they have built up diverse audiences that include members of the South Asian diaspora who see their own stories and music represented. Rather than being a single part of a cross-cultural collaboration, these musicians belong to both worlds. With backgrounds both in South Asian and American musical styles and grammars, these musicians are like their work: …

Feigned Compliance: The Japanese American Response To Incarceration During Wwii In Light Of Issei And Nisei Conflict, Mary Rose Comerford

History & Classics Student Scholarship

Major: History
Minors: Asian Studies; Business and Innovation

The formation of exclusively Nisei organizations in the 1930s contributed to their rise in community leadership. When WWII began, these Nisei-led groups collaborated with the War Relocation Authority (WRA), which created a narrative of Japanese American compliance. This is evidenced in internment camp newspapers.

The Rise Of An Eco-Spiritual Imaginary: Ecology And Spirituality As Decolonial Protest In Contemporary Multi-Ethnic American Literature, Andrew Michael Spencer

English Theses and Dissertations

The Rise of an Eco-Spiritual Imaginary reveals a shared ecological aesthetic among contemporary U.S. ethnic writers whose novels communicate a decolonial spiritual reverence for the earth. This shared narrative focus challenges white settler colonial mythologies of manifest destiny and American exceptionalism to instantiate new ways of imagining community across socially constructed boundaries of time, space, nation, race, and species. The eco-spiritual imaginary—by which I mean a shared reverence for the ecological interconnection between all living beings—articulates a common biological origin and sacredness of all life that transcends racial difference while remaining grounded in local ethnicities and bioregions. The novelists representing …

Sovereignty, Statehood, And Subjugation: Native Hawaiian And Japanese American Discourse Over Hawaiian Statehood, Nicole Saito

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Although discourse over Hawaiian statehood has increasingly been described by scholars as a racial conflict between Japanese Americans and Native Hawaiians, there existed a broad spectrum of interactions between the two groups. Both communities were forced to confront the prejudices they had against each other while recognizing their shared experiences with discrimination, creating a paradoxical political culture of competition and solidarity up until the conclusion of World War Two. From 1946 to 1950, however, the country’s collective understanding of Japanese American citizenship began to shift with recognition of the community’s military service record and an increased proportion of veterans elected …

Yone Noguchi And Miss Morning Glory: American Humor, Identity, And Cultural Criticism In The Works Of Yone Noguchi, Evan Connor Alston

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Yone Noguchi’s novels, The American Diary of a Japanese Girl and The American Letters of a Japanese Parlor-Maid, both published with the first decade of the twentieth century, have been the subject of study for scholars in the humanities for the past few decades. The research examines both novels in historical context and against his personal communications and his subsequently published works, understanding Noguchi not just as a Japanese immigrant but also a member of an American literary community. I compare the larger structing of the Diary to the works of his literary peers and mentors and demonstrate that understanding …

Layered Histories, Interpretive Desires, Rachelle Dang

Theses and Dissertations

I aim to excavate source material from the past and reinterpret its significance in the present through art. I merge history with the contemporary through acts of appropriation and material exploration, creating conditions for the viewer to grapple with colonial legacies in an affective space of visual experience.

Introduction To Volume Eight: Wins And Losses, Noelle Brada-Williams

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

No abstract provided.

The Intersection Of Culture And Activism In The Filipino Community In Soma, Ericka J. Martynovych

Master's Theses

My research analyzes the intersection between culture and activism, through oral histories with participants and organizers of SoMa Pilipinas, the Filipino cultural heritage district in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco. I analyzed the impact of the establishment of the Filipino cultural heritage district on the Filipino community in the South of Market neighborhood. I examined what motivates members of this community to be politically active by organizing and attending protests and rallies, speaking at Planning Commission hearings at City Hall, attending planning meetings for SoMa Pilipinas, building relationships across organizations and fields, and providing resources for community …

On Such A Full Sea Of Novels: An Interview With Chang-Rae Lee, Noelle Brada-Williams

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

An interview with author Chang-rae Lee.

Pre-1900s Chinese Placer Mining In Northeastern Washington State: An Archaeological Investigation, Lindsey M. Evenson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"The lack of organized historical and archival documentation regarding the pre-1900s Chinese placer miners in northeastern Washington has left the historical and archaeological records fragmented. Documentation of the Chinese placer mining activities in the region is poor, at best, and the scars left on the landscape by these miners are often inundated by the damming of the Columbia River (and other major waterways), or the sites are heavily eroded and damaged. The available historic and archival data has been organized and synthesized to create an historical context regarding the pre-1900s Chinese placer miners in the region. Furthermore, archaeological sites previously …

A Place Like This: An Environmental Justice History Of The Owens Valley - Water In Indigenous, Colonial, And Manzanar Stories, Monica Embrey

Pomona Senior Theses

This text provides an environmental justice analysis of the stories of the people who lived in the Owens Valley, who watered its land and cultivated its crops—pine trees, apple trees, and kabocha alike. Telling the personal stories of challenge and resistance that manifested alongside the oppressive forces of military and state domination provides the opportunity to align forcibly relocated, exploited and incarcerated people’s struggles throughout time. This text starts with The Nü’ma Peoples who were the first humans to live in the Owens Valley and continues with the struggle for empire between rival colonial empires of agriculture and distant urban …

Juanitas Family: Catherine Hufana (Youth), Lori Iwamasa

Filipino American Stories

Catherine Hufana grew up in Stockton, California. Her Filipino culture runs deep in her family and she has always felt “Filipino.” However, after visiting the Phillipines in 1992, Catherine realized that she identified much more strongly with Americans than native Filipinos. As an American, Catherine’s upbringing was much different than her parents. She was raised in a household that spoke mostly English, although her parents are bilingual. As Catherine struggled to fit in with her American peers, her parents continued to introduce her to their own Filipino culture…

Komure Family: Dean Komure (Middle), Lori Iwamasa

Japanese American Stories

Dean Komure grew up, knowing in his heart, that if his word was good, he would always have something. That would be the pride of being a Japanese American. Dean learned this from his parents and it is what he has passed on to his children…

Hirata Family: Toshiye Hirata (Elder), Amy E. Smith

Japanese American Stories

Toshiye Hirata holds in her hands a valuable letter. Its value doesn’t come from the fame of the writer or from historical significance—but rather from the intense depth of its personal meaning for her. The letter is a Namu Amida Butsu, a Buddhist expression of sincerest, heartfelt gratitude. It was written to her by her husband, Roy Ko Hirata. In the letter he thanks her from the bottom of his heart for how she raised two daughters and a son with him, diligently and lovingly, and how she worked side by side with him through the many hardships of their …

Pech Family: Ky Pech (Elder), May Lin

Cambodian American Stories

There are many situations that Ky Pech could have marked as the beginning of her adulthood. Her parents gave her a great amount of responsibility at an early age. Fulfilling that responsibility was her greatest accomplishment, but Ky Pech doesn’t feel as though that alone marked the beginning of her adulthood. She helped her family financially, earning money by working in the rice fields of Cambodia. Ky Pech also helped her mother take care of her two younger sisters after her father died. Although society considered her an adult at the age of 14, in her own heart, she did …

Wong Family: John Wong (Elder), Christina Tran

Chinese American Stories

In 1932, at the age of 15, John Wong and his family received news of a terrible tragedy—the death of his mother. John was the oldest of 10 children, and with this news, his world changed. He took on new responsibilities; he worked to be a good example for his siblings, and helped instruct them as a parent would. The death of his mother made him feel more like an adult because he became the second parental figure, along with his dad. The passing of his mother left a painful reminder that his childhood had ended abruptly and his adulthood …

Sorn Family: Sonn Meong (Elder), Amy Smith

Cambodian American Stories

Traditional music and the sound of the Khmer language are among Sonn Moeng’s favorite childhood memories. They remind him of a homeland and a way of life devastated by war. Today, he lives in an adopted country, surrounded by a language he does not speak and struggles to understand a culture that is not his own…

Carido Family: Kathleen Nomura (Youth), G. Lee

Filipino American Stories

Although she’s now well past the age of maturity, Kathleen Nomura thinks that her elders in her large extended family do not yet see her as an adult. In reply to the question, “When did your family start treating you like an adult?” with a good-natured laugh, she answers, “They still don’t.” Yet, there were milestones along the way that indicated to her she was becoming an adult—being able to drive, moving away from home, and having to be responsible for her own bills. It was a long process, which has not reached a culmination in their minds, although she …

Lo Family: John Lo (Youth), Jillian Altfest

Hmong American Stories

John Lo’s parents were often away from the home, so John took on the parental responsibilities when they were gone. By age 13, he cooked, cleaned and took care of his younger brothers and sisters. Older siblings were not available to help. Although often frustrated, he accepted these responsibilities. Looking back he feels he did a good job; in fact, this may have been his first step toward adulthood…

Carido Family: Gloria Nomura (Middle), G. Lee

Filipino American Stories

Gloria Carido Nomura was the second to youngest child in a large, close-knit family. Until she was 11 years old, Gloria spent her days as did many youngsters: doing a few chores, but mostly going to school and playing with her friends. Sometimes, she would daydream about what she would do when she got older—places she might visit, where she might attend school, jobs she might attain. As a child, there was always an adult to supervise and guide her…

Lo Family: William Yang (Youth), Christina Conrardy

Hmong American Stories

Seeing San Francisco for the first time, at the age of three, after immigrating from Loas will always be a special memory for William Yang now age 16. The sky scrapers of San Francisco were a great contrast to the jungles and life he had just left. In Laos, he lived with his family in a typical rural village where the houses were made of bamboo, thatched roofs and had dirt floors. The villagers would work in their fields to gather food, which they cooked on an open fire. Leaving his parents behind, accompanied only by his grandfather, the trip …

Lo Family: Chue Lo (Elder), Nancy Snider

Hmong American Stories

At the age of 55, Chue Lo is the elder of his family. Chue was born in Laos the second of six children. While his parents might have known a time of stability in Laos, Chue and his siblings grew up with difficult and unstable conditions caused by a period of political unrest. Despite this, Chue’s parents insisted he continue to attend school. In his studies, he learned to speak several languages in addition to his native Hmong. According to Chue, there are no specific rituals to signify coming-of-age. His family recognized him as an adult when he had completed …

Komure Family: Roxanne Komure (Youth), Oksana Ivanschencko

Japanese American Stories

Within a young Japanese woman’s journey to adulthood, the culture does not offer one specific ritual or even that marks the moment that she leaves her childhood behind. Roxanne is no exception to the rule. While there is not one significant event that causes Roxanne to feel like an adult, she predicts that the sum of experiences that helped her grow and mature, will equate to Roxanne becoming a responsible and independent adult…

Hirata Family: Henry Hirata (Middle), Tara Runnels

Japanese American Stories

Henry and his sisters think of themselves as part of the Nisei generation, although their mother was also born in America. Typically, Nisei are challenged to live a mixture of Japanese and American culture. Having the opportunity to participate in school events gave him confidence socially. Still, on occasion, Henry felt he was different or separate from his classmates. For example, he knew instinctively that he could not openly date a Caucasian girl. Realizing the existence of such limits, he was torn between wanting to be accepted and having pride in his heritage…

Wong Family: Kecia Won-Jones (Youth), Tucker Corriveau

Chinese American Stories

Growing up, Kecia Won-Jones experienced a plethora of cultures. She is Chinese, but was born and raised in a multi-cultural America. Though she is a third generation Chinese American, she feels a strong connection to her ethnic past. On the other hand, she confesses that her parents were assimilated into American culture, and that she has lived only in this country. Kecia likes to think she has the better of two worlds. Kecia is grateful for the opportunity to celebrate her cultural traditions as well as those of others. Navigating diversity has been one of her paths to maturity…

Pech Family: Rottana Prak (Youth), Danielle Bosch

Cambodian American Stories

All over the country, at this very moment, parents are asking their children for help with the chores. And all over the country, teenagers are…turning up their headphones, or heading for the door. Or, if they’re like Rottana Prak, they are simply saying “Yes.” Rottana is a typical high school student who likes to spend time with her friends, enjoys music and movies, and is interested in X-treme sports. But she is also a teenager who knows her roots. She knows what her family endured in Cambodia as their beautiful homeland was shattered by war and the brutalities of the …

Pech Family: Kun Tuy (Middle), Lindsey Gaines

Cambodian American Stories

Imagine a 15-year-old girl forced to work in the fields, seven days a week, from five in the morning until seven at night. In the U.S., such a young woman would be going to school to learn about herself and about life’s opportunities. Kun Tuy dreamed of teaching dance. Instead, she was put to work by the Khmer Rouge in the rice fields of mountainous Cambodia. She received no money and little food for her labor. The Khmer Rouge ruled by suppression and killing in anticipation of establishing a Communist regime in Cambodia…

Komure Family: Kathryn "Katy" Komure (Elder), Jacob Lethbridge

Japanese American Stories

Since she was a young girl in French Camp, Katy Komure found her life defined by work. Despite a constant struggle to reach her goals, things had a way of working out for Katy. She focused on what she thought important and found she could succeed despite social barriers which stood in her way…

Sorn Family: Sophat Sorn (Middle), Tammy Hunt

Cambodian American Stories

Sophat Sorn has a great love for his native country of Cambodia. On its soil, he learned great lessons in life and in loss. Sophat never wanted to leave Cambodia. However, he had no choice, as his family safety was threatened. On October 30th, 1991, Sophat and his family arrived in Petaluma, California to start a new life. Two weeks later, the family arrived in Stockton. Now, surrounded by his children, Sophat tells stories of his lost youth, homeland, friends and family left behind…