Asian American Studies
Why Study Asian American Studies at Bryn Mawr College?
The Asian American Studies program is designed to help you learn about Asian American experiences, histories, cultures, and art. We welcome students of all backgrounds who are interested in learning with us.
The program centers Asian American experiences and perspectives and puts the field into a broader context of critical race and ethnic studies. We focus on how race works in the United States, and relations between Asian Americans and with other minority groups. Asian American Studies provides interdisciplinary training in social and cultural issues around race, ethnicity, and identity.
Courses of Study
Asian American Studies at Bryn Mawr College is a Tri-College program in collaboration with Haverford College and Swarthmore Colleges. Through the Tri-Co, you can minor in Asian American Studies.
Course Highlight
ENGL B313 The Art of Minor Feelings: Asian American Emotional Lives
In her essay collection Minor Feelings (2020), Cathy Park Hong argues that Asian Americans experience a “racialized range of emotions”—what she calls “minor feelings”—when their concerns about racial injustice are repeatedly dismissed as inconsequential. What do emotions have to do with Asian American history and identity? And how do we talk about emotions critically? This seminar revolves around the cultural history of affect for Asian Americans in a variety of contemporary literary works by Asian Americans since the 90s including essays, short stories, novels, and genre fiction. Over the course of the semester, we will learn to understand and critically analyze affect—or feelings and emotions—in ways that are not just psychic and personal but also embodied and socially, politically, and historically specific. We will examine different affective states (e.g., anger, disgust, and detachment but also the beautiful and joyous), considering how specific affects have contributed to the stereotyping of Asian Americans both as unassimilable foreign threats (the Yellow Peril) and as idealized, upwardly mobile American citizens (model minorities). More importantly, we will explore how Asian Americans themselves have used affects to challenge and exceed the categorizations that have been laid out for them
Faculty Spotlight
Sophia J. Mao
Assistant Professor of Literatures in English
Sophia’s research and teaching interests include Asian American literature, English-language literature, affect theory, and media studies. She is working on a book entitled “Feeling Onwards: Model Minority Affects in Contemporary Asian American Literature.” You can find her work in The Journal of Asian American Studies and published in Amerasia, ASAP/J, and The Georgia Review.
A Bright Future
Bryn Mawr College graduates follow career paths from radio producer to astrophysicist to attorney. Check out what recent grads are up to now.
Opportunities in Asian American Studies
Research
We encourage you to take up research that engages your academic interests and personal experiences. Hanna Holborn Gray Fellow Ananya Hindocha '23 researched and wrote “Queer and Asian in the Bay: A Sociological Examination of Asian American Queer Identity in Immigrant Communities” in 2022.
Internships
We encourage you to take on internships. These short employment experiences let you experience a professional environment and start to build your professional network. Past internships include work with the Asian American Film Festival in New York City.
Cultural Clubs and Organizations
Bryn Mawr College has several cultural affinity clubs highlighting Asian and Asian American culture and experiences. These clubs put on culture shows, celebrate cultural and religious holidays together, and maintain a tight knit community that endures after graduation.
Asian American Studies FAQ
You may have questions about Asian American Studies at Bryn Mawr College. Here are some common questions and answers:
East Asian Languages and Cultures looks at the language, culture, history, literature, art, and religion of East Asia, primarily China, Japan, and Korea. Asian American Studies examines the unique experience, culture, and history of Asian immigrants and their descendants in the United States.
No, you do not need to study an Asian language to minor in Asian American studies.
There is no predesigned Asian American Studies major at this time, but our professors would be happy to work with you to design an independent major.
No, we welcome anyone who is interested in the subject to join our program.
Establishing the Asian American Studies Minor
After years of work by student associations and professors across the Tri-Co, the Asian American Studies minor debuted in 2022. Learn more about how this collaborative program came to be.
Humanities News
Asian American Studies is part of a rich field of Humanities at Bryn Mawr College. Here's what's new:
Graduate Student Hilde Nelson Curates Exhibit at the Fabric Workshop and Museum
Contact Us
Asian American Studies
Thomas P. Le
Assistant Professor of Psychology on the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Change Master Fund
Bettws Y Coed 211
tple@brynmawr.edu
(610) 526-5013