Director's Welcome

The Year 2007 marked another busy and successful year for MSU’s APA Studies program. I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Anna Pegler-Gordon who ably served as Acting Director during the 06-07 academic year while I was on sabbatical. Her involvement with the APA Studies program is just one example of the academic service and leadership that earned her an MSU Teacher-Scholar Award in 2008. Congratulations, Anna!

In this 2008 newsletter, we will highlight some of our accomplishments from the past year, including faculty and staff publications and this year’s PAs and conference. We will also profile one of our recent specialization graduates.

With a grant from the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives, the program was able to sponsor five professorial assistants (PAs) who worked on their research projects during the 06-07 academic year under the mentorship of a faculty or staff member as part of the APA Studies Research and Leadership Program. The PAs presented their research in April 2007 at the first annual MSU APA Studies Conference, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Evelyn Hu-Dehart of Brown University. Under the vision of Meaghan Kozar (Ph.D. candidate in American Studies), the conference grew from a small luncheon for PAs and their parents to a full day event, including presentations from faculty, staff and students. We look forward to our Second Annual MSU APA Studies conference on April 12, 2008, “APA Intersections: Transcending Boundaries, Embracing Coalitions.” (see Meaghan Kozar’s article for more details).

The APA Studies office continues to take shape. Dr. Joseph Cousins is in his second year as Program Coordinator. Under his guidance, the office was redecorated with new furnishings to replace the vintage steelcase from MSU salvage. Dr. Cousins has worked closely with student worker John Gyul Ra to create more publicity for the program and recruit students. Another student worker, Jor Vue, has helped maintain the program’s website. The program would also like to thank Peggy Medler and the rest of the Anthropology Office, as well as the Social Science Dean’s Office for their help with various clerical and budget management issues.

In November 2007, the program held a reception to celebrate its successes thus far, to thank its supporters, and to welcome new faculty and staff. In attendance at the reception were specialization students, students from the PA program, APA Studies advisory board members, members of the APASO E-board, and representatives from OCAT (including Dr. Tom Rios). Dean Baba stopped by to say a few words, and we were pleasantly surprised to have visits from Pam Gray and Thuy-Lien Nguyen from the SSC Dean’s office, as well as Provost Wilcox and Lee June during the latter part of the reception.

The program continues to develop linkages with other units on campus from various colleges, following its vision of APA Studies as an area of academic study that connects the local and the global through focusing on Asian Americans and Asian diaspora populations within an immigration studies and diaspora perspective.