SOREATH HOK, HOST: Although the San Joaquin Valley is home to a large population of Asian Americans, not many universities have programs focusing on studying the history of this community - until now. This year, the first class of Asian American studies will soon be graduating from Fresno State. KVPR’s Branden Sandoval went out to find out how the program is bridging histories and cultures.
BRANDEN SANDOVAL, BYLINE: In the heart of the Fresno State campus, wind blows through students’ hair as they listen to water flowing from the stone pillars of a monument to the Armenian Genocide.
(SOUNDBITE OF JENNY TEACHING)
SANDOVAL: A professor is teaching a class about Asian American communities in the Valley…including Armenians.
This class is part of the Asian American studies department at Fresno State. And this year, the program is taking a historic first step in sending off its first official graduating class.
Daisy Thao is one of them.
DAISY THAO: Just to be able to still be here and to see that come to fruition, it's just so heartwarming.
SANDOVAL: Thao is Hmong. She’s among the roughly 12% of Fresno County’s residents who are of Asian descent. She feels they haven't always been understood.
THAO: We are very underrepresented, even though being in the Central Valley, we do have a very large Hmong population, Lao and Cambodian as well.
SANDOVAL: She chose this program because she wanted to get a better understanding of her Hmong heritage.
THAO: It struck a chord in my heart because it's really eye-opening to be able to see other peers get to learn about my community and who we are as a people.
SANDOVAL: Jenny Banh leads the program. She’s the professor who was speaking to the class at the monument.
She says she’s been trying to start this program since she arrived at Fresno State in 2016. The university already had an ethnic studies program. Banh said the challenge was advocating for the importance of Asian American studies specifically.
BANH: I think that's a long time coming. It probably should have come here years ago, but it's right on time. It's right on time.
SANDOVAL: Banh says being Asian is not a requirement for the major. It's meant for everyone.
BANH: It doesn't just benefit Asian Americans. It's actually, it benefits Latino Americans, African Americans, because you should know about your fellow neighbor. And they're not leaving. They're not leaving.
SANDOVAL: Seng Vang also teaches in the department. He says students in this program learn about immigration histories, how these communities overcame adversity to settle here, and how they’re represented.
SENG VANG: We also don't see Asian Americans in history, right? And so a lot of our courses cover these topics, looking at, you know, the missing history of Asian Americans, their contributions, looking at identity, looking at education.
SANDOVAL: He says some recent events made this curriculum even more crucial.
VANG: The program has started to expand a lot, right? And then, you know, so like after COVID with a lot of the anti-Asian hate.
SANDOVAL: Fresno State is the first university in the San Joaquin Valley to offer Asian American Studies degrees. It joins about two dozen universities across the state. And a handful of community colleges.
Bao Lo is the director of the Asian American Studies program at Sacramento State University. She says a program like this is essential here.
BAO LO: Fresno is a unique place, even though it's a central valley, similar to Sacramento. There's a lot of diversity there, but not a lot of opportunities.
SANDOVAL: She says the program also underscores a common misconception about what “Asian American” actually means.
LO: One of my students in the past wrote in an essay after they took my class that they first thought the term Asian American meant you were white and Asian.
SANDOVAL: For Daisy, being a part of this graduating class is only the first step in better representing her community. She hopes to become a nurse…while getting a Master’s in Asian American studies.
THAO: I just hope to still be an advocate for Asian American Studies program and inspire students to think outside the box.
SANDOVAL: So that these lessons can re-awaken their own histories.
For KVPR News, I’m Branden Sandoval.