(left to right) Betty Wang, Minyoung Jung, Helena Jungyun Kim, Kathie Jiang, Kumar Nandanampati, Sarah Xu, Eunnuri Yi, Jia Ning Xie, and Naomi Li Congratulations to our 2020 Asian American Studies graduates!
Curtis Ho – Fine Arts, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Kathie Jiang – Art History, College of Arts and Sciences Minyoung Jung – Development Sociology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Allison Kim – Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences Helena Jungyun Kim – Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences Naomi Li – Economics and Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences Kumar Nandanampati – Information Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Hyo-Jung (Irene) Song – Fine Arts, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Betty Wang – Asian Studies, College of Arts and Sciences Jia Ning Xie – English, College of Arts and Sciences Sarah Xu – Government and History, College of Arts and Sciences Eunnuri Yi – Asian Studies, Biological Sciences, Comparative Literature, College of Arts and Sciences
Selections from Student Bios and Reflections
“Asian American Studies set me on my track for my thesis on Chinese Cuban artists, with Professor Munasinghe’s class "Asians in the Americas" in my sophomore year. I questioned the university and its relationship to race, knowledge, and our collective future in Professors Wong and Chang’s "Race and the University" class, with many friends and classmates in and beyond the minor. Taking "Race and Modern US History" with Professor Chang in my last semester helped ground me in the history of this country that we as a nation seem to forget all too easily, especially in this moment. While I haven’t taken a course with Professor Balance, I’m still not sure how, but our connection has come together remarkably organically: I fondly think of all the genuine conversations on the 4th floor of Rockefeller, at community events, and beyond. And the many, many ways the AASP office on 4th floor Rockefeller has been my home away from home (my coop house) away from home (San Diego)!”>Kathie Jiang (Art History) is from San Diego, CA, and minored in Spanish and Asian American studies. After bumbling around Cornell in her first two years (honestly perhaps for the whole time while she was there), she found genuine community and purpose in her comrades in Asian Pacific Americans for Action, her housemates of 302 Wait Avenue Co-Op, her co-committee members in the Johnson Museum Club, and her friends far and wide on campus. She jumped the gun and had a two-month senior year at Cornell by studying abroad in Fall 2019 in Havana, Cuba with the CASA program, and returned to the cold of Cornell in January this year just to see and go through the Ithaca winter and reconnect with friends, professors, staff, and campus one last time before COVID-19’s course.
“The AAS courses I have taken at Cornell will always hold a special place in my heart. Before coming to this school, I had never taken any classes that focused specifically on Asian Americans, nor actively sought out more information regarding Asian Americans other than what was included in general history classes and my own experiences as the daughter of Korean immigrants. When I took my first AAS course, my world opened up, and I realized just how meaningful and complex the term “Asian American” truly was. As I learned more about the long history of Asians in the US, and the political and social nuances of the constructed Asian American identity, I found myself asking more questions and wanting to find answers to issues that I had never thought about previously. In these classes, I also had numerous opportunities to hear different perspectives and discuss freely with my peers who shared the same passion. I now understand that with this knowledge and experience comes power.”
Helena Jungyun Kim (Anthropology) is an Asian American studies minor. In her free time, she has enjoyed participating in theatre productions as a member of Cog Dog Theatre Troupe. Along with the knowledge she has gained and support she has received from incredible professors, Helena is truly thankful for the meaningful connections she has made during her time at Cornell.
“The AASP coursework has meant the absolute world to me. Through it, for the first time, I was able to critically think about my position in American society—my privileges, my oppressions, and what my role should be in the fight for equality. I just want to thank Professor Munasinghe and Professor Balance for teaching me, inspiring me, and motivating me to hopefully pursue a career and path where I can fight to empower marginalized Asian American communities.”
Kumar Nandanampati (Information Science) is a senior with minors in Asian American studies and South Asian studies. On-campus, Kumar was really involved with the South Asian Council.
“One of the reasons I first wanted to come to Cornell was for the Asian American Studies Program, and I’m glad that I've been able to participate and engage with it as much as I have. Graduating and leaving with a different understanding, different thoughts, and different assumptions than I had coming in about education, what it means to be Asian American or of the diaspora, and what the truth means and requires of us is a little bittersweet, but it’s also the greatest relief since it means I’ve actually learned something and grown!”
Eunnuri Yi (Asian Studies, Biological Sciences, Comparative Literature) was born in Gwangju, grew up in St. Louis, and is from Korea. She is graduating with a minor in Asian American studies. In the last four years she was lucky enough to experience and work through a variety of things, including writing briefly for the Sun; struggling through planning the 2018 ECAASU conference; working at AASP, the School of Criticism and Theory, the Johnson Museum, and the History Center; doing research in the Kessler Lab; and cram-writing a thesis, among a few other attempts at dabbling; however, what has really defined her time in college—and what she is most thankful for—has been meeting so many people and reading and growing with Asian Pacific Americans for Action (APAA), which has forced her to transform into more of an actual human being rather than merely a scattered collection of achievements and opinions. She’s thrilled and anxious to start life in the ‘real world’ beyond Cornell, but at the end of all this is feeling warm and even (dangerously?) sentimental about the last four years. :')
