Reconceptualizing Community, Pedagogy, and Paradigms: Asian American Studies and Higher Education

Abstract

In spring 1999, the Journal of Asian American Studies (JAAS) editorial board members conceptualized special issues for its year 2000 series. The editors, Gary Okihiro and John Liu, proposed that JAAS develop thematic volumes that would probe the future of Asian American studies (AAS) into the next millennium. But what constitutes important themes in the field at this time? For board members, pedagogy and education were identified as topics that needed to be addressed. It was left to the guest editors, Shirley Hune and Phil Tajitsu Nash, to interpret this very broad terrain. To come up with an organizing framework for the issue, the guest editors reflected on their own experiences in AAS, and their relations with the academy and the broader Asian Pacific American community.