Now What?
We're not the first people to do this work, and we won't be the last.
Our research exists not only within a genealogy of student activism and organizing but also of student scholarship. Some other research projects that have captured BIPOC students' activism or the trajectory of fields of study centering marginalized students at Duke include:
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Shania Khoo's 2022 senior thesis, "Even if the Institution Forgets, We Remember: How Activist Memory Drives Duke Asian/American Student Organizing" and accompanying zine
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Elizabeth Barahona's 2018 senior thesis, "The History of Latinx Students at Duke University"
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Alan Ko's Duke Libraries Exhibit "Cherry Blossom Among Magnolias?: A History of the Asian American Experience at Duke"
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Heather Zhou's Duke Libraries Exhibit "Now You See Me, Now You Don't: A Brief History of Duke International Students"
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Lara Haft's Duke Libraries Exhibit "(We Know) (We've Been Here): Uncovering a Legacy of Student & Employee Solidarity"
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Other projects created by our HIST 229S classmates! We'll share their work here as it becomes publicly available.
The first Asian/American Studies programs were won as part of a multiethnic coalition.
We believe that movements for Asian/American Studies or Asian/American liberation must be tied to movements for liberation for Black, Indigenous, queer, disabled, etc. folks who hold marginalized identities, and solidarity with workers, particularly the faculty and staff workers who create the institutional space for us to formally study Asian/American Studies. Around Duke's campus, here are some other petitions and movements to learn more about and support:
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Duke Graduate Students Union is working to unionize against heavy administrative opposition
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The Native/Indigenous Student Alliance released demands in 2021, none of which have been fulfilled
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Student-run Sexual Harassment & Assault Prevention & Education (SHAPE) released a statement and petition in April demanding Duke work toward more comprehensive sexual and gender violence prevention measures