In the Fall of 2016, Asian/Asian American Studies initiated a pilot program that connected AAAS and the larger Cal State LA student body to the Chinese American community in the greater Los Angeles area as well as those who reside in the San Gabriel Valley. The Chinese American Oral History Project was an existing database that collected and preserved life stories of Chinese Americans in Southern California since 2014. With the initiation and creation of the AAAS 3520 class, Asian/Asian American Studies hoped to vitalize oral histories within the Chinese American community. The project had a four-fold mission: boost student success through civic learning and community engagement, strengthen the ties between Cal State LA and surrounding communities, especially the Chinese American community, serve the public good, and invigorate Asian and Asian American Studies (AAAS) at Cal State LA.
AAAS 3520 is an upper division class open to students of all majors and backgrounds. This seminar examines key historical developments of Asian Americans in U.S. history with a particular focus on regional southern California history, oral history and its use in ethnic studies, methodological and theoretical approaches to oral history, and feminist approaches to fieldwork. This course requires students to work within the classroom, conduct fieldwork, and work with Cal State Library Archives to transcribe and complete the oral histories conducted through the semester. All interviews are shared intellectual property with the narrator/s, Chinese American Oral History Project, Cal State LA, University Archives, and community partners.
