A class that never appeared in the Course Offering Directory, AMEL 302,"Topics in Modern Asian America" has more than exceeded its original capacity with 80 University students enrolled.
The efforts of students and faculty led to the creation of AMEL 302 after students realized last semester that courses devoted to Asian-American issues would not be offered for spring 2002.
AMEL 302 was created for 50 students, but the demand for the class has allowed for the addition of 30 students, fourth-year College student Ryan McCarthy said. McCarthy, former Asian Student Union president, is now enrolled in AMEL 302.
Assistant Dean of Students Ajay Nair, who taught similar courses when he served on the faculty at Pennsylvania State University, is the professor for the Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures department class.
"I have been preparing for this class since I was an undergraduate student," Nair said. "I've always had an interest in Asian-American studies."
Last year, several students devoted a semester to researching Asian-American issues and investigating Asian-American studies programs across the country with a view toward creating a course, McCarthy said.
Students then chose a core curriculum and created a syllabus with the help of Chinese Language Professor Gilbert Roy, who taught AMEL 301, Asian-American Culture, last semester.
The course curriculum for AMEL 302 deals largely with "an examination of social phenomena that have framed the lives of Asian Americans," Nair said.
Discussion will focus on issues of race, class, gender and family. Students will conduct comparative analyses of Asian-American communities and specific concerns and histories of individual Asian groups in America.
A large portion of the course is devoted to a project that addresses social phenomena impacting Asian-American students at the University, Nair said.
In conjunction with efforts to create AMEL 302, students have worked hard to demonstrate the need for Asian-American Studies at the University.
Last November, students issued a petition that measured student interest and demand for an Asian-American studies program.
The petition eventually garnered 466 signatures, 323 of which said they would take the class, McCarthy said.
"I believe that an Asian-American studies program is long overdue at the University of Virginia," Nair said.
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