U of A Celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Departments and groups across the University of Arkansas and in our own Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences are celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month all May long.  

The 2021 festivities include special features on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) campus trailblazers, streaming videos featuring AAPI culture that are available to all, historical resources, and a special video message from the U of A’s Asian Pacific American Employee Impact Group. 

Join the celebration by checking out these Portraits of Progress profiles on:  

• Zenki Oshi, the first international student to earn a master’s degree at the U of A 
• Shih-Shan “Henry” Tsai, a professor for 37 years who worked to create a better understanding of Asian culture on campus 
• Moon-Sook Park, a professor of music who founded the SHE Festival to elevate the voices of diverse women 
• Mengjiao Liao, who has fast become one of the U of A’s most active international alumni
  

New profiles are continuously being added to the Portraits of Progress website.  

The U of A’s Asian Pacific American Employee Impact Group also released a video in May featuring folks from across campus celebrating and wishing everyone a happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. 

In April, the campus group – in collaboration with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, The Momentary and Ensemble HanSori – also came together to pay musical tribute and remembrance to the victims of the March 16 Atlanta spa shootings with this video. 

The tribute video includes a performance of Umma-ya, Nuna-ya (Dear Mother, Dear Sister), a traditional Korean folksong that expresses the longing for home, and a community discussion about being Asian American and the work to stop anti-Asian hate. 

“The performance is dedicated to the women, mothers and sisters who have taken on numerous, often unrecognized, often quiet sacrifices to create a home for others and themselves,” said Er-Gene Kahng, professor of violin in the Department of Music, and president of the Asian Pacific American Employee Impact Group. 

The impact group is also hosting a virtual panel event at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 26, titled “Forging New Paths: AAPIs in the Legal Profession.” 

The free event, which is also sponsored by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance and the U of A’s School of Law, can be attended virtually via Zoom. Registration is required. 

Additionally, the University Libraries have compiled free public resource guides that feature AAPI culture and history.  

The Marshallese Resources guide, for example, includes information about the history between the U.S. and Marshall Islands; information about Marshall Islands customs, community, education and food; a special section about the Marshallese community in Arkansas and at the U of A; a Marshallese dictionary; and a compilation of physical and digital books and other media related to the Marshallese.  

The Libraries’ Multimedia Department also compiled a variety of streaming videos – including both movies and documentaries – available to view online. 

About Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States that occurs each May. The month was established in 1977 by Congress and recognizes the history, culture and important contributions of people from the Asian continent and Pacific islands, including Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island). The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, as the majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.