We offer training in 14 languages, and undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the histories, religions, cultures and textual traditions of a third of the world’s population. Our faculty specializes in all periods from the classical to the modern, in the fields of literature, history, and religious studies, and conducts research in India, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Department Statement on Anti-Asian Hate Crimes
We in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies join Chancellor Christ and our colleagues in Asian American and Asian Studies in condemning the shocking attacks on Asian and Asian American/Pacific Islanders. We deplore the rising tide of anti-Asian hate crime and the rhetoric and performance of white-supremacy, racism, and misogyny in which it is rooted that dehumanizes Asian and Asian/Pacific Islanders and particularly women.
We condemn the recent targeted killings of Asian and Asian American women in the 17 March mass shootings in Atlanta, Georgia. We share in the sorrow of the families and communities of the victims.
We urge all in our community to join us in our stand to combat the rising trend of abuse, violence, discrimination against, and exclusion of the Asian and Asian/ Pacific Islander population on our campus, in our community, and in the nation.
We honor the contributions that Asians and Asian Americans have made in countless professions, including in public health, as frontline workers who risk their lives to help all members of our community, and who continue to contribute their expertise, their care, their labor, and even their own safety to protect our community and to ensure food security in this ruthless pandemic.
We call on all members of our campus community to recognize and validate these contributions, and to embrace and provide space for the diversity of cultures and heritages of Asian and Asian American/Pacific Islanders on this campus and beyond.
