Undergraduate Program

Asian American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that critically examines social issues and axes of power through the experiences and lenses of Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian experiences. The undergraduate AAS program has existed in some form or another at SJSU since the 1970s.

Across these decades, the program has developed numerous scholars, activists, elected officials, engaged community members, and successful professionals across a variety of fields in San Jose and beyond. 

Many of our students choose to major or minor in Asian American Studies because they are passionate about it. It is a place to learn about and discuss critical issues in history and society that directly impact their lives and the communities they care about. They see it as a way to exercise a different part of their minds and beings that they often do not get to do in their other classes; and many describe that they "feel good going to their Asian American Studies classes." Critical and contemporary issues that students in our classes discuss include: the brutality of ICE, capitalist exploitation, fascism, the environmental impacts of data centers and technology, colonialism, the lingering impacts of war, imperialism,  workers rights, activism and social movements here and there, gentrification, and more.