Asian Studies majors– Rui, Nicolette, and Sam– share their unique experiences in the Asian Studies Program throughout their four years at Colorado College.
Rui Z. ’21 is a senior Asian Studies Major from Chengdu, China. Her recent passion has been trying out different baking recipes that are simple and delicious.
Rui was a Math & Economics major until the second semester of junior year. When asked why she decided to switch to an Asian Studies major, she talked about how she was dissatisfied with the ways of thinking in economics research because economic questions are often examined without historical context. She didn’t feel a sense of belonging in the corporate world, and became increasingly skeptical of capitalism, so she took a few classes in history and sociology to try out other disciplines.
The turning point was her Block 5 class in her third year, “Colonialism and Religion” with Dr. Yogesh Chandrani.
“I think it was so fascinating to learn that every challenge in the present about race, gender, religion, migration, nationalism and so on has so much historical depth in them.”
Rui was fascinated by the connectivity in all the concepts–how colonialism has globalized universal concepts of race, religion, and the human. Thinking historically about the present reveals that the cruelties of modernity have been sedimented but not inevitable. Rui described that her Asian studies training is not regionally focused but more broadly focused on different ways of (un)learning.
“Asia is not an object of study, but rather more of a method that decenters Eurocentric, imperial practices of knowledge and ways of being in the world.”
After graduation, she plans to work on a project titled “Arts of Subversion” with Saluja Siwakoti ’21, an Environmental Science major. They received grant funding from CC’s Seed Innovation Grant. They will travel around Colorado and hopefully to the east coast to work with BIPOC artists and activists. Rui also plans to apply to graduate school; she hopes to study precolonial and colonial circulations of capital, labor, knowledge, and explore ways to go beyond nationalism.
Her most memorable block at CC was Dr. Yogesh Chandrani’s Studying Asia in block 5, 2021, which took place during the height of the anti-Asian violence in the US. The subsequent community conversation with faculty and staff members and students discussing anti-Asian racism was a very moving time. She thought about how CC can come together as a community and be there for each other in a time of crisis. Rui also wrote a piece called “An Offering of Rage: to the New Cold War and Old Racism” after her block, where she was prompted to think of historical work in tandem with community organizing work in the present.
Nicolette G.’21 is a senior Asian Studies major from Longmont, Colorado. Her passion is to make music, where she sings and plays the guitar and drums. She also likes to play video games.
After traveling to China twice, she realized that China was not portrayed accurately by the US. She decided to major in Asian Studies because she wanted to learn more about US-China relations and history.
Nicolette’s focus is on the intersections of Anti-Asian racism and ableism. She wrote a thesis on “Invisibility, Disposability, Debility: A Critical Disability Studies Approach to Anti-Asian Racism in the United States.” She discusses how the model minority myth renders Asians and Asian Americans vulnerable to debilitation by rendering invisible the debilitating nature of Asian and Asian American discrimination and violence, and by depositing hyperability as the standard for Asian and Asian American acceptance.
“Those three terms [invisibility, disposability, and debility] are the overlapping three themes between Asian and Asian Americans and people with disabilities.”
Following graduation, Nicolette will take a gap year and potentially continue school afterwards.
One of the most memorable blocks at CC for Nicolette was also Dr. Yogesh Chandrani’s Studying Asia 3rd block of her junior year. She talked about how that was the first Asian Studies class that discussed the issues of area studies, which makes students mindful of their positionality within the field of Asian Studies. She noted how the excerpt of the Meat vs Rice Pamphlet, which was released during the Chinese Exclusion Era, also influenced her writing of her thesis.
Sam D.’ 21 is a senior Asian Studies major born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. His hobby includes riding electric bikes and rock climbing.
He came to CC thinking of majoring in Economics and minoring in Asian Studies. His decision to major in Asian Studies was influenced by his summer experiences in high school, where he had spent time in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and China. He wanted to take classes to learn more about Asia. During his freshman year at CC, he took Buddhism, history of Southeast Asia, and Chinese. He fully decided to pursue an Asian Studies major after taking Studying Asia in Japan with Professor Joan Ericson.
“It was an absolutely phenomenal class, and I was convinced I needed to take more classes in the department.”
Sam did a thesis on the Uyghurs who are detained in 380 detention centers across Xinjiang, China.
After graduation, Sam will move to Scottsdale, Arizona to sell commercial real estate. He states that he hopes to continue his academic studies in some way, such as applying to graduate programs or fellowships in Asia next fall.
Sam expressed excitement for a lot of the Asian Studies classes he had taken. During freshman year, his favorite was Topics in Asian studies: Modern Southeast Asia with Professor John Williams. During his sophomore year, his favorite class was Studying Asia with Professor Ericson. During his junior year, his favorite class was Balinese Gamelan with Professor Made Lasmawan. He liked this class so much that he took it twice but in two slightly different formats. He wanted to take a third class with Professor Lasmawan, but the summer class to Bali was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Finally, during his senior year, his favorite class was Comparative Politics: China with Professor Christian Sorace.
All of the astounding scholars above have gained new perspectives, learned a lot, and have each contributed so much to the Asian Studies program at CC. The Lotus wishes them all the best in their future endeavors.
