ASIAN/AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH
What is A/APIHM?
(Celebrated at Duke during April)
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (A/APIHM) is a time to recognize and celebrate the rich histories, cultures, and contributions of Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The term AAPI broadly includes the Asian continent and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia), and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, French Polynesia, and more).
While AAPI Heritage Month is nationally recognized in May, Duke observes it in April to ensure that students, faculty, and staff can fully engage in a month of events before the academic year concludes.
The celebration is open to all members of the Duke community and features a wide range of events hosted by student organizations, campus offices, and academic departments. From cultural showcases to panel discussions and community gatherings, A/APIHM at Duke is a time to learn, uplift, and connect. Everyone is invited to participate and contribute to the vibrant and diverse programming each year.
More
Bryan University Center Plaza Banners
AAPI stands for Asian American Pacific Islander and started formally being used in the 1990s as a category in the U.S. Census. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs defined Asian-Pacific Islander as "A person with origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East (i.e. East and Southeast Asia), Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands." Around 2010 a newer term, “APIDA” has been used [in an effort to] be more inclusive of South Asians. APIDA stands for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American, with the Desi term representing South Asian identifying people (U of Wisconsin-Madison, 2023).
Resources on the terms:
- Inclusive Language Series: APIDA vs. AAPI-University of Wisconsin-Madison, University Housing
- Remapping a Theoretical Space for Hawaiian Women and Indigenous Women- Lisa Kahaleole Hall, PhD*******
- Why some have mixed feelings about the terms Asian American and AAPI- CNN
- Are You “AAPI” or “Asian American”? It's Complicated. | A People's History of Asian America
- PBS Voices
- "What ‘AAPI’ Means to Me"- Nikki Whang, Yale SOM'22
- Pan-Pacific identity: A skeptical Asian American response- Young Mi Pak*******
- Asian Pacific American Heritage Month- The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Asian Heritage Month: What’s in a Name?- Siena Iwasaki Milbauer, Asian American Organizing Project
*******To view you must be a Duke-affiliated person with a valid netID login and access to Duke Libraries. If you are not, we highly encourage you to support these authors and their work in whatever ways you are able and willing.
- Submitted resources
- AANHPI Resource Center: [via the The Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC)] "Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month is observed annually in May to celebrate the contributions that generations of AAPIs have made to American history, society, and culture. The following information has been curated by the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC) to educate the public about AAPIs and celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month."
- A/API BASE
- The Center for Multicultural Affairs & the Identity and Cultural Centers
- Duke Asian Alumni Alliance (DAAA)
- Duke Pacific Islander Alumni (PAIA)
- Asian Athletes Network
- Asian Students Association (ASA)
- Duke Chinese Student Association (CSA)
- Duke Chinese Theater (DCT)
- Duke Diya (South Asian Students Association)
- Duke East Asia Nexus (DEAN)
- Duke KAjok! (Korean-American Student Association)
- Duke Nepali Students Association (NSA)
- Duke Pamilya (Filipino Students Association)
- Hong Kong Student Association (HKSA)
- Japanese Culture Club (JCC)
- Korean Undergraduate Student Association (KUSA)
- Pakistani Students Association (PSA)
- Singapore Students Association (SSA)
- Taiwanese American Student Association (TASA)
- Vietnamese Students Association (VSA)
- alpha Kappa Delta Phi (akDPhi) [MGC]
- Lambda Phi Epsilon (LPhiE) [MGC]
- Duke Chinese Dance Troupe **
- Duke Deewana**
- Duke Dhamaka**
- Duke Lasya**
- Duke Rhydhun**
- Temptasians A Capella Group**
- Duke Asian-Pacific American Medical Students Association [G/P]
- Duke University Bangladesh Society [G/P]
- Duke University Chinese Students and Scholars Association (DCSSA) [G/P]
- Duke University Indian Students Association [G/P]
- Korean Graduate Student Association (KGSA) [G/P]
- Duke Taiwanese Student Association (DTSA) [G/P]
- Asian American Studies Working Group (AASWG)^^
** selective membership
[G/P] graduate/professional
[MGC] Multicultural Greek Council
^^ AASWG is housed within AADS. Reestablished in 2016, the Asian American Studies Working Group (AASWG) is the latest iteration of the decades-long push for Asian/American Studies at Duke. In 2018, after years of mobilizing students, staff, and faculty, the Asian American & Diaspora Studies (AADS) program was established.
These student organizations represent a range of cultural identities and experiences and are open to all Duke students, regardless of identity or background. This is not an exhaustive list of A/API identified/affiliated organizations. Find these organizations on Duke Groups or Instagram! If you’d like to learn more, get involved, or suggest an organization to be included, please contact the Center for Multicultural Affairs at dcma@duke.edu.
Thank you to our contributors who shared events, resources, and more.
Duke University A/APIHM logo designed by Aida Guo T' 26
Banner designs collaboration: Kristin LoBiondo Pfieffer, Communications Strategist, and Duke Student Affairs Communications
Stay tuned
The Asian Students Association was founded at Duke University in 1981 to serve the social, political and cultural interests of Asian and Asian-American students. Their mission is:
- To create an open space centered in care, a culture of intentional relationship-building, and inclusivity for Duke's Asian community. To form sustainable relationships, support, and be in solidarity with other campus affinity groups
- To demand that Duke implement institutional change that creates an inclusive space for marginalized students
- To be a communal learning space that is invested in the history of the Asian American as a political identity
- To remain accountable and open to the general body's needs and interests, constantly growing and changing as an organization.
instagram: @asa.duke
duke groups: Asian Students Association
All students are welcome to join.
The idea of DIYA began in 1985 by 3 first-years, and has since evolved into Duke's largest South Asian undergraduate student organization, shedding light on culture, traditions, and values of the community. Presently, their mission is:
- to promote South Asian cultural awareness on Duke's campus and enhance cross-cultural awareness between all cultural and student groups. Diya's membership includes (but is not limited to) students from the eight major nations of South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Diya, which is a Hindi/Urdu word meaning "light," seeks to promote awareness and appreciation of South Asian culture and tradition through cultural, social, and community service events. It also hopes to provide opportunities for Diya members to meet and share a strong common collegiate experience throughout the year.
instagram: @duke.diya
duke groups: Duke Diya
All students are welcome to join.
There are about 57 cultures under the umbrella of "Asian American & Pacific Islander" with over 300 different languages spoken. Learn more about the term in the "A/API?" section, above!
There are more than 60 AAPI-owned businesses in the Raleigh /
Durham area! Have any ideas to add? Let us know!
The Asian/Pacific Studies Institute (APSI) is the focal point of research and teaching on the Asia Pacific region at Duke Since 1981, APSI has been supporting a dynamic group of faculty with a broad range of interdisciplinary expertise in the humanities, social sciences, and medicine.
In addition to APSI, there are other academic spaces that discuss and cover some aspects of A/API identity:
Asian American & Diaspora Studies (AADS):
After decades of tireless student activism and faculty efforts, a minor in Asian American & Diaspora Studies was established in 2022. In partnership with the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, the minor is the interdisciplinary study of people of Asian descent in the U.S. – the history, culture and experiences.
Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES):
Our department explores East Asian, South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures—primarily Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, and Korean—through the lens of language and literature; social movements, nationalism and diaspora; popular culture and the media; gender, visuality and feminism; film theory, cinema and aesthetics; and the implications of religion on identity and globalization.