Inspiring Asian American awareness through archival research: A Gonzaga case study

Abstract

The recent rise in anti-Asian violence in the United States necessitates urgent and immediate scholarly engagement and classroom interventions. The fact that Illinois and New Jersey are the only two states to make Asian Pacific American history a mandatory part of public school curricula—and only did so in 2022—should trouble anyone who believes in equitable representation and education.

Drawing on the expertise of two librarians and one political science professor, we created an assignment in the spring 2022 semester—for the first “Asian American Politics” seminar ever offered at Gonzaga University—that combined physical and digital resources for a new kind of archival journey into Japanese American incarceration and internment.