美国国家公共电台 NPR--More schools are offering courses related to Asian Americans

More schools are offering courses related to Asian Americans

Transcript¹

Asian American college students are reigniting the fight for Asian American studies. Educators say increases in violence targeting Asian Amerians heightens the need.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There are more classes at universities on African American and Latino studies than there ever have been, although few schools have been teaching Asian American culture and history. That is slowly changing. From NPR's member station in Nashville, Juliana Kim has the story.

JULIANA KIM, BYLINE²: Jack³ Mok just graduated from Vanderbilt University. He grew up around a lot of Asian Americans back home. Still, he was no stranger to stereotypes⁴, like when kids would poke⁵ fun of things made in China.

JACK MOK: I laughed along with the jokes. I even told a couple when I was growing up. But I never really understood the sort of stigma⁶ that was associated with that.

KIM: Earlier this school year, Mok took one of the few classes offered on Asian American history at Vanderbilt. And he says the course actually helped debunk⁷ his own misconceptions.

MOK: The reasoning that we came up with for Asian American studies at our campuses was that, you know, acts of violence are born out of ignorance.

KIM: For the past two years, Mok and other Vanderbilt students have been pushing for more Asian American faculty⁸ and classes in hopes of creating a major. And it's not just Vanderbilt. The field of study began popping up in universities during the 1960s. But today, only 26 schools offer a degree in Asian American studies, including Cornell and Northwestern University. But that's slowly changing.

STELLA LEE: When the hate crimes were first kind of rolling in, I knew a lot of people who weren't Asian who didn't really understand, like, these stereotypes that caused those hate crimes kind of have historically existed.

KIM: That's Stella Lee, a rising senior at Texas A&M University. She says the recent uptick of anti-Asian bigotry⁹ and violence across the country has reenergized interest among students for more Asian American classes. Growing up, Lee learned a lot of Texas history, but it rarely included Asian Americans.

LEE: How can you make a history for a whole state but not make a history for a whole demographic group?

KIM: At John Hopkins University (ph) in Baltimore, students are taking it one step further. A rising junior, Kobi Khong, originally wanted a major focusing on Asian Americans, but he saw a larger issue at hand. He and other students have been lobbying for a major that reflects the entire immigrant experience, not just focusing on people from Asia.

KOBI KHONG: I think it stems from just the objectification of the foreigner. You know, they're not Americans. They're FOBs. They're this other.

KIM: Khong and Vanderbilt's Jack Mok belong to a national coalition¹⁰ of Asian American college students working to make campuses more inclusive of their community. Mok says there's a long way to go, but adding more Asian American-related classes is a good first step.

MOK: What I hope for Asian Americans in, you know, a decade is that they feel like they belong from the moment they step on campus.

KIM: He says that's going to take group effort from the administration, faculty and both Asian and non-Asian American students. After all, these courses are for everyone to enjoy.

For NPR News, I'm Juliana Kim in Nashville.

(SOUNDBITE OF ODDISEE'S "AFTER THOUGHTS")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

6 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

7 debunk   

v.揭穿真相，暴露

参考例句：

• let's debunk some of the most common falsehoods.让我们来揭穿一些最常见的谬误吧。
• Sequences of maps can also debunk misconceptions.一系列的地图，也有助于厘清错误概念。

8 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

9 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。