Letter from the Director

Reflections and New Beginnings at W&M

By Professor Deenesh Sohoni

It is my great honor to take over as the new director of APIA. I am thankful to Professor Francis Tanglao-Aguas for his vision and leadership in building the thriving program that I am now privileged to lead. Since 2009, when Edward Hong first self-designed his APIA major, we have graduated over 20 students (including our first official cohort —Patrick Canteros, Maggie Chu, David Fernandez, and Emma Shainwald in 2020), and we continue to grow with another 20 students poised to major or minor in APIA in the next three years. The past year has provided incredible challenges for us all- the COVID-19 pandemic, a national reckoning regarding racial injustice, and a Presidential election that has torn at the fabric of our democracy. Yet, amid these crises, we have seen the continued relevance of programs such as ours in combatting narratives that seek to stigmatize a health epidemic in racialized terms, in educating students and the public about racial disparities in health outcomes, including that for Asian Americans, and in mobilizing Asian American communities into political activism. APIA has contributed directly to these efforts through our classes, our Banh-Mi speaker series, and other programing. Examples of these include Professor Gem Daus’s course Pandemics, Paranoia, and Public Health, Professor Janelle Wong’s (University of Maryland) guest lecture “The Asian American Vote and Election 2020,” and Professor Aguas’s many well-attended virtual events, such as the civil rights concert tribute to the late Rep. John Lewis, and “I Dissent: A Tribute to RGB” celebrating the life of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The upcoming year offers us hope and excitement as we continue APIA’s mission of researching, teaching, and learning about Asian Pacific Islander American communities, and educating and empowering our students so they can make their mark in creating a better and more just world. 2021 marks the Centennial of the first Asian students at W&M, and we are thrilled about the many upcoming events we have planned in commemoration (many announcements to follow). I cannot thank enough all my colleagues in APIA whose unsung work and support ensures the continuing success of our program. And finally, to all our students, and in particular our graduating seniors, I cannot wait to see you all in person, but until then a virtual thank you, you make all of this worthwhile.