Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies

Over the last 50 years since its formation, the Asian American Studies program, now renamed Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies (AAADS), has not only shaped the teaching and research on race and Asian American communities at Berkeley, but also the fields of Asian American Studies and Ethnic Studies nationally and internationally. AAADS has produced, and continues to seed and nurture, generations of scholars, thought leaders, and changemakers whose contributions span all sectors of American society including the academy, the arts, politics, science and technology, law, education, medicine, and civil society. 


A flagship program in the nation and an invaluable intellectual home for many Berkeley students, the vision and vitality of AAADS rest on the research, teaching, and mentorship of the faculty featured on this page. The trailblazers spotlighted here not only broke new grounds in their respective fields; they helped form those fields. They are also pioneering women both in and beyond the academy who faced challenges on multiple fronts, and thrived, in their path to excellence. 

"The program has been steadfast in keeping alive the flame of its founding values, such as anti-racism, gender equality, community building, activism, pan-ethnic alliance, and social justice."

- Professor Emerita Sau-Ling Wong

Professor Emerita Elaine H. Kim

First Asian woman to earn tenure at Cal & founding member of Ethnic Studies Department and the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program

Associate Professor Khatharya Um

First Cambodian American woman to receive a PhD and to join the UC faculty & the first Cambodian woman political scientist in Cambodia’s history

Professor Emerita Sau-ling C. Wong

Pioneer in critical scholarship on Sinophone literature in diasporic context and Chinese immigrant writing courses, whose work laid the theoretical foundation for transnationalizing Asian American Studies at UC Berkeley


Collectively and across generations, AAADS women faculty have carried forward the legacies of the program and contributed not only to the continued growth of Asian American Studies but also to the advancement of Berkeley’s intellectual and public mission.


In these turbulent times of resurgent anti-Asian racism and violence, and in our 21st century that holds both promises and perils, their scholarship is now more important than ever. 

Professor Emerita Evelyn Nakano Glenn

Inaugural Director of the Center for Race and Gender, the first center at Berkeley dedicated to issues of race and gender
ID: logo for the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies department at Cal

Associate Professor Carolyn Chen

Scholar on Ethnicity, Immigration, Race, Religion

Professor Catherine Ceniza Choy

Scholar on Gender, Migration, Nursing, Philippine and Filipino American Studies

Associate Professor Lok Siu

Scholar on Chinese Diaspora, Cultural Citizenship, Politics of Food, Ethnography