Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Asian American Studies Program (AASP). The anniversary celebration kicked off at the Spurlock Museum at noon, and included two panel discussions on the status of the program. AASP was founded in 1997 with a mission of promoting Asian awareness through activities and classes. Director of the Asian American Studies Program Kent Ono says the program is achieving its goals.

“You can see the phenomenal growth of interest, excitement, energy and organization and institutionalization of Asian American related academic work on the campus,” Ono said.

The conference will also address the future of AASP, including the addition of course material. This is Ono’s last year as director. He describes it as a very exiting time.

“We will be working pretty hard to start new courses, course development, deliver a PHD program and we will have a much greater presence and the graduate level overall, in terms of course offerings, in terms of possibly having a minor and so forth,” Ono said.

Some noteable classes in the Asian American program include: Asian American Dance Theory (DANC 342), Asian American Cuisine and Foodways (ANTH 287) and the Psychology of Asian Americans (Psyc 470).