Georgia Southern University Libraries and Nalanda Roy, Ph.D., recently launched a digital collection, “An Integral History: Asian Studies Digital Archive,” to coincide with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) Month in May.
The archive provides a curated collection of multidisciplinary resources in support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in the United States. Contributions are curated from Digital Commons, the University’s open-access institutional repository, and highlight Georgia Southern’s scholarly and cultural assets related to the Asian Studies minor. The collection represents faculty and student research, books, videos, community resources and campus events.
“The Asian Studies Digital Archive is an important addition to Georgia Southern’s collections because developing an understanding of other cultures will create a cultural awareness,” said Roy, an associate professor of international studies and Asian politics and coordinator of the University’s Asian Studies program. “It will also teach us to have more meaningful interactions with others around us, and celebrate our differences and similarities.”
Each May, AAPI is observed to recognize the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have contributed to American history, society and culture. The Asian Studies Digital Archive will carry that legacy forward, and continue to grow, as faculty are encouraged to participate in the initiative.
“As the coordinator of the Asian Studies program at Georgia Southern University, creating the Digital Archive has been a dream project,” said Roy, who is a Certified Diversity Executive and a former Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellow at Georgia Southern. “I am very happy to work with the Georgia Southern Libraries to create a resource that will be helpful to both the Georgia Southern and local communities.”
For more information on the Asian Studies Digital Archive, visit https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/asian-studies/.
Facts about Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
*U.S. Census Bureau
1978 — Congress passed a resolution creating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.
1992 — The observance expanded to a month (May), timed to coincide with two important milestones in Asian/Pacific American history: arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the United States (May 7, 1843) and completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869 (the majority of workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants).
2020 — Total Asian population in the U.S. is roughly 6% or 20 million.
5.1 million — The estimated number of the Asian population of Chinese, except Taiwanese, descent in the U.S. in 2020. The Chinese (except Taiwanese) population was the largest Asian group in the U.S.
690,000 — The estimated number of total Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population in the U.S.
607,010 — Native Hawaiian residents make the largest NHPI group in the U.S.