Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Accruals
Processing History
Historical Background
Collection Scope and Content Summary
Collection Arrangement
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: The University of California, Irvine, class project on the Southeast
Asian
American
experience
Identifier/Call Number: MS.SEA.022
Physical Description:
6.8 Linear Feet
(11 boxes and 6 oversized folders)
Date (inclusive): 2002-2008
Abstract: The collection is comprised of student projects from the Southeast
Asian
American
Experience class (course number 151H) taught by Linda Vo. The class was first offered in 2003 within the
Asian
American
Studies Program at the University of California, Irvine. Students' projects reflect cultural and social issues of Southeast
Asian
American
communities in Orange County. Materials include artifacts, photographs, sound and video recordings, newsletters, ephemera,
and the students' written assessment of each project.
Language of Material: The collection is in English, Vietnamese, and Khmer.
Access
The collection is open for research. Original compact discs, audio cassette tapes, and video cassette tapes materials may
not be used. Researchers must request that duplicate use copies be made for access.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Southeast Asian Archive Librarian.
Preferred Citation
The University of California, Irvine Class Project on the Southeast
Asian
American
Experience. MS-SEA022. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Professor Linda Vo, 2003-2009.
Accruals
Additional materials are expected
Processing History
Processed by Julia Stringfellow, 2005 and Dawn Schmitz, 2009. Processing was supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) grant.
Historical Background
The Southeast
Asian
American
Experience class was first offered in winter quarter 2003 within the
Asian
American
Studies Program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Professor Linda Vo created the class to provide a comparative
overview of the ethnically, culturally, and historically diverse Southeast Asian people from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who
relocated to the United States as refugees and immigrants. The class analyzed the resettlement process and refugees' economic
adaptations, educational experiences, and social conditions. The focus of the class was on the individual voices of refugees
and their experiences in order to understand how they construct their identities, negotiate cultural challenges, recreate
communities, and engage in acts of resistance. An interdisciplinary approach was used, drawing upon theoretical frameworks
and scholarship from anthropology, education, history, political science, psychology, social work, cultural studies, and sociology.
As part of the class, each student completed a project designed to both utilize resources from the Southeast Asian Archive
about Southeast
Asian
American
communities, and to teach the students what it means to collect, research, display, and preserve histories. Before choosing
a topic for their project, students were required to visit the archive and see what materials were available, look at its
web page, and read a copy of the newsletter. Student projects ranged from focusing on businesses in Little Saigon to Southeast
Asian
American
organizations. Students worked in groups to identify areas in which the Southeast Asian Archive lacked documentation. They
then considered ways to direct outreach efforts to a particular group and publicizing the archive in these communities. Students
did this through attending local events in the Southeast
Asian
American
communities and contacting organizations about their resources. A group presentation explaining the project was given at
the end of the quarter, as well as a 2 page assessment from each member of the group discussing their collaborative project
and their role in the project.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The collection is comprised of student projects from the Southeast
Asian
American
Experience class (course number 151H) taught by Linda Vo. The class was first offered in 2003 within the
Asian
American
Studies Program at the University of California, Irvine. Students' projects reflect cultural and social issues of Southeast
Asian
American
communities in Orange County. Materials include students' written assessment of each project, artifacts, photographs, sound
and video recordings, newsletters, and ephemera.
Students signed release forms giving permission for their projects to be open to the public.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged in series by year the class was offered, then alphabetically by name of student.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiocassettes -- 21st century.
Ephemera -- 21st century.
Photographic prints -- 21st century.
Southeast
Asian
Americans
-- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Southeast Asians -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Refugees -- Southeast Asia -- Archives.
Video recordings -- 21st century
University of California, Irvine -- Archives