In 2011, Amy Chua published a controversial memoir detailing her experience as a "Chinese" mother and subsequently juxtaposed her experience with those of "Western" parents. The Chinese mother concept reignited discussion on the Model Minority, reinforcing the notion that Asians thrived, despite the hardships of immigration, in the modern school system and job market. Historically, education has been found to be positively correlated with strong mental health, and it was assumed that Asian immigrants thrived psychologically. Research has shown that the model minority proves not only to be false, but has been detrimental to the mental health of the Asian American community. This report hopes to expand that understanding by looking specifically at the parent-adolescent dynamic within Asian American communities in regards to education and psychological strength. In review of previous studies, it was found that the relationship between the child and parent proves to be much more complicated and stressful than one education implied and that culture plays a significant role in how parenting affected mental health.

The purpose of this study was to understand why there is such lack of citizen participation among Asian Americans, despite the exponential growth of Asian American population in the state. Based on the literature on sense of community, citizen participation, and psychological empowerment, it was speculated that how individuals experience community may influence their motivation to participate. With the goal to understand and document how Asian Americans define community and experience sense of community, a sample of Asian Americans were interviewed. These individuals were participants of the Photovoice project conducted by a local community-based organization. The second aim of the study was to explore if and how a project like Photovoice enhanced the sense of community among participants. The findings suggested that Asian Americans defined various types and multiple communities. Also, it was suggested that because Asian American community is an imposed community of people of diverse Asian background, Asian Americans may not necessarily define it as a community or experience sense of community within the community. Based on the experiences of the participants, Photovoice seem to have great potential in bringing such diverse group as Asian Americans together as a community. Limitations of the study and future directions are discussed.

Asian Americans are believed to be immune to social barriers and challenges, because of their successes in the U.S. society. This belief, also known as the model minority myth, has caused Americans including Asian Americans themselves to believe that they are not faced with social challenges such as racism. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship among acculturation, racial identity, social context and sociopolitical awareness. Series of multiple regressions were conducted to examine the predictive model. The findings suggested three plausible models of perceived racism among Asian Americans. First two models suggested that racism should be distinguished from stereotypes. Third possible model suggested that racial identity and social context may mediate the relationship between assimilation and perceived racism. The study’s psychological and societal implications are discussed.

This dissertation is comprised of a collection of nine short stories concerning two young women raised in the same Korean American church environment. In their adolescence, both women are exposed to the influence of a religious cult; one joins, the other does not. This dissertation explores the crises that occur in the wake of a collision between culture and religion as each character seeks to find redemption and renewed faith in God, in family, and in herself.

This study examines how Asian Americans articulate their marginalization and identity, as well as other issues related to race, through the use of blogs. Specifically, I look at discourse surrounding the Deadly Viper Character Assassins publication controversy on three different blogs. I draw upon critical discourse analysis (CDA) to compile patterns, themes, and anomalies from the online discussions. This paper highlights key findings, given the scarceness of Asian American voices in public culture, that prompt ongoing discussions about identity and the use of blogs as a platform to speak and conceptualize Asian American identity.

This thesis attempts to read ¡§identity switch¡¨ in Gish Jen¡¦s Mona in the Promised Land as an exploration to the Asian American experience veiled by the multiculturalist ethnic commensurability. The research is divided into three chapters: ¡§Sleeping Racist Lover,¡¨ ¡§There is no World without Race and Class Walls¡¨ and ¡§The Figments of the Cosmopolitan America.¡¨ In Chapter One, I try to read the protagonist Mona Chang as the American born kid with no ethnic consciousness resulting in the funny and naive identity switch as a means to escape her innate cultural perplexity. In Chapter Two, the hindrances of this switch are disclosed during the interethnic interactions as to argue the possible setbacks of identity switch and the Asian American¡¦s being alienated from hegemonic black-white relation. In the final chapter, two ethnic alliances set upon the ethnic equality as to resist to the white mainstream oppression are analysed in attempt to argue that the multiculturalist embrace of differences of the minorities eventually falls into a white-black power relation, thereby alienating and silencing Asian Americans. Lastly, I argue that the seemingly funny identity switch on a cosmopolitan intent to de-ethnicise America ultimately discloses the Asian Americans¡¦ dislocation in the land.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Canterbury, 2009. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-111). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and University of California, Irvine, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 317-334).

Although Asian Americans have the highest growth rate, their electoral participation does not commensurate with their numerical strength. This research explores the causes of Asian Americans' low level of electoral participation. I argue that acculturation presents barriers for Asian Americans to exert their political power. This project combined a survey-based experiment on and in-depth interviews with Asian Americans in Austin, in addition to existing data (CPS and the PNAAPS). I first estimate the effects of socioeconomic status on turnout across racial and ethnic groups. The results demonstrate that while education and income have limited effects on Asian American turnout at the aggregate level, their positive influence on turnout still holds for Asian Americans at the individual level, though the effect varies by nativity. Furthermore, education and income effects on turnout are greatest among Whites. The differences of these effects between Whites and Asians are especially prominent among the higher socioeconomic stratum. I next find that acculturation experiences, group connectedness, and hybrid identity elevate levels of turnout among Asian Americans. Those who are more residentially stable and sense shared Asian culture are more likely to vote, while the Asian-born are less likely to vote. In addition, experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination are likely to turn Asians away from their American-ness, while shared cultural commonality helps to foster the "Asian American" identity. Last, the experiment results suggest that a lack of ethnic cues for Asian Americans may have contributed to their low turnout rates: Asian American voters value descriptive representation, and ethnic cues effectively operate among them, especially the less politically engaged. While voters' support for a coethnic candidate is evident in the study, the evidence of their cross- or pan-ethnic support is limited. The project provides a window into the political incorporation of immigrant populations. The study speaks to the literature on political participation, racial/ethnic politics and identity politics. In addition, the findings broaden our understanding of minority political behavior, and the process by which immigrant populations incorporate into American political system, a promise of democratic representation. / text

A dearth of research exists to explain the disproportionately high level of academic achievement by Asian-Americans. Little attempt has been made to investigate indepth the relationship of several proposed factors to Asian achievement. The purpose of this study was to explore differences between Asian-Americans and Caucasian-Americans in cognitive ability, language proficiency, and achievement in reading, mathematics, and general knowledge. Forty-six Asian-Americans and forty-six Caucasian-Americans from the norming sample for the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised (WJ-R) (1989) were matched on the basis of school, gender, and number of years of school attendance. Broad Cognitive Ability scores of the WJ-R as well as scores from the WJ-R Tests of Achievement were then used to compare aptitude and achievement of each member of the two groups. No significant differences in Cognitive Ability were then used to compare aptitude and achievement of each member of the two groups. No significant differences in Cognitive Ability were found between Asian-Americans and Caucasian-Americans. There were also no significant differences found between the two groups in language proficiency or reading achievement. Significant differences did exist in mathematics and knowledge achievement but the superiority of Asian-Americans in those two areas could not be attributed to community socio-economic status (S.E.S.), school curriculum, or aptitude. Implications for future research on achievement indicate the need to refocus, not upon school curriculum and socio-economic status, but rather upon home process variables.