Gary Okihiro
Encyclopedia
Gary Y. Okihiro is an Asian American
author and scholar. He is a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University
in New York City
and the founding director of Columbia's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. Okihiro received his Ph.D.
from the University of California, Los Angeles
in 1976.
He is the author of ten books, six of which have won national awards, and dozens of articles on historical methodology and theories of social and historical formations, and the history of racism and racial formation in the U.S., African pre-colonial economic history, and race and world history. Among his books are:
He has also written on Africa
n history, including A Social History of the Bakwena and Peoples of the Kalahari of Southern Africa, 19th Century (ISBN 0773478396).
Prior to Columbia, Okihiro was the director of Asian American Studies
at Cornell University
. He was recruited to Columbia partially as a result of a 1996 undergraduate student protest calling for an ethnic studies
department to provide counterbalance to what was perceived to be a biased pro-Western
core curriculum. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Studies Association, and is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies
.
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
author and scholar. He is a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the founding director of Columbia's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. Okihiro received his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in 1976.
He is the author of ten books, six of which have won national awards, and dozens of articles on historical methodology and theories of social and historical formations, and the history of racism and racial formation in the U.S., African pre-colonial economic history, and race and world history. Among his books are:
- Cane Fires: The Anti-Japanese Movement in Hawaii, 1865-1945 (ISBN 0877229457);
- Margins and Mainstreams: Asians in American History and Culture (ISBN 0295973390);
- (with Joan Myers) Whispered Silences: Japanese Americans and World War II (ISBN 0295974982);
- (with Linda Gordon) Impounded: Dorothea Lange And the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment (ISBN 039306073X);
- Common Ground: Reimagining American History (ISBN 0691070075);
- The Columbia Guide to Asian American History (ISBN 0231115113);
- Island World: A History of Hawai`i and the United States (ISBN 9780520252998);
- Pineapple Culture: A History of the Tropical and Temperate Zones (ISBN 9780520255135).
He has also written on Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n history, including A Social History of the Bakwena and Peoples of the Kalahari of Southern Africa, 19th Century (ISBN 0773478396).
Prior to Columbia, Okihiro was the director of Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Asian ancestry in America. Closely related to other Ethnic Studies disciplines such as African American Studies, Latino/a Studies, and Native American Studies, Asian American Studies critically examines the...
at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. He was recruited to Columbia partially as a result of a 1996 undergraduate student protest calling for an ethnic studies
Ethnic studies
Ethnic studies is the interdisciplinary study of racialized peoples in the world in relation to ethnicity. It evolved in the second half of the 20th century partly in response to charges that traditional disciplines such as anthropology, history, English, ethnology, Asian studies, and orientalism...
department to provide counterbalance to what was perceived to be a biased pro-Western
Eurocentrism
Eurocentrism is the practice of viewing the world from a European perspective and with an implied belief, either consciously or subconsciously, in the preeminence of European culture...
core curriculum. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Studies Association, and is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies
Association for Asian American Studies
The Association for Asian American Studies is an organization founded in 1979 to promote teaching and research in Asian American Studies. Its official journal is the Journal of Asian American Studies....
.
External links
- Personal site
- Columbia University faculty page
- "On Comparative Ethnic Studies" by Gary Okihiro, Columbia Daily SpectatorColumbia Daily SpectatorColumbia Daily Spectator is the daily student newspaper of Columbia University. It is published at 112th and Broadway in New York, New York. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after The Harvard Crimson, and has been legally independent of the...
, Feb. 20, 2004 - "College students renew demands for ethnic studies programs" by Alethea Yip, AsianWeekAsianWeekAsianWeek was a widely circulated publication of Asian American news, across all Asian ethnic groups, providing coverage of Asian-American issues such as the killing of Vincent Chin, Asian American college admissions, and quotas on Chinese students in competitive San Francisco examination schools...
, May 10, 1996