What Does It Mean to Be Asian American?: A Conversation with Professors Erika Lee and Jason Chang

Professor Erika Lee is an award-winning historian and author, Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, and President-Elect of the Organization of American Historians. The granddaughter of Chinese immigrants, Lee was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and testified before Congress in its historic hearings on anti-Asian discrimination and violence.  She is the author of four award-winning books including The Making of Asian America (republished soon with a new postscript about Asian American activism during the pandemic) and America for Americans (published with a new epilogue on xenophobia and racism during the pandemic in June, 2021.)

Professor Jason Oliver Chang is Associate Professor of History and Asian and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut. He also serves as the Director of the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute. He is the President of the Asian American Faculty and Staff Association. He is also a member of the West Hartford Public Schools Board of Education. He works with a number of community organizations to promote anti-racist education and is an advocate for Ethnic Studies in primary and secondary schools. He is the author of Chino: Anti-Chinese Racism in Mexico, 1880-1940 published by University of Illinois Press. He also publishes in American Quarterly, the Journal of Asian American Studies, the Pacific Historical Review, the Asian American Literary Review, and the Journal of Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures.

Heather Lee is a parent, teacher, lawyer, and a long time resident of Westport.