Femme Labor(ing) for Asian American Studies/Ethnic Studies: Women of Color Faculty Reflect on the First Years of AB 1460 Implementation
by Laureen D. Hom, Shayda Kafai, and Jocelyn A. Pacleb
ABSTRACT: This practitioner essay highlights the work of three women of color scholars involved in the implementation of Assembly Bill 1460 (AB 1460), the recent state law mandating Ethnic Studies as a General Education requirement in the California State University system. We are guided by the political and embodied legacies of AB 1460 and arrive here, standing on the shoulders of student activists to document the ongoing activist work of Ethnic Studies. We come to this work and to this essay from an intentionally transdisciplinary place to reflect on implementing AB 1460 on our campus, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Together, we discuss our praxis in building an interdisciplinary curriculum and amplifying the presence of Asian American Studies in the university, approving cross-listed course proposals, and securing resources to support Ethnic Studies faculty. In this process, we hold space for the emotional and femme of color labor, as well as the tensions and possibilities, that revealed themselves during the implementation of AB 1460.
Article Citation: Laureen D. Hom, Shayda Kafai, and Jocelyn A. Pacleb (2024) Femme Labor(ing) for Asian American Studies/Ethnic Studies: Women of Color Faculty Reflect on the First Years of AB 1460 Implementation. AAPI Nexus: Policy, Practice and Community: 2024, Vol. 21, No. 1 & 2.