The Asian/Asian-American Exploration Group, an organization formed to encourage open discussion about what it means to be Asian or Asian-American on campus, will resume with weekly discussions starting next term. The group, created and facilitated by Dick’s House counselors Da-Shih Hu and Sarah Chung, has operated in two previous terms and is open to self-identifying Asian and Asian-American undergraduate and graduate students.
“It’s focused on Asian and Asian-American students having an opportunity to explore aspects of ‘Asianness’ within this largely non-Asian college and largely non-Asian culture,” Hu, a psychiatry professor at the Geisel School of Medicine, said.
The Asian/Asian-American Exploration Group was not active this term due to scheduling conflicts. Last fall, the group discussed topics such as differences in Asian and Western social and cultural norms, emotional expressiveness among Asians and encounters between Asians and Asian-Americans. Discussions were interesting and commonly overlapped, Hu said.
“Largely this was a group for exploration and understanding, not for action,” Hu said.
As facilitators, Hu and Chung both share their experiences as well. Hu added that these group sessions are not considered “therapy sessions.”
The Asian/Asian-American Exploration Group first met during the winter of 2014 with about nine members, and the next active term was last fall with about five members, he said.
Hu said that after meeting with several students and realizing that they were dealing with these issues, which he had also encountered in medical school, he wondered if this type of organization would be a useful for students.
Counseling and human development director Heather Earle said that she thinks it is important that the group facilitators are able to reach students who might not otherwise use counseling services and resources.
“I think that one thing that is important to us is to, obviously, see students here at the counseling center, but also to engage in outreach to students, both in giving them psycho-educational information and also to reach out to students in the Dartmouth community who might not find a way down here but still might benefit from our services,” she said.
The Asian/Asian-American Exploration Group is different from other ethnically-related campus organizations in that the group is closed to additional members after the third week of the term, Hu said.
“The idea is that this allows more continuity and hopefully a greater sense of connectedness in this context and safety for people to maybe explore things more deeply or share things more deeply,” Hu said. “The first time that we did the group, in winter 2014, several of the members were interns at [the Office of Pluralism and Leadership], and they said that the discussions that they had in this group were on a different level than those they’d had at other places.”
Assistant OPAL dean and advisor to Pan-Asian students Shiella Cervantes said that she thinks that the group is a great space for Asian or Asian-American students to discuss identity and experiences.
“I think it’s great to have a safe space where you’re with other people that don’t necessarily have the same experiences as you but are coming from a place of understanding and a place of openness,” she said. “I think that’s really important when you’re trying to figure out what is important to you. The way you’ve been raised and experiences in life so far informs the way you experience life as a Dartmouth student.”
Asian and Middle Eastern studies professor Wen Xing said this organization could be very helpful in that by having students with cultural differences discuss a variety of topics, they may gain a better understanding of their own cultural traditions.
For the upcoming term, Hu said that five people have shown interest in joining the exploration group. The maximum number of members the group allows is eight, as Hu said this comfortably gives people room to explore. He added that if the Asian/Asian-American Exploration Group galvanizes enough interest, it may be possible to run two different discussion groups simultaneously.
Overall, Hu said he hopes this group will allow students to think about what it means to be Asian or Asian-American and what the implications of that are.
“If we only reach 16 students a year, or 20 students a year, how much difference does that make for the campus as a whole?” he said.
He said that “just even like a pebble dropped in a pond sends out ripples,” the group may in general promote a sense of awareness of the Asian/Asian-American community on campus.
