The University of California Los Angeles announced on May 9 the launch of “Foundations and Futures: Asian American and Pacific Islander Multimedia Textbook,” a new online resource that brings more than fifty years of Asian American and Pacific Islander studies to classrooms and the general public.
The project aims to address gaps in knowledge about Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) histories, providing an accessible platform for students, educators, and anyone interested in learning more about these communities. The textbook is freely available online, offering chapters that cover over twenty ethnic groups across the United States, its territories, and the Pacific.
Written by over one hundred scholars, journalists, organizers, and community historians, the multimedia textbook includes videos, photographs, audio clips, poems, interviews, as well as lesson plans for high school and college students. It was developed over six years with contributions from organizations such as the Smithsonian Asian Pacific Center and National Education Association. The digital platform is ADA-compliant with translation tools and customizable display features to ensure accessibility for all learners.
Karen Umemoto, director of UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center who led the initiative after becoming director in 2018 said: “I wondered what it would look like if we democratize the research and reach the general public using accessible technology.” Project co-director Kelly Fong said: “It’s transformative for youth to see themselves and their families centered in curriculum instead of in a paragraph, sentence, footnote or not at all. In centering Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences, the textbook opens possibilities for students to feel valued and learn more about the communities they belong to as well as communities they may not know much about.” Educator Uzma Quraishi added: “I was inspired by the thought of my 15-year-old Indian/Pakistani American niece seeing herself and her community represented in a major textbook. I thought ‘How empowering and affirming would that feel for a young Asian American today?’”
The release comes at a time when ethnic studies are gaining traction nationally. California has mandated ethnic studies courses at both university (Assembly Bill 1468) in 2020 and high school levels (AB 101) since 2021; twenty-two other states have statutes requiring similar content.
Umemoto said: “The histories featured in the textbook expand our understanding of the world in transformative ways. It helps grow our understanding of who we are and build mutual respect across differences. It deepens knowledge about growing societal problems and shares intergenerational wisdom to make positive change in the world.”
The University of California Los Angeles has been associated with notable figures such as Nobel laureates; it fosters diverse perspectives through academic programs; its campus spans 419 acres supporting research activities; it operates within the University of California system—all according to the official website.
