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How Can Asian Americans Support Educational Access? Affirmative Action, Magnet Schools, and Beyond

Presented by University of Maryland's Asian American Studies Program

In a recent Supreme Court case limiting affirmative action in college admissions, Asian Americans showed support and opposition to the policies. This presentation offers context and a forum for dialogue on Affirmative Action, magnet schools, and more. Leading the discussion is Janelle Wong, co-author of legal briefs advocating for affirmative action and magnet school reforms.

Janelle Wong received her PhD from the Department of Political Science at Yale University. She is Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland. Prior to joining the University of Maryland in 2012, she was at the University of Southern California in the Departments of Political Science and American Studies and Ethnicity. Wong is author of Immigrants, Evangelicals and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change (2018, Russell Sage Foundation Press), Democracy’s Promise: Immigrants and American Civic Institutions (2006, University of Michigan Press) and co-author of two books on Asian American politics. The most recent is Asian American Political Participation: Emerging Constituents and their Political Identities (2011, Russell Sage Foundation), based on the first nationally representative survey of Asian Americans’ political attitudes and behavior. This groundbreaking study of Asian Americans was conducted in eight different languages with six different Asian national origin groups. Wong has received research funding from the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, Irvine Foundation, and Carnegie Foundation. She was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC, in 2006-2007.

Wong’s research is on race, immigration, and political mobilization. As a scholar and teacher, Wong has worked closely with social service, labor, civil rights, and media organizations that serve the Asian American population.