Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Participant(s): Samip Mallick, Amber Abbas, Fariha Khan, Amy Bhatt

Saturday, March 29 at 10:45am in the Philadelphia Marriott Grand Ballroom Salon J

This workshop will introduce the resources of the South Asian American Digital Archive (www.saadigitalarchive.org) focusing on the ways in which scholars use these in the university classroom. The materials include documents, images and oral histories that preserve the history of South Asian migrants to the U.S. SAADA Director Samip Mallick will lead a digital tour explaining its purpose and objectives and suggest the ways participants can engage with the archive.

Scholars from Asian American Studies, History, and Gender Studies, will explore the pedagogy of the archive and present lesson plans that incorporate the archive’s resources. These lesson plans integrate a range of approaches: examining primary sources to encourage critical thinking about South Asian migration, the role of the interlocutor in the writing of "history," and the politics of representation and memory; training students in oral history methodology, interviewing and transcription so they can participate in the archive as content creators; utilizing SAADA to deepen students’ understanding of the Asian American experience and to critique the meaning of history, race, ethnicity, gender and culture. Select undergraduates will discuss their research utilizing the archive.

Workshop participants will be encouraged to explore the website and to offer feedback and make pedagogical suggestions and will be paired up to brainstorm ideas that may lead to the creation of additional teaching materials that use the SAADA site. Every participant will take home the lesson plans presented in the workshop, and will be invited to contribute their own to the SAADA’s growing Educational Materials archive.