Asian Languages and Cultures is home to nearly twenty faculty whose research and teaching specialities range from traditional medicine in India, the history of yoga, or diversifying contemporary mindfulness practice with insights from Tibetan Buddhism, to human rights in Thailand – from Chinese ghost stories, traditional poetics and philology, to sociolinguistics and discourse analysis of the Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian languages – and from analysis of classical Japanese tale fiction, early modern comedic narratives, manga, anime, and Japanese counterculture.
Department Values
Together our department created a values statement, and are committed to uphold these with our community of staff, faculty and students.
Land Acknowledgement
The University of Wisconsin-Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin. This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation. Today, UW-Madison respects the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin.
Institutional Statement on Diversity
Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW–Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background — people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
Statement of Anti-Asian Violence
A Statement from ALC Leadership
The recent tragic shootings in Atlanta that led to the killing of eight people, including six Asian women, have brought renewed attention to the significant increase in incidents of bias against Asians and Asian Americans over the last many months. Even before the shootings, major news outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post have reported on this disturbing trend, and some academic organizations have responded with statements, including one from the Association for Asian Studies and one released by the Atlanta-based American Academy of Religion just the day before the shootings.
In the spirit of the Chancellor’s recent call to “Take Care,” the tragic incident in Atlanta can serve as a reminder of how important it is to support each other during these times. We urge us all to be vigilant about bias toward Asians and Asian Americans, to intervene when possible, and to report incidents when they occur. Likewise, if you experience a bias incident, large or small, we encourage you to reach out for support to our broader ALC community, but especially to the ALC leadership. Please remember also the support provided on campus through resources dedicated to the APIDA community. We aspire to create a world where such incidents remain only as memories, but in the meantime, as we work toward such a goal, let us be confident in our individual and collective resilience and our capacity to overcome the forces in our culture that promote hate.
This statement is based on a message distributed to the ALC community on March 17, 2022