Biography
Jason Oliver Chang is Associate Professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut where he also serves as the Director of the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute. As a public servant he is the co-chair of the Community Awareness Subcommittee of Connecticut Governor Lamont’s Hate Crimes Advisory Council and formerly an elected member of the West Hartford Board of Education 2020-2023. He is a member of the Greater Hartford NAACP and member of the Indigenous Peoples Reparation and Reconciliation Task Force for the town of West Hartford. As a community organizer he is the co-founder of a grassroots movement in Connecticut advocating for Asian American and Pacific Islander studies education in K-12 public schools and Chair of the Curriculum Lab that co-designs lessons and professional development with schools and communities. As a scholar he is author of Chino: Anti-Chinese Racism in Mexico 1880-1940 with Illinois University Press as well as co-author of a comic entitled The Cargo Rebellion: Those Who Chose Freedom with PM Press. When he’s not teaching or in a meeting, he can be found near large bodies of water and hanging with his family.
Articles, Publications, and Appearances
Books and Articles
2023. Co-author with Benjamin Barson and Alexis Dudden. Illustrated by Kim Inthavong. Cargo: Those Who Chose Freedom. PM Press.
2017. Chino: Anti-Chinese Racism in Mexico, 1880-1940. University of Illinois Press.
2017. Co-editor with Cathy Schlund-Vials and K. Scott Wong. Asian America: A Primary Source Reader. Yale University Press.
2023. “Asian American History and Its Publics: Practitioners and Scholars Chart Diverse Paths.” Amerasia Journal. 48:3, 201-216.
2020. “Walking with Asian American Studies.” Journal of Asian American Studies. October 2020. 23:3. 329-334.
Public Writing
2024. Data Dashboard for Asians and Pacific Islanders in Connecticut.
2021. History is Colorful: Asian American History Coloring Book. Admerasia.
2020. “Asian American Mental Health Workbook.”
2020. “Unmasking Yellow Peril.” 18 Million Rising.
2023. “My Story Our Future” Connecticut Archive of South Asian American Oral Histories. Ongoing.
Exhibits
2020. “Filipino Nurse Diaspora.” UConn School of Nursing. Feb 2020. Permanent Exhibit.
2020. “Mapping Asian America.” Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, UConn Babbidge Library. December 2019/January2020.
Curriculum
2023. AAASI Fall Pedagogy Workshop (with Hartbeat Ensemble)
2023. We Belong: Black and Asian American Youth Leadership. Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. (2023-2024)
2023. How to Teach WWII Japanese American Incarceration Handbook. Editor.
2022. My Story, Our Future: Voices of Connecticut’s South Asian American Youth. India Cultural Center of Greenwich (2022-2024)
2022. Asian American History During the Civil War Era: Connecticut’s Connection to the Coolie Trade. CT Humanities: Teach-It w Karen Lau.
2021. Asian American Student Forum for Engineering Majors. Mental Health Journeys.
2021. Connecticut’s Tobacco History. Young Scholars Senior Summit.
Invited Presentations / Lectures
Key Issues Facing Connecticut’s Asian American Community. Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. Hartford. March 28, 2024.
Fighting for Our Stories: Growing K-12 Asian American Studies for All. Keynote Lecture. Remember! Asian Americans and the Archive. Northeastern University. November 17, 2023.
40th Anniversary of Vincent Chin’s Murder: Remembrance and Rededication – A Conversation with Helen Zia. University of Connecticut. Hartford. October 4, 2022.
Building AAPI Studies Programs. Texas A&M University. Standing in Solidarity Against Anti-AAPI Racism: A Symposium. Virtual. March 9, 2022.
Sparking Asian American Studies in Connecticut Schools with Thi Bui’s “The Best We Could Do.” CT Lit Fest. Real Art Ways. February 16, 2022
AAS and the Fight for Ethnic Studies in K-12. Roundtable. Annual Conference of the Association for Asian American Studies. Seattle, Washington. April 26, 2024.
Asian American Studies From Cradle to Graduate School. Roundtable. Annual Conference of the Association for Asian American Studies. Seattle, Washington. April 26, 2024.