The Asian American and Pacific Islander Experience in New Mexico

Asian American and Pacific Islanders have contributed to United States history from as early as the 17th century. HIST 1105 Making History: The Asian American and Pacific Islander Experience invited students to explore how AAPI experiences are the result of changing global relations, the development of the United States as a nation, and subsequent U.S. relations with Asian and Pacific Island nations and diasporic commmunities. At the same time, students learned about historical interpretation and the choices historians make in documenting U.S. history. The final projects on this website reflect students’ own research in New Mexico newspapers about AAPI experiences, the questions they asked, and the answers they found. Students also learned how to build their own webpages based on the resources provided by Jonathan Seyfried and the Amaranth Lab. The final projects here reflect the process of learning what it means to think and write historically.

Woo Dak San

Woo Dak San was a Chinese American immigrant whose 1925 murder case gained national attention and exposed media exaggeration and anti-Chinese legal bias.

Chiles: The Heat That Built the Southwest

How a Mesoamerican crop became the defining flavor of the American Southwest—and why one plant changed everything.

Nachos: The Invented Tradition

From border cafe to game-day essential - the brief, contested history of America's most democratic snack.

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