Current Research Projects

Children of Immigrant Entrepreneurs

This is a study of second generation Asian Americans and Latino adults in the Boston area who grew up in families engaged in business enterprises. The purpose is to examine the influence of an immigrant entrepreneurial experience on the children’s educational performances, career and life choices.

Asian American Attitudes towards Immigrant Issues

IAAS has partnered with three community groups, the Asian American Resource Workshop, Viet-AID, and the Chinese Progressive Association, to conduct a survey to assess Asian American attitudes toward immigrants, immigration laws, and immigrant rights. The survey results will be utilized to inform the community organizations about how to educate and mobilize their constituencies around immigrant issues. The target areas will be communities where the organizations are presently engaged in outreach work: the Vietnamese community in Dorchester, Chinese communities in Chinatown and North Quincy, and Asian American communities in Brookline and Cambridge.

Asian Americans in New England Research Initiative

The Asian Americans in New England Research Initiative focuses on exploring the lives and experiences of Asians American communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Diverse dimensions-historical, sociological, cultural, and political-will be examined and applied. The Institute for Asian American Studies will play a leading role in promoting and moving the Initiative along. An essential element of this effort, however, is to work with individuals and institutions from throughout the region to study and better understand the experiences of Asian American communities in New England.

The project's goals are to identify available sources of information and data on Asian Americans in New England, to establish an inventory of studies and other work that has been completed, and to support and encourage scholars to conduct further research in this area.

Please contact us if you have information to share or are interested in participating in this project.