Search | Menu Madison College students embrace community and learning in new Hmong American studies class
Madison College launched its first Hmong American studies class this spring with the goal of creating a space where students could express their culture and journey.
But what happened turned out to be so much more.
Sixteen students celebrated with a portfolio of art, writings, and poems at the semester’s end. What surprised instructor Chundou Her were the friendship that developed among students and the impromptu potluck karaoke party at the end of class.
“Students were willing to engage in this class as a community and not just as individuals trying to get knowledge,” Her says. “We were a community of learners trying to build knowledge together, which is always my biggest goal as a teacher.”
Being Hmong
Hmong are the largest Asian American ethnic group in Wisconsin, with a rich, but complex heritage. With America’s involvement in the Vietnam War and Laos, Hmong allies resettled in the United States fleeing from conflict in the late 1970s.
The Intro to American Hmong Studies class was created to help what many Hmong felt of being invisible and not being represented in the larger Wisconsin community, says Masaya Xiong, Madison College’s Hmong and Southeast Asian Community Liaison.
“Our students wanted more visibility and to have their identity, history, and culture represented in the classroom,” Masaya Xiong say of the classes funded through a partnership grant between the UW-Madison Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
In the class, students connected through Qhuab Ke (Hmong life song) with creative and deeply personal stories, culminating in presenting at the undergraduate symposium. Students ended the class with writing letters to their future ancestors.
Nathan Xiong signed up for the class, curious about his Hmong culture. His parents were born and raised in Laos and Thailand and strived to keep the traditions and knowledge of their heritage alive, especially when they immigrated to Wisconsin.
“This class gave me a perfect opportunity to test my knowledge of Hmong culture and learn new knowledge and interact with my professor, and people of my generation, and build a connection,” Nathan Xiong says.
Demonstrating these rich traditions, Nathan played the Hmong flute or “Raj Nplaim” for his classmates and told of its importance in storytelling. The instrument has been around since the 1700s and provides a bridge to Xiong’s ancestors.
The three-credit class also boosts non-Hmong students’ knowledge of diverse cultures and the ability to interact in a global community, skill world businesses rank high on desirable employee traits.
Future educators also found the class helpful since a Wisconsin law passed last spring requires K-12 public schools to teach Asian American and Hmong history. Students will learn about the critical role Hmong and Asian Americans played in the state’s history, culture, economy, and future.
Madison College students can take the class as a professional development Race and Ethnic Studies Certificate or a liberal arts associate degree requirement, with plans to transfer to a four-year college and university.
Building a Strong Hmong Connection
Nathan Xiong would like to Hmong classes grow at the college, like an Asian American literature series similar to what is offered for Black and Latinx communities.
“I think there is some synergy around that, and we are looking to advocate for that,” Nathan Xiong says.
Her, a graduate student in Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found the experience of teaching beyond K-12 for the first-time thrilling. Her’s goal was to bear witness to people’s educational stories and find collective healing and community growth. They expect students of the inaugural class to champion the class and recommend it to their friends.
“Students enjoyed coming to class and they engaged with the material very deeply,” Her says. “And I am very excited that current students can use word-of-mouth and tell their friends about this class.”
Nathan Xiong says he will recommend the class to other students.
“I appreciate that Madison College offered this class and provided it for this community,” he says. “There has been a lot of Hmong stuff happening around the college and I would like to see that grow in the future.”
Learn more about Introduction to Hmong American Studies.
