APIDA Heritage Month
May is Asian / Pacific American Heritage Month! Also known as APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) Heritage Month, we're recognizing the vibrant diversity of people from hundreds of cultures who have shaped American history and continue to move the nation forward.
This year's theme is "A Legacy of Leadership and Resilience", shining a spotlight on the hard work of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) leaders who established a foundation for future generations to thrive and adapt to change and adversity. Throughout history, AANHPIs have transformed adversity into opportunities for public service, efficiency, and innovation; resulting in lasting change that resonates all over the globe. For this list, we're spotlighting some of those leaders with books from our collection.
For more information:
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Ascend: Global LeadersThe largest non-profit Pan-Asian organization for business professionals in North America.
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Asian American Business Development CenterA nonprofit that promotes greater recognition of Asian American businesses’ contributions to the general economy. AABDC encourages Asian American businesses to be more actively involved in issues and policies that directly affect them at the federal, state and city levels.
Featured Reading: APIDA Heritage Month
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Cooling the Tropics: Ice, Indigeneity, and Hawaiian Refreshment
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2023Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart charts the social history of ice in Hawai'i. From chilled drinks and sweets to machinery, she shows that thermal technologies must be attended to in struggles for food sovereignty and political self-determination in Hawai'i and beyond. -
The Hungry Season: A Journey of War, Love, and Survival
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Location: Howard Thurman Center E184.H55 H36 2023Publication Date: 2023Ia Moua was born into the Hmong minority of Laos and is promised in marriage at 13. After a brutal war upends her life, she builds a new existence for herself and her children by growing Hmong rice, just as her ancestors did, and selling it to those who hunger for the Laos of their memories. This is a story of survival and the nourishment that matters most. -
The Unknown Great: Stories of Japanese Americans on the Margins of History
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2024A new set of biographical portraits by acclaimed scholar Greg Robinson. Through stories of remarkable but unheralded people in Japanese American history, this book illuminates the diversity of the Nikkei experience from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day.
Books for APIDA Heritage Month
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Koreatown, Los Angeles: Immigration, Race, and the "American Dream"
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2022A thoroughly researched love letter to the most famous Korean neighborhood in the U.S. Koreatown holds profound emotional significance for Korean immigrants across the nation as a symbol of their shared bonds and place in American society. -
Private Equity: A Memoir
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2024The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Carrie Sun climbed up the corporate ladder to pursue the American dream -- no matter the cost to her mind and body. A searing examination of our relationship to work, Carrie's story illuminates the struggle for balance in a world of extremes. -
Distant Islands: The Japanese American Community in New York City, 1876-1930s
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2018Using a wealth of primary sources, Daniel H. Inouye tells the stories of the elites, mid-sized merchants, small business owners, working-class families, menial laborers, and students that made up NY's varied Japanese American communities. -
Our Laundry, Our Town: My Chinese American Life from Flushing to the Downtown Stage and Beyond
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2022Alvin Eng grew up at his immigrant parents' laundromat as the world around him wrestled with Counterculture and Civil Rights. Discovering a passion for theater as an adult, he learned to proudly tell his story on the stage and now in this memoir. -
Here to Stay: Uncovering South Asian American History
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2022Geetika Rudra, a second-generation Indian immigrant and American history buff, takes readers on a journey across the country to unearth the little-known histories of earlier generations of South Asian Americans. In turns both serious and joyful, this book vividly reveals how South Asians have always been a vital part of America. -
Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2019Mary Paik Lee left her homeland in 1905, traveling with her parents as a refugee after Japan imposed control over Korea. This outspoken, observant woman provides a compelling firsthand account of early Korean American history. -
The First Chinese American: The Remarkable Life of Wong Chin Foo
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2013Chinese in America endured abuse and discrimination in the late 19th century, but they had a leader and a fighter in Wong Chin Foo. This trailblazing civil rights activist, journalist, and showman was the first person to use the term "Chinese American". -
Life Behind the Lobby: Indian American Motel Owners and the American Dream
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Location: Pardee Stacks HD2358.5.U6 D45 2012Publication Date: 2012Indian Americans own about half of all the motels in the United States. Life Behind the Lobby explains Indian Americans' simultaneous accomplishments and marginalization and takes a close look at their own role in sustaining that duality.
Finding Post-Grad Success
Pardee congratulates the Class of 2025! Thank you for spending these years with us. We're sending off our seniors with books from the BU Libraries about post-graduation success -- strategies on how to achieve it, and insights on how to recognize it when it takes unexpected forms. Whether you are taking a gap year, entering the job market, starting a business, continuing your education, or embarking down any other road you choose, you will always be a Terrier and Boston University is proud to have had you.
For more information:
Featured Reading: Post-Grad Success
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100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships, and Success
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Location: Pardee Stacks BF637.S4 M634 2023Publication Date: 2023A smart, choose-your-own-adventure-style read that offers concrete solutions to some of life’s biggest hurdles. Offers powerful, habit-building tips in 100 fun-to-read, easy-to-digest parts that provide actionable tools and mindset-shifting ideas to change every part of your life. -
Polished: The Guide to Excellence for the Modern Professional
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Location: Pardee Stacks HF5386 .A32 2023Publication Date: 2022Building relationship capital is the most important ingredient to career success. Through the fresh lens of modern business etiquette, this book offers a dynamic learning journey of strategies, tools, and real-life applications where readers smartly position themselves for advancement by becoming the very best they can be. -
Career Coach GPT: The Complete Guide to ChatGPT Resume, Cover Letter, Interview, and Job Search Success
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Location: Pardee Stacks HF5383 .S35 2023Publication Date: 2023Introductng career coach GPT - the world's first AI-powered career guru. Combining the expertise of LinkedIn insider Jeremy Schifeling (a former kindergarten teacher who landed jobs at Apple + Google) with the revolutionary power of ChatGPT.
Books for Recent Grads
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Build for Tomorrow: An Action Plan for Embracing Change, Adapting Fast, and Future-Proofing Your Career
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2022Learn how to navigate the four phases of change: lessen your panic, adapt faster, define the new normal, and thrive going forward. Jason Feifer offers stories, lessons, and concrete exercises from the most potent sources of change in our world. -
Female Founders' Playbook: Insights from the Superwomen Who Have Made It
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2024Leading women entrepreneurs share their thoughts on every aspect of launching a business, overcoming hurdles, redressing power imbalances, and help the next generation of female entrepreneurs. -
Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2023Professor Amy Edmondson gives tailored practices, skills, and mindsets to help us replace shame and blame with curiosity, vulnerability, and personal growth. You'll never look at failure the same way again. -
The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2023This book is a bold new road map for finding meaning and purpose at work, based on insights drawn from hundreds of life stories of Americans from all backgrounds and vocations. -
Writing on the Job: Best Practices for Communicating in the Digital Age
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Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2022Given how much reading we do on mobile devices, being able to write succinctly is critical to success. This book is an incisive guide to clear and effective writing for professionals.
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