Current Projects

Community Organizations

MIT AAI is trying to become more involved with the local Boston community. So far we have held events like making Mother’s Day cards for Saheli, had speakers, and more.

Docuseries: Confessions

AAI is creating a short docuseries episode, entitled “Confessions”, to highlight the experiences of Asian/American students at the intersection of gender, romance, dating and Asian identity. New episodes are available at aaiconfessions.com!

Learning Past Eurocentric Curriculum

The Humanities and Social Sciences curriculums in America are often eurocentric and white-washed. We’ve made lists to highlight classes traditionally overlooked in the American education system that MIT students can enroll in at our home institution, Harvard, or Wellesley.

Click on the images below to check them out!

In the style of a newspaper cover image of MIT AAI Volume 2 Spring 2021 with a black and white image of MIT's Killian Court with the headline Learning Past White-Washed Curriculum
In the style of a green lab notebook a title reading Learning Past White-Washed Curriculum Fall 2020 Courses Calling All MIT Students with a side not ft. Harvard and Wellesley Courses with Tim the Beaver on the right lower side

Garden

AAI is creating a small garden inform club members about the intersection between culture, agriculture, and food. We want to equip people with gardening skills and knowledge about cultural plants. We hope that the garden will help club members bond and socialize. Currently, we are working with UA Sustain to start growing plants in their garden. 

Podcast

The AAI podcast highlights different Asian voices throughout MIT, from students to faculty to alumni, so that we can learn more about the different experiences that Asians encounter. Through episodes focusing on different themes on the meaning behind the Asian American identity and experiences, stories about the lives of Asian Americans at MIT can lead to a learning experience and a way to connect with each other.

Project Stop AAPI Hate / Institute Recs

The Project Stop AAPI Hate team has been working on several initiatives following the severe rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic.

    • We helped lead several community discussion events to give students the space to process their feelings, especially after the Atlanta shootings. You can read about our community conversation in The Tech and read about a panel we co-hosted on MIT News.
    • Over the past few weeks, we have fundraised for a Stop AAPI Hate GoFundMe for Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) as a part of the Intercollegiate AIPDA Coalition (ICAC), a coalition of over 40 colleges across the country. Our internal goal is $2000, and we are partnering with other groups on campus. Over the spring, ICAC raised over $10K!
    • Most importantly, our team is also drafting a statement of recommendations for MIT administration to support and better the Asian American experience on campus.
    • We launched a series of Institute Recommendations and got over 800 community signatures. You can read our MIT Admissions blogpost, coverage from The Tech, and op-ed.

On a gray background the #StopAsianHate with the logo of the Intercollegiate APIDA Coalition with a flower x the Asian American Advancing Justice AAJC logo with a flame

Zine

The first issue of the Rooted Zine series, “A Sense of Belonging”, pays tribute to individual immigration stories from the MIT community through a collection of art, poems, and photos. The second issue, “Solitude and Solidarity”, sprung from the rise in anti-Asian hate sparked during the COVID-19 pandemic. The third issue of the zine will be released in the summer of 2022 surrounding themes of reflections. We are now collecting submissions here from the Asian/American community.

Green, yellow, blue, white tie-dye background with the title A Sense of Belonging