A Conversation with Award-winning Educator, Researcher, and Author Gordon H Chang

Asian American History 101

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 29! Today we’re joined by a true icon in the world of academia—Professor Gordon H. Chang. A celebrated historian, Professor Chang is both the Olive H. Palmer Professor in Humanities and a Professor of History at Stanford University. He’s also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

We’re honored to speak with him about his latest book War, Race, and Culture, published by Stanford University Press in May 2025. This anthology compiles some of his most powerful essays written over decades of impactful scholarship. The topics range from foreign relations and U.S. imperialism to race, Asian American identity, and the cultural contributions of Asian Americans.

Our conversation covers everything from the role of propaganda in shaping views of Asians, the long history of harmful stereotypes, and the cultural erasure seen during Japanese internment—including how artists like Dr. Seuss and creators of Superman contributed to racist narratives. Professor Chang also reflects on the political engagement of Asian Americans and why “nurture vs. nature” plays a crucial role in debunking the myth of political apathy in the community.

We also touch on a more personal subject: his interest in art history, including how his father’s legacy inspired him to explore and uplift overlooked Asian American artists like Dong Kingman, whose brilliance was too often overshadowed by the racist caricatures found in mainstream media.

This episode offers not only a look into Professor Chang’s new book, but a deeper understanding of how history, race, and culture intersect in America—and why writing history is always personal.

Links and Resources:

• Learn more about War, Race, and Culture from Stanford University Press
• Read more from Gordon H. Chang, including Ghosts of Gold Mountain, Fateful Ties, and Asian American Art: A History, 1850-1970

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