FORCED MIGRATION AND FORGED MEMORIES: Acts of Remembrance and Identity Development Among Southeast Asian American College Students

This chapter examines the acts of remembrance to better understand identity development among Southeast Asian American (SEAA) students. By focusing on this student population, it explores how their unique experiences may both challenge and enhance how higher education has traditionally conceptualized and approached college student identity development. From numerous ethnic backgrounds and different gender identities to various religious faiths and a range of socioeconomic statuses, the identities can exert distinct influences on how SEAA students come to understand their racial identities. Identity development for this population is therefore a distinct phenomenon, one that warrants specific attention from higher education practitioners. The chapter provides a brief overview of the conditions that forced Southeast Asian refugees’ migration as necessary background and context for understanding SEAA students’ experiences. Just as forced migration patterns have varied among SEAA populations, so have their patterns of resettlement to the United States.