Asian American Campus Evangelicals: Negotiating Segregation and Universalism of Religion

Team Members/Contributors

Rebecca Y. Kim University of California, Los Angeles Contact Me

About this dissertation fellowship

This dissertation examines the growing numbers of Asian American evangelicals and their participation in ethnic campus evangelical organizations in major universities and colleges. Born and raised in the U.S., second and later generation Asian Americans conduct their services in English. As college students, they have diverse contacts with those outside of their ethnic group, which makes it easier for their organizations to be more inclusive. As evangelicals, they believe in the universal applicability of the gospel message and proselytizing to all nations beyond ethnic and racial boundaries. Thus, this dissertation examines: 1) why second and later generation Asian American evangelicals who have the choice to attend a variety of campus evangelical organizations choose to participate in ethnic campus evangelical organizations 2) how Asian American campus evangelicals understand and negotiate the tension between the exclusive nature of their religious participation and the universalism of their religion 3) how they create the ethnic and racial barriers that separate them from other groups. By answering these questions, this dissertation seeks to contribute to our understanding of how a new generation of Americans is identifying and taking part in the larger Christian community and why a religious participation continues to be segregated in America.

Image Title Year Type Contributor(s) Other Info
  "Emergent Ethnicity: Second-Generation Korean American Campus Evangelicals' Religious Participation and Ethnic Group Formation" 2003 Dissertation Rebecca Y. Kim