Duke is one of the latest colleges to establish an Asian American studies program among a push across U.S. campuses for the field of study. According to the College Board, the not-for-profit group that administers the SAT, 25 U.S. colleges and universities offer majors in Asian American studies. The number does not include institutions like Duke that have a program but don't offer a degree.

Asian American studies dates back to the five-month strike in 1968 led by Third World Liberation Front, a coalition of student groups who demanded the creation of programs that focused on the histories of people of color. The term Asian American was created that same year, according to activists and academics.

The first Asian American studies curricula were established at the University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State University and the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1969. But only a handful of post-secondary institutions offer degrees in the field today.

Continue reading: After 50 years, Asian American studies programs can still be hard to find