Hmong History and Cultural Studies: Areas of Study

An area of study includes lessons that are connected by chronology and theme. Teachers can teach the lessons located in an area of study as part of a unit by adding additional lessons to build student coherence if needed. Each area of study includes a narrative with a content overview to explain historical background and key concepts for classroom teachers and students.

Hmong Ways of Knowing

This area of study explores the worldviews, geographies, and migrations that shape Hmong individual and collective identities. and provides lessons that explore the varied worldviews of peoples in Hmong communities. Through Hmong lens, students will learn to expand their worldview by making connections and understanding experiences different from their own.

Hmong Histories

This area of study explores how colonization, imperialism, war, and migration have shaped Hmong history and identity. As a people without a geographic homeland (non-state), Hmong history and migration have been affected by their political struggles and involvement with wars in China and Southeast Asia, specifically in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Hmong Refugee Experiences

This area of study explores Hmong refugee experiences during the Laotian civil war and following the United States withdrawal from Southeast Asia. Students discuss forcible displacement and conditions in refugee camps in Thailand leading to resettlement in western countries.

Community Building, Home-making and Empowerment

This area of study explores Hmong collective efforts to establish community, belonging, and political power in the United States. Students will explore the ways Hmong people imagine and create community in response to discrimination, oppression, anti-Asian sentiment, racialized violence, and war; and develop an understanding of how Hmong communities thrive and forge paths forward.

We Are California

Hmong History and Cultural Studies: Areas of Study