cfp: CUNY Conference on Asian American Women (May 16, 2008, NYC)
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
From the Association of Asian American Studies list
Asian American/Asian Research Institute
CUNY CONFERENCE ON ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN
Celebrating Successes, Meeting Challenges
Friday, May 16, 2008
CUNY Graduate Center – Elebash Recital Hall
365 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York
Deadline for Proposals: Friday, January 18, 2008
E-mail: conference@aaari.info
For more information: www.aaari.info/2008women.htm
Established in 2001 by the City University of New York Board of Trustees, the Asian American/Asian Research Institute (AAARI) is a university-wide scholarly research and resource center that focuses on policies and issues affecting Asians and Asian Americans.
AAARI’s objectives include: bringing together scholars in order to develop and sustain an intellectual and cultural center that addresses the needs of New York’s diverse ethnic subgroups of Asian origin; stimulating the study of Asian people, languages, cultures, and countries, as well as Asian immigrants and their descendants who live in the United States; identifying and researching relevant issues that affect the Asian and Asian American communities; disseminating research results and educating the public about Asian and Asian American issues.
The City University of New York (CUNY), with twenty-three institutions city-wide, is rich in faculty who have expertise in Asian and Asian American studies. Each year CUNY enrolls over 31,000 Asian American students, who will soon emerge as a vital segment of New York City’s workforce and leadership. AAARI serves a pivotal role for the diverse CUNY community – faculty, staff, and students alike–and seeks to ensure that public discussion regarding Asian and Asian American issues remains dynamic and relevant.
2008 AAARI CUNY CONFERENCE
Asian American Women: Celebrating Successes, Meeting Challenges
The Asian American/Asian Research Institute will host a one-day conference on May 16, 2008 titled Asian American Women: Celebrating Successes, Meeting Challenges, a forum where we will examine past, present, and future challenges and objectives for Asian American women.
Asian American women’s experiences and concerns illustrate the heterogeneous and complex histories and interests of this important segment of the U.S. population. This year’s AAARI conference will investigate the landscape of Asian American women’s historical and contemporary experiences, examining and evaluating past accomplishments while maintaining a critical and pragmatic eye to future goals. The conference seeks to explore the manifold realms of Asian American women’s lives from the diverse vantage points of scholars, researchers, business professionals, educators, activists, artists, legislators, writers, and students. During the conference, we will ask ourselves what we have learned from Asian American women’s histories, and how we can apply this knowledge to present and future challenges for our communities.
SESSION TRACKS
COMMUNITY ADVOCACY
Asian American community advocates are spearheading work to garner visibility and recognition of Asian American women’s issues. These issues include domestic violence, literacy, labor organizing, the low-wage economy, bias crimes, housing, and immigration legislation. How do individuals and organizations at the forefront of these issues forge and sustain relationships with dynamic Asian American communities? What obstacles do they face as liaisons between Asian America, the media, private industry, and government agencies?
BUSINESS, LEADERSHIP, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Focusing on the resources and strategies that support and encourage Asian American women as they seek to become better leaders in both local and global economies, the session will examine gender, ethnicity, and cultural norms in the workplace, while highlighting the differences between small business and large corporations and issues of executive management in political, public service, educational, and non-profit fields.
BALANCING CAREER AND FAMILY
Women, in general, have to negotiate familial responsibilities while also focusing on their careers. Have Asian American women been successful in balancing career and family? What roles do immediate and extended families play in helping Asian American women juggle career and family? This session will explore how Asian American women address issues such as child- care, professional commitments, day-to-day domestic chores, and elderly parents. Related topics include stress- and time-management as well as financial resources.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNMENT
Historically, Asian American women have been underrepresented in positions of authority in public administration and government. What are the personal and professional obstacles for women in reaching their career goals in these areas? Do the voices of Asian American women have an impact on policy and decision making? What does the future hold for other Asian American women who want a meaningful role in public administration or to serve in public office?
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Science and engineering have traditionally been dominated by men. Although the number of women working in these fields is increasing, we still hear of cases where teachers, faculty, and advisors actively discourage female students from studying science and/or engineering. With many women actively contributing as scientists and engineers, it is time to ask how Asian American women have negotiated and become successful in these traditionally male-dominated fields, and to examine the challenges and obstacles Asian American women face in their academic and professional careers.
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Asian American women face distinct social, cultural, and political barriers to physical and mental health and wellness. The purpose of this session is to explore occupational, genetic, environmental, and cultural factors in disease or health risks for this population. We will also examine how cultural beliefs, traditional practices, and linguistic deficiency impact health care delivery, wellness education, government policy, and disease prevention for Asian American women.
MEDIA, VISUAL, AND PERFORMING ARTS
Representations of Asian American women are changing, and examinations of racial stereotypes are insufficient in representing the complex position of Asian American women in the U.S. How are Asian American cultural producers seeking to examine and complicate the intricate relationships between popular culture, artistic production, and identity? What roles do historical depictions of this community play in expanding our artistic understandings of Asian American women in the present and the future?
LITERATURE
No longer relegated to the back door of autobiography, Asian American women writers are charting new literary maps through formal and thematic innovations that reflect complex intersections between gender, race, class, sexuality, religion, and language. This session seeks to examine how the arc of Asian American literary production informs these writers, and what lies ahead for emerging authors.
NEW DEMOGRAPHICS
The landscape of Asian America is continuously changing: How do we understand these shifts in our examinations of new immigrants, mixed-race identities, and the dynamic diasporic communities that emerge as migratory paradigms evolve? As local communities are shaped by the changing demographics, what is the response of mainstream culture and public policymakers? To what extent do transnational businesses and global capital influence Asian American communities? How do these developments impact the daily lives of Asian American women and define their identities?
PEDAGOGY, EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND CURRICULAR ISSUES
What changes have we seen in college and university curricula since the introduction of courses in Asian American studies? How has the incorporation of Asian America, along with other ethnic and gender studies borne out of civil rights struggles, shifted the U.S. academic landscape? This panel will explore pedagogical and curricular dimensions of the field, including a focused examination of the varied programs inside Asian America, a discussion of how geopolitical differences affect development and funding of Asian American programs east of California, as well as the alliances and/or boundaries between Asian American studies and other ethnic and gender studies programs.
DEADLINE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2008
EMAIL PROPOSALS AND QUESTIONS TO: conference@aaari.info
WE WELCOME PROPOSALS FOR THE FOLLOWING:
- Individual papers
- Workshops
- Artistic presentations: performance, literary readings, film screenings (max. 10-12 minutes in length, with technical specifications provided)
PROPOSALS MUST INCLUDE:
- Working title
- Description of presentation (individual paper, artistic presentation, workshop, etc.) – Brief double-spaced abstract (one to two pages, 11 or 12pt font, one-inch margins) – Presenter’s name, address, phone number, email address, title, and institutional affiliation
DISCLAIMER
This invitation to submit a proposal to the 2008 AAARI Conference on Asian American Women does not constitute an offer to pay travel or accommodation costs associated with the conference. No speakers’ fee or travel expenses are paid to successful applicants. Conference presentations may be taped (audio and video) and transcribed for possible future publication.
APARRI 2008 (Aug. 7-9, 2008): Berkeley, CA
The Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative
presents
APARRI 2008
(Re)Defining Religious Studies: The Next Decade of APARRI
Thursday.2008.Aug.7 – Saturday.2008.Aug.9
Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA
2008 celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative, and we invite you to mark your calendars for a conference that will look back over the development of Asian Pacific American religious studies over the past decade and look forward to the coming ten years.
Prof. Michael Omi of the Ethnic Studies Department at U.C. Berkeley, co-author of Racial Formations in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s and one of the most noted theorists on race in the U.S. today, will give the keynote address on Aug. 7. His presentation is entitled: “The Unbearable Whiteness of Being: The Racial Positioning of Asian Americans.” Additional plenaries will address the state of the field of APA religious studies from various disciplinary angles and discuss emerging issues. Concurrent sessions will showcase research-in-progress, and structured mentoring will be available for students and junior faculty members.
APARRI 2008 is organized by the Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific and Asian North American Religion (PANA Institute) at Pacific School of Religion, with major funding from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. The conference is hosted by the Pacific School of Religion and co-sponsored by the Graduate Theological Union, the Asian American Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of California, Berkeley.
The conference schedule and registration will be available Spring 2008 at www.pana.psr.edu.
Christopher Chua
Program Director
PANA Institute, Pacific School of Religion
1798 Scenic Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
cchua@psr.edu
510/849-8210
Asian American Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship (Illinois)
Asian American Studies Postdoctoral Fellowships, 2008-2009
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Asian American Studies Program (AASP) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) seeks two postdoctoral fellows for the 2008-2009 academic year.
Applicants should conduct research germane to Asian American studies. Proposed research projects should have the potential to make a significant contribution to the field.
During their stay at UIUC, postdoctoral fellows will be expected to participate in research, teaching, and service. While research is the primary responsibility, fellows will be expected to teach an introductory-level course in Asian American Studies during the second semester in residence. Fellows are expected to give one talk on campus on their research project.
The stipend for 2008-2009 year will be $42,000. In addition, $5,000 will be provided for research, travel, and related expenses. Full fringe benefits will be available during the 12-month appointment period. The program will provide the fellow with office space and routine office support for photocopying, faxing, mailing, etc.
A doctoral degree, in hand, is required by July 16, 2008. Preference will be given to applicants who have completed their degrees in the past five years. Both postdoctoral fellowships will begin on August 16, 2008, are for one year, and are non-renewable.
To apply, candidates should submit four collated application packets. Each packet should include a curriculum vita, a statement of the research project to be undertaken during the fellowship year, and a sample of scholarly writing (10-25 pages). Official graduate transcripts and three letters of recommendation (including one letter from the dissertation advisor) should be sent directly to the Program to complete the file.
Application material should be sent to: Post Doc Review Committee, Asian American Studies Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1208 West Nevada Street, MC 142, Urbana, IL 61801.
To guarantee full consideration, application materials should be submitted to the AASP office by 5:00 p.m. on February 29, 2008.
For further information: Contact the Asian American Studies Program at (217) 244-9530 or aaspATuiucDOTedu. For further information on the Asian American Studies Program, please visit our web site: http://www.aasp.uiuc.edu
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an AA/Equal Opportunity Employer.
ISAAC at the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature meetings
ISAAC-NAGEL RECEPTION (M17-139)
ISAAC and the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin College are co-sponsoring a reception at the upcoming American Academy of Religion / Society of Biblical Literature Meeting in San Diego this November 17-20. Come and join us as ISAAC launches the Society of Asian North American Christian Studies!
WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 17th, 9-11 PM
WHERE: San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, Manchester 2
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AAR/SBL Sessions with Asian American Themes
The Evangelical Theological Society, which meets before the AAR/SBL, also has sessions with Asian or Asian American themes – scroll down to view these.
S17-103: Asian and Asian-American Hermeneutics
Saturday, 11/17/2007
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Betsy C – GH
Theme: Panel Review of Uriah Kim, Decolonizing Josiah: Toward a Postcolonial Reading of the Deuteronomisitc History (Sheffield Phoenix, 2006)
Seung-Ai Yang, University of Saint Thomas, Presiding
Gina Hens-Piazza, Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, Panelist
Frank Yamada, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Panelist
Niels Lemche, University of Copenhagen, Panelist
Jane Iwamura, University of Southern California, Panelist
Uriah Kim, Hartford Seminary, Respondent
****
S18-51: Asian and Asian-American Hermeneutics
Sunday, 11/18/2007
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Edward A – GH
Theme: Asian and Asian American Hermeneutics: Interpreting the Text
Uriah Kim, Hartford Seminary, Presiding
Chloe Sun, Logos Evangelical Seminary
From Margin to Center: Joseph’s Navigation and Negotiation of His Own Identity and Its Implications for Asian American Identity (30 min)
Janette Ok, Princeton Theological Seminary
The Necessity and Glory of Suffering in Romans 5:1-5: A Korean American Hermeneutic of (30 min)
Moa Imchen, Graduate Theological Union
An Ecological Reading of Psalm 8 with New Eyes through Naga Creation Myth (30 min)
****
A17-308: Women and Religion Section and Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Group
Saturday, 11/17/07
4:00 pm-6:30 pm
Room: CC-30B
Theme: Off the Menu: Asian and Asian North American Women’s Religion and Theology
Rita Nakashima Brock, Faith Voices for the Common Good, Presiding
Panelists:
Kwok Pui Lan, Episcopal Divinity School
Rachel A. R. Bundang, Santa Clara University
Katie G. Cannon, Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education
Tat-siong Benny Liew, Pacific School of Religion
****
A18-262: Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Group
Sunday, 11/18/07
3:00 pm-4:30 pm
Room: GH-Edward D
Theme: Negotiating Postcolonialism/Postcoloniality
Anne Joh, Phillips Theological Seminary, Presiding
Panelists:
Jane Wei-Jen Liang, Drew University
Boyung Lee, Pacific School of Religion
Nami Kim, Spelman College
Responding:
Rudy V. Busto, University of California, Santa Barbara
Business Meeting:
Anne Joh, Phillips Theological Seminary, Presiding
Su Yon Pak, Union Theological Seminary, New York, Presiding
****
S18-103: Asian and Asian-American Hermeneutics
Sunday, 11/18/2007
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Del Mar – MM
Theme: Theory and Practice
Jeffrey Kuan, Pacific School of Religion, Presiding
Rajkumar Boaz Johnson, North Park University Theological Seminary
Use of the Old Testament in Indian Christian Theology with Focus on Some Recent Trends (30 min)
Surekha John Nelavala, Drew University
Autobiography as a Method and Motif: Towards Dalit Feminist Hermeneutics (30 min)
Thanh V. Nguyen, Catholic Theological Union
Reading “The Friend at Midnight” (Luke 11:5-8) from an Asian Perspective (30 min)
****
A19-105: Ethics Section and Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Group and Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society Group
Monday, 11/19/07
9:00 am-11:30 am
Room: CC-25B
Theme: Native, Immigrant, or Refugee? Cultural Identity in a Shifting Environment
Carmen Marie Nanko-Fernandez, Catholic Theological Union, Presiding
K. Christine Pae, Union Theological Seminary, New York
Making Post-colonial Christian Social Ethics in the Clash of Masculinities: Women’s Migration and Military Prostitution in South Korea
Fred Glennon, Le Moyne College
Wanted but Not Welcome: An Ethical Analysis and Comparison of the Labor Abuses Generated by China’s Hukou System of Internal Migration and the US “Guest Worker” Program
Kristi Laughlin, Graduate Theological Union
Latino Popular Catholicism: Shaping the Moral Vision and Ethos of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Jessica Wrobleski, Yale University
Borders of Hospitality: Christian Responses to Immigration
Responding:
Otto A. Maduro, Drew University
****
A19-106: Philosophy of Religion Section
Monday, 11/19/07
9:00 am-11:30 am
Room CC-28B
Theme: Author Meets Critics: David Kyuman Kim, Melancholic Freedom: Agency and the Spirit of Politics
Rudy V. Busto, University of California, Santa Barbara, Presiding
Panelists:
Judith Butler, University of California, Berkeley
Tavis Smiley, The Smiley Group, Inc.
Cornel West, Princeton University
Responding:
David Kyuman Kim, Connecticut College
# # # # # # #
Asian and Asian American themes at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society – November 14-16, 2007 (Wed.-Fri.) at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, 500 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108. Thank you Steve Hu for alerting us to these sessions!
Wednesday, November 14
Pacific Salon Four
Asian Christian Thought
Moderator: Edwin Yamauchi (Miami University of Ohio)
9:20-10:00 a.m.
Sang-Hoon Kim (Chongshin Theological Seminary)
Simple Syntactical Arrangement of the Korean Version of the Bible and Its Practical Usages for the Korean Church
10:10-10:50 a.m.
Dale W. Little (Japan Bible Seminary and Tokyo Christian University)
Doing Cross-Cultural Evangelical Theology in Japan: Theological and Phenomenological Observations
11:00-11:40 a.m.
David Eung-Yul Ryoo (Chongshin Theological Seminary)
Hyungnong Park and His Preaching
* * * *
Wednesday, November 14
Pacific Salon Two
Asian-American Christian Thought
Moderator: Dongsu Kim (Nyack College)
2:30-3:10 p.m.
Benjamin Shin (Biola University)
Obstacles to Obedience
3:20-4:00 p.m.
Sheryl Takagi Silzer (Wycliffe Bible Translators)
Dutiful Obedience: Confucian Legacy for Asian Christians
4:10-4:50 p.m.
Sung Wook Chung (Denver Theological Seminary)
Korean/Korean-American Evangelical Theology and Spirituality: Its Contribution to the Diversity and Unity of Evangelical Tradition
5:00-5:40 p.m.
Jinkyu Kim (The First Korean Church of Brooklyn)
Challenging the Accepted Western Hermeneutics: Is There an Original, Historical Referent in Biblical Prophecy?
Journal of Asian and Asian American Theology features Young Lee Hertig article
Young Lee Hertig’s article, “Why Asian American Evangelical Theologies?” was published in the Journ of Asian and Asian American Theology (Vol. 7). Dr. Hertig is the Vice President and Southern California Director for ISAAC. Other contributors to this issue include Chan-Hie Kim, Eleazer S. Fernandez, Andrew Sung Park, Samuel Donald, Kyong-Jae Kim, and Jeong Ho Yang. JAAAT is published by The Center for Pacific and Asian-American Ministries at the Claremont School of Theology. Contact Dr. Kil Sang Yoon, the Center’s Executive Director, for more information. The mailing address is:
The Center for Pacific and Asian-American Ministries
Claremont School of Theology
1325 North College Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 621-7701
cfp: Southeast Asians in the Diaspora Conference, Apr 15-16, 2008
Southeast Asians in the Diaspora Conference
Call for Proposals
Location: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
Date: 15-16 April 2008
Submission Deadline: Postmarked or Emailed by 16 November 2007.
This two-day conference examines the emerging field of Southeast Asian/ American studies, which because of specific histories of colonialism and imperialism, has produced subjects and objects of analysis that confound categories of diaspora, citizenship, and affiliation. Studies of the Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese diasporas investigate and trouble the structuring effects of Cold War geopolitics; while studies of Hmong, Mien, Cham, and other stateless ethnicities necessarily reconsider the bases for global and local practices of identification as well as strategic claims to rights and resources.
Given this, the field foregrounds important epistemological and methodological shifts that productively disrupt the analytic conventions of area studies, American studies, ethnic studies, and Asian American studies. Thinking across these fields, Southeast Asian/American studies fulfills the intellectual and political promise of what Kandice Chuh imagines as “studies in comparative racialization and intersectional projects that deliberately unravel seemingly stable distinctions among identificatory categories and disciplinary divisions.” Complicating the examination of nationalisms and transnationalisms, Southeast Asian/American studies questions the circulation of, the negotiation with, or challenges to the knowledge regimes of U.S. nation and empire.
In order to explore the dissolution of disciplinary distinctions and the complexities of intersectional analyses, we are soliciting papers, panels, roundtables, workshops, films, videos, readings, and performances. Submissions are open to scholars, artists, and community members. This is an interdisciplinary event welcoming individual and panel proposals from a wide variety of disciplines including, but not limited to, queer studies, literature, history, sociology, art history, visual cultures, political science, ethnic studies, women’s and gender studies, performance studies, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, Asian studies and area studies, the performing arts, film or video making, writing, and community activism and leadership. Participants will be informed of acceptance in December 2007.
The conference is being held to coincide with the Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS) conference in Chicago, 16-20 April 2008. As a note, AAAS does have limited funding for which graduate students may apply.
Panel or Roundtable Proposal
1. A one-page description of your panel or roundtable
2. One-page abstracts of each paper or presenter
3. One-page CV from each presenter, the panel chair, and/or
the discussant or facilitator
4. AV needs
5. Contact information for each participant
Individual Paper Proposal
1. A one-page abstract of your paper
2. One-page CV
3. AV needs
4. Contact information
Performance, Reading, Video or Film Proposal
1. A one-page description of your project
2. A one-page artist resume
3. If a film, video, or performance, send a sample video or
DVD, if available (this can be returned to you upon request)
4. AV needs
5. Contact information
Please mail all materials to
or
Asian American Studies Program
1208 W. Nevada St., MC-142
Urbana, IL 61801
Contact:
Fiona I.B. Ngô OR Mimi Nguyen
(217) 265-6240
For updates and more information:
http://www.aasp.uiuc.edu/SEAsianDiaspora
Fiona I.B. Ngô
Asian American Studies Program and
Gender and Women’s Studies Program
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
1208 W. Nevada St., MC-142
Urbana, IL 61801
Dissertation on Chinese Christian home schooling available
Laura Li-Hua Sun has just completed her dissertation entitled DARE TO HOME SCHOOL: FAITH AND CULTURAL EXPERIENCES OF CHINESE CHRISTIAN MOTHERS (Biola University) and has made it available for the interested public. You can download it at these links:
http://www.geocities.com/sunl99/001__PreliminaryPages0522.pdf
http://www.geocities.com/sunl99/002_body.pdf
Call for Papers – East of California Asian American Studies Conference (Oct 1, 2007 deadline)
August 20, 2007
We’re sending out a Call for Papers for EOC panels for the April 16-20, 2008 AAAS annual conference (to be held in Chicago, IL–please see the AAAS conference website, (http://www.aaastudies.org/index.tpl ). Attached is a description of the CFP (due date, Monday–Oct. 1), but we are also pasting it below (although the formatting may be off). Please forward to any interested parties and list serv–we’d like to see many new people come to AAAS and be part of EOC.
Best wishes,
East of California Caucus Co-Chairs
Jennifer Ho (UNC Chapel Hill) & Cathy Schlund-Vials (UCONN, Storrs)
======================
CFP: Annual Association of Asian American Studies Conference (AAAS)
Chicago, IL, April 16-20, 2008 [http://www.aaastudies.org/index.tpl]
East of California / Roundtables and Panels
Brief Overview:
Taking advantage of this year’s conference theme, “Where is the Heart of Asian America?: Troubling American Identity and Exceptionalism in an Age of Globalization and Imperialism” and location (Chicago, IL), the East of California caucus proposes two roundtables and two academic sessions that consider new directions for the field with regard to professionalization, further institutionalization, and academic practice. Mindful that Asian American Studies was founded on both theory and practice, the proposed roundtables and panels acknowledge the extent to which the field continues to grow and expand, particularly East of California.
“Centering the Margins: Revising and Re-envisioning East of California” (Roundtable)
Asian American Studies has historically been focused on work and scholarship in California. However, as the emergence of programs across the country suggests, geographic considerations of the field no longer adequately accommodate for the heterogeneity of scholarship in Asian American Studies. Nor does such a location – “east” of California – immediately enable conversations of the field outside of simple geographic designation. This roundtable brings together administrators, faculty, and graduate students whose work reflects the need for further dialogue about the future of Asian American Studies. What are struggles that exist on the institutional or programmatic level? What about the issue of resources and the often lack of resources with regard to faculty numbers and student demands? How do these struggles suggest a potential for a larger Ethnic Studies collaboration in various sites? Additionally, we are interested in hearing from scholars whose main field of inquiry may not be Asian American studies but who nonetheless have an academic and/or activist interest in Asian American issues and in teaching Asian American subjects.
“Surviving in Academia: From First Year Graduate Student to Tenured Faculty Member” (Roundtable)
This roundtable is focused on the multiple levels of professionalization that occur from the graduate to the post-graduate level. Given that the field has grown considerably and that positions and programs are in new locations, how does thinking in terms of East of California shift the conversation about professionalization? How does one select a program? What about the job market? How does one negotiate a postdoctoral position? What about the ever-pressing need to publish? How does one broker a contract or negotiate an often complicated terrain of politics and missions? The experiences of graduate students to tenured faculty will allow this roundtable to present shared knowledge as a means of negotiating and surviving Academia as Asian Americanists.
“Re-Centering Asian American Narratives” (Panel)
As reflected in the larger field of Asian American Studies, Asian American scholarship about narrative is often located on the West Coast. However, as demographic shifts occur with regard to APA populations, and as more and more Asian American bodies move to locations like the Midwest (and the South), what is the impact on cinematic or literary narrative between the two coasts? In other words, how do narratives that take place outside of both the West Coast and the Eastern Seaboard , M. Evelina Galang’s collection of stories set largely in Chicago, Her Wild American Self, Ruth Ozeki’s second novel set in Idaho, All Over Creation, Susan Choi’s The Foreign Student, which moves between Sewanee, TN, Korea, and Chicago, the newly released memoir by Bich Minh Nguyen, Stealing Buddha’s Dinner, set in Grand Rapids, Michigan, or films like Renee Tajima-Pena’s My America or Honk if You Love Buddha or the groundbreaking documentary by Tajima and Rea Tajiri Who Killed Vincent Chin? force a reconsideration of narrative that brings us as scholars and academics back to Lisa Lowe’s now famous assertion of heterogeneity, hybridity, and multiplicity? What is the unique shape of narratives that take place in the heartland, away from the coasts, and how does a repositioning of Asian American narratives influence our understanding of where Asian America exists?
“Alternative Spaces in Asian America” (Panel)
EOC was founded as an alternative space to discuss issues of Asian American studies outside of the West Coast. Similarly, the internet, with its proliferation of blogs, social sites like Facebook and MySpace, and a growth of on-line journals, has become yet another alternate space to discuss Asian American issues. This panel brings together scholars, activists, and intellectuals, whether formally trained or home grown, to discuss the internet as an alternative space to explore Asian American identity, epistemology, pedagogy, activism, and social networking. What are the limits to using different spaces (blogs, on-line journals, social networking sites) to explore Asian American identity? What are the pleasures, perils, and pitfalls of doing Asian American studies in these alternative spaces? How can “traditional” academics make effective use of the internet to engage with more “organic” intellectuals to promote social justice and change as well as to create networking across the blogosphere and internet communities?
Requirements for Submission:
*Roundtable
–1 page cv
–1 page outline for 5-7 minute remarks
*Panel
–1 page cv
–1 page abstract (250 words) for 15 minute paper/presentation
Please send electronic copies of all materials to both Cathy Schlund-Vials and Jennifer Ho by Monday, October 1, 2007.
SF Chronicle: Evangelicals Build Flock on UC Berkeley Campus
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/21/ASIANGOD.TMP
Monday, May 21, 2007
This article appeared on page B – 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
UC BERKELEY
Evangelicals build flock on campus
At Cal, Christian groups find eager adherents among Asian American students
Vanessa Hua, Chronicle Staff Writer
The end-of-the-year mood in a classroom at UC Berkeley’s Warren Hall was giddy as a crowd of mostly Asian American students watched a slide show of good times and candid shots and shared stories of intense pressure from their parents.
They weren’t celebrating their culture, though. They were celebrating Christ.
“So here I am, all of me,” the students sang. “Finally, everything. Wholly, wholly, wholly, I am wholly, wholly, wholly yours.”
For three hours, they shared impassioned testimonies of faith and prayed for one another, laying hands in turn on each person receiving support. The graduating seniors passed down a 6-foot wooden cross for next year’s senior leaders to keep in their apartment.
Asian Americans dominate evangelical Christian groups at UC Berkeley, far outstripping their share of enrollment, even as the number of Asian Americans on campus has grown markedly. The trend is visible to varying degrees at several of the nation’s elite universities.
With this shift has come the realization by college ministries that faith is not always colorblind — no matter the Christian ideal — and that they should tailor their outreach to different communities instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.
“Our mission is to reach the whole campus, but you can’t reach the whole campus in one particular way,” said Paul Tokunaga, the national Asian American ministries coordinator for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, which has been a leader in ethnic outreach. Founded in 1941, InterVarsity serves more than 35,000 students and faculty nationwide.
At Cal — which now has among the highest Asian American attendance in the nation at 43 percent of undergraduates — InterVarsity was predominantly white until the late 1980s. Within a couple of years, it became predominantly Asian American and now offers separate fellowships for Filipino, black and Latino members. The “multiethnic” fellowship is the largest, but its roughly 200 members are mostly East Asian, with a handful of white students and members of other races.
Many students attend Christians fellowships affiliated with their local churches instead of joining campus ministries, so it is hard to gauge the overall proportion of evangelical students attending UC Berkeley.
Attendance at weekly fellowships offered by InterVarsity and Campus Crusade for Christ — large group sessions with singing and speakers and small groups for intimate Bible discussions — isn’t meant to replace going to church. But it enables worship during the week and offers a social network, which is important at large schools, where students seek subgroups to avoid feeling lost.
One night this spring, roughly 20 students in InterVarsity’s new Ethnic Identity small group delved into Bible passages about Queen Esther, a Jew under Persian rule who must decide whether to speak for her people, who are facing genocide. One discussion led by senior Jon Akutagawa grew lively as the students started to relate to Esther’s experience.
“Esther never revealed her ethnic identity,” said Akutagawa, 21, a Japanese American with black-framed glasses and a modern take on Abe Lincoln’s beard.
“Is it OK not to be fully open to whom we are to get ahead? Look at politics or economic power,” he said. “Is it OK for us to choose to make more money?”
Joyce Lin, 21, said people sometimes tell her that she’s their only Asian friend. The daughter of immigrants, she grew up in San Bruno and attended a Chinese Christian church. Most of her friends are Asian American. This year, when she began working as a physical trainer with the football team, which is mainly African American and white, she began hearing “that I’m actually really cool.”
“I go out of my way to prove stereotypes are not how I act usually,” Lin said.
Hatty Lee, 20, had a different take.
“Why should I have to feel what I do represents my race?” asked Lee, who grew up in Los Angeles. “I am who God made me to be.
“I don’t represent Korean Americans, I represent God,” said the slender South Korea native, who plans to major in music and psychology.
The magazine Christianity Today dubbed the trend “the tiger in the academy,” saying “Asian students are more likely to show Christian commitment” than other ethnic groups, including white students.
It is hard to back up such a generalization because very small proportions of students on any given campus join student fellowships. But Collin Tomikawa, an InterVarsity official for the East Bay, said evangelical groups could attract many more Asian Americans.
“We’re only touching the tip of the Asians,” he said.
Tomikawa said the group has tried to diversify its staff, hoping to make prospective members from all ethnic backgrounds feel welcome. But as students recruit their friends to join, many evangelical groups have found they are continuing to attract a disproportionately Asian American membership, he and others said. And some members of other ethnicities and races have responded by seeking fellowship elsewhere.
But senior Heather Brent, one of a scattering of white students at the year-end celebration at Warren Hall this month, said she learned about herself by joining the multiethnic fellowship.
“It took a long time for me, learning what it means to be white and about white privilege. I grew up thinking you should be colorblind,” Brent said. “Now, I think, ‘Be educated on who you are.’ “
Evangelical groups have consistently appealed to Asian Americans because Asians often share common values, despite coming from different ethnicities, said Russell Jeung, an assistant professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University.
“Because Asians have a hard work ethic, they need to work to experience grace,” he said. “They try to earn God’s favor, just like they earn a parent’s approval.”
Asian Americans may also be drawn to evangelical groups because they are more accustomed than other students to identifying with a group rather than seeing themselves foremost as individuals, said Tommy Dyo, former leader of the Asian American Christian Fellowship, a national evangelical organization. He now heads the Asian American ministry for Campus Crusade for Christ.
“A lot of what we are taught in general society is that it’s very individual, that it’s all you,” Dyo said. “But Asian Americans are attached to the greater whole.”
That collective sense often stems from Asian Americans’ relationship with their parents, leaders said. Christie Heller De Leon explained the pressure of parental expectations in a speech at InterVarsity’s most recent Asian American conference, held the same weekend as ethnic-specific get-togethers for black, Latino, multiracial and white students in Northern California.
“Our parents have been dreaming about us since we were in the womb,” said De Leon, a Filipina and a staff leader at UC Davis. “Dreams full of blessings and happiness. Yet sometimes the dream is so specific it feels like a script, handed down, ready for us, already written and ready for us to step into the role.”
God’s love is different, they say.
“You receive the blessing before you’ve done anything good,” De Leon said. “Despite anything bad that you have done.”
Through Cal’s InterVarsity, 20-year-old Jianni Xin said she has explored her ethnic identity as an Asian American Christian. Though many in the fellowship were raised in Christian families, Xin and others contend with parents who do not understand their faith.
Her mother, a Chinese immigrant, thinks Xin should seek blessings from her grandmother and believes Christianity is taking Xin from her family.
“She’s a really traditional woman. In China, she didn’t know of any Christians there. I guess she wants me to focus on my studies,” said Xin, 20, a sophomore from San Francisco. “She thinks I’m dating God.”
Reflecting on the year, InterVarsity leader Akutagawa said the ethnic identity group struggled with understanding what “gifts or heritage” that Asian Americans offer, compared with white and black churches.
“We tried to understand how we as Asian Americans contribute to the spiritual backdrop of America,” said Akutagawa, a bioengineering major who grew up in Southern California. “There’s still not a definite answer. We’re trying to figure out who we are in America, how we fit in, and what things we can bring to the culture here.”
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Campus fellowships
It is difficult to compare the membership in evangelical Christian fellowships at different schools because they are not organized in the same manner. But InterVarsity fellowships at private elite schools and large state schools across the country began to experience “Asianization” in the early 1990s, said Collin Tomikawa, an InterVarsity area director for the East Bay.
By 2006, InterVarsity’s 205-member multiethnic fellowship at UC Berkeley was 80 percent Asian American (while the campus was 43 percent Asian American). And the Campus Crusade for Christ chapter’s 125-member multiethnic ministry was more than 60 percent Asian American, and its Korean ministry had 75 members.
At Stanford in 2006, Asian Americans accounted for roughly 40 percent of InterVarsity members but only 25 percent of undergrads. At UC Davis, Asian Americans are about 40 percent of the fellowship and of enrollment. At UC Santa Cruz, they account for one-third of InterVarsity and about 20 percent of students overall. MIT’s and Harvard’s InterVarsity fellowships each have significant Asian American memberships, too.
In contrast, at San Francisco State University, the 75-member InterVarsity chapter had nine Asian American members in 2006, even though Asian Americans account for one-third of the campus’s undergrads.
– Vanessa Hua
© 2007 Hearst Communications Inc
NATIONAL CONFERENCE (June 9, 2007): "Rise of Korean American Studies: 15 Years after the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest"
The UCLA Asian American Studies Center cordially invites you to attend . . .
Rise of Korean American Studies:
15 Years after the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest
Saturday, June 9, 2007
9:00 AM- 4:30 PM
Viewpoint Conference Room, Ackerman Student Union, “A” Level, UCLA Campus.
Free and Open to the Public
Please pre-register and reserve a free lunch via email or by phone (310.825.2974). Park in Lot 6 (next to Pauley Pavilion), $8/day
An Invitation
We would like to convene a conference on the status of Korean American Studies in order to commemorate the 1992 unrest. This national conference will be the third one commemorating the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest. We propose to critically reflect on what kinds of knowledge have been produced about Korean Americans. Its main objective is to discuss the status of the field, to clarify the mission of Korean American Studies, to share our strategies, and our vision. We would also like to invite you to share your assessment of the field, strategy, or vision. In addition, we would like to come together to mourn the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings and offer condolences to their families and friends. Korean American community leaders and ordinary Korean immigrants on the street have taken it upon themselves to apologize for the actions of gunman Seung Hui Cho, citing a sense of collective guilt and shame simply by virtue of a shared ethnicity. We would like to reflect on how the Korean American community coped with the enormity of this horrific event, beyond concerns about a racial backlash.
9:00- 9:30 Registration
9:30-10:00 Welcoming Remarks
10:00- 11:00 Session I: Humanities
Moderator/Discussant: Grace Hong (UCLA)
Discussants: Elaine Kim (UC Berkeley), Laura Kang (UC Irvine),
Ji-Yeon Yuh (Northwestern University)
Break (10 min)
11 :10- 12 :10 Session II: Social Sciences
Moderator: Kyeyoung Park (UCLA)
Discussants: John SW Park (University of California, Santa Barbara), Pyong Gap
Min (Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY),
Jung-Sun Park (California State University, Dominguez Hills)
12:10- 1:10 Session III (over lunch): Community-Based Research
Moderator: Ailee Moon (UCLA)
Discussants: Eun Sook Lee (National Korean American Service & Education
Consortium – NAKASEC), Hae Jung Cho (Koreatown Youth and
Community Center – KYCC), (Asian Pacific Counseling and Treatment Center)
Break (10 min)
1: 20- 2:20 Session IV: Asian Americanists
Moderator/Discussant: Lane Hirabayashi (UCLA)
Discussants: Min Zhou (UCLA), Purnima Mankekar (UCLA),
L.M. San Pablo Burns (UCLA)
Break (10 min)
2:30- 3:30: Plenary Session: Korean American Studies Programs and Activities
Moderator: Elaine Kim (UC Berkeley)
Discussants: Edward T. Chang (UC Riverside), Hyojoung Kim (California State
University, Los Angeles), Kyeyoung Park (UCLA),
Jeongduk Yi (Chonbuk National University, Korea)
–
Don T. Nakanishi, Ph.D.
Director and Professor
UCLA Asian American Studies Center
3230 Campbell Hall
PO Box 951546
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1546
phone: (310) 825-2974
fax: (310) 206-9844
e-mail Dr. Nakanishi
Please visit the Center’s web site: www.sscnet.ucla.edu/aasc
