Local News

You might be interested to read the following posts from September of years past:

• 2009: Another Controversy at Tufts: Racism or Free Speech?
  A controversy at Tufts University involving Asian American students on opposite sides highlights the tricky nature of free speech and how to best challenge racial stereotypes.
• 2008: Addressing Depression and Mental Illness Among Students
  How model minority expectations lead to high levels of stress and mental illness among young Asian Americans and how to help them
• 2007: Who Deserves Freedom of Speech?
  A few high-profile incidents highlight the notion that freedom of speech belongs to everyone, not just to those we agree with.
• 2006: Asian American Buying Power
  New data points to the rising purchasing power of the Asian American population and along with it, perhaps more social influence.
• 2005: New Asian American Communities
  The growth of a new Chinese American community in northwest Philadelphia highlights the multifaceted nature of population and cultural change.
• 2004: New Asian American Voters Survey
  Voting data from the 2004 election highlights some interesting patterns among Asian American voters.

As the new academic year starts for many colleges around the country, like many professors, I am busy preparing to teach my courses. In my case, I usually teach two courses in the fall semester: “The Asian American Experience” (a ‘conventional’ classroom course with 40 students) and “Bridging Asia and Asian America” (a once-a-week, two-hour colloquium with 30 students, taught in the lounge of one of the residence halls). While these two courses are distinct, obviously there is a lot of overlap in terms of examining the histories and experiences of Asian Americans and their connections back to Asia.

With that in mind, I would like to share my list of films, videos, and documentaries that I think are good choices for showing in introductory Asian American Studies classes (the videos are most suited for college and advanced high school courses). As the study of Asian Americans continues to grow, hopefully instructors of these kind of courses and others interested in Asian Americans in general will find this list useful.

The following list is organized by topic and corresponds to the chronological order in which I discuss each topic in my “Asian American Experience” course. For each topic, I highlight the documentary that I tend to show the most often, followed by other videos that I’ve shown and consider to be good choices for that topic as well.

Basic Concepts: The Racialized Landscape

In this first section of the course, I lay out the sociological framework and institutional nature of the U.S.’s racial/ethnic landscape into which Asian Americans fit. I focus on how, contrary to historical and contemporary ideals of being “colorblind,” American society has been and continues to be highly racialized and how social institutions reinforce and perpetuate racial distinctions.

• The Color of Fear: Made in 1992, this video is “just” a group of men from various racial backgrounds sitting around talking about race, but their words sharply illustrate many of the basic and also subtle ways in which racialization gets played out on the individual level and ultimately highlights the failures of trying to be colorblind.
• Race: Power of an Illusion
• Race, the World’s Most Dangerous Myth
• Understanding Race

Immigration and Settlement

In this section, I describe the history of Asian immigration to the U.S., how the 1965 Immigration Act has impacted the current demographics of the Asian American population, and the dynamics of Asian American ethnic communities, from the first urban Chinatowns to emerging suburban enclaves like Little Saigon.

• Saigon USA: Summarizes the exodus of refugees out of Viet Nam, how many of them eventually settled in Orange County CA, the formation of the Little Saigon enclave, and the ways in which Vietnamese Americans reflect both old and new ways, and the ways in which they’re socially divided yet united as well.
• Monkey Dance
• Carved in Silence: Chinese Immigration During Exclusion
• Golden Venture
• Ancestors in the Americas: Chinese in the Frontier West
• Little Manila: Filipinos in California’s Heartland
• Chinatown: Strangers in a Strange Land
• Becoming American

Assimilation and Ethnic Identity

This section explores the multidimensional and multi-level process of assimilation and ethnic identity formation. I discuss how these ideas involve more than just acculturation, how ideas of what it means to be an American have evolved through the years, and how these dynamics play out among adopted and mixed-race Asian Americans.

• Daughter From Danang: This critically-acclaimed documentary chronicles the experiences of an Amerasian from Viet Nam who was adopted by a White mother and her journey back to reconnect with her birth family in Viet Nam. Along the way, she comes to some powerful and painful realizations about her identity.
• Banana Split
• First Person Plural
• Sentenced Home
• Passing Through
• Refugee
• From a Different Shore: The Japanese-American Experience
• Who is Albert Woo?
• Yellow Tale Blues
• No Turning Back

Women, Gender, and Family

Emphasizing the histories, experiences, challenges, and contributions of Asian American women, I highlight their paths of immigration into American society and the contemporary and often contradictory pressures they face, from familial expectations, to academic success, to dealing with exoticization and “yellow fever.”

• Never Perfect: This video portrait follows a young Vietnamese American woman and her decision to have eyelid surgery. In between, it highlights the historical and contemporary pressures on how Asian American women are expected to look and behave.
• Slaying the Dragon
• Quiet Passages
• Good for Her
• Miss India Georgia
• Knowing Her Place
• A Life Without Fear

The Model Minority Image

This section examines the origins of Asian Americans portrayed as the “model minority” and in what ways a seemingly “positive” stereotype is true and beneficial to Asian Americans, and how it also distorts the reality of life for many of us as it overgeneralizes and carelessly lumps all Asian Americans together.

• “The Governor” segment of Searching for Asian America: This segment of the Searching for Asian America video features Gary Locke and his victory as Governor of Washington state in 1992 and how his personal story both reinforces and contradicts the model minority image.
• aka Don Bonus
• Whatever It Takes
• The Story of Vinh
• Kelly Loves Tony
• Another America
• Wet Sand

Work and Employment

How do Asian Americans differ in terms in terms of their occupational and employment success? I analyze two different aspects of that question in this section — glass ceiling barriers that many Asian Americans still confront in the workplace and secondly, how many choose to bypass those hurdles altogether by owning their own small business.

• Labor Women: This documentary profiles three young Asian American women who work as labor organizers in the Los Angeles area and in the process, fight against the traditional patriarchal notions of women’s work in their communities while forging important ties to other communities of color.
• “Outsourcing” episode of 30 Days
• Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night
• “Oklahoma Home” segment of Searching for Asian America
• Roots in the Sand
• Punjabi Cab
• Taxi Vala

Part 2 of my list of best documentaries about Asian Americans will focus on videos relating to discrimination & racism, interracial relationships, faith, spirituality, & religion, sexuality & creative expression, social movements & collective action, and emerging issues in the 21st century.

The following are announcements about jobs for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes only and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.

American Studies, University of Hawai’i at Manoa

The University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Department of American Studies, invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor appointment, full-time, 9-months, to begin August 2011, pending position clearance and availability of funds. Duties: Teach Indigenous Studies/American Studies undergraduate and graduate courses; conduct research in Indigenous Studies/American Studies; work with graduate students; and other duties as assigned by chair.

Minimum qualifications: Ph.D. in American Studies or related area, ABDs will be considered. Ability to teach undergraduate/graduate courses and conduct research in Indigenous Studies with emphasis on North America and/or Asia/Pacific including Hawai’i. Desirable qualifications: Ability to teach and conduct research in American Studies. Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience.

To apply, send letter of application indicating how you satisfy the minimum and, if applicable, desirable qualifications, curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, and graduate school transcripts (copies are acceptable, original transcripts will be required at time of hire) to Indigenous Studies Search Committee Chair, Department of American Studies, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, 1890 East-West Road, Moore Hall 324, Honolulu, HI 96822-2318.

Departmental representatives plan to conduct invited interviews at the annual meeting of the American Studies Association. For inquiries contact Professor Kathleen M. Sands, Indigenous Studies Search Committee Chair, kmsands@hawaii.edu or 808-956-9093. Closing Date: October 1, 2010. An EEO/AA Employer.

Asian Policy Issues, University of Texas

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin has multiple Tenure-Track openings in Global Policy Studies at the rank of Assistant Professor, (exceptional candidates may be considered at more senior levels).

Focus for one opening includes but is not limited to an interest in Asian Policy Issues. Candidates should have strong interests in Policy relevant research and a Doctoral equivalent degree, by start date, in Policy relevant disciplines.

Successful candidates will have an outstanding academic record and significant original research as well as develop a research program, teach graduate and undergraduate courses, collaborate with other Faculty from varied disciplinary backgrounds and provide service to the University, their profession and society. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. EEO/AAE. Background check conducted on applicant selected.

Applicant Instructions: Please visit http://facultyjobs.utexas.edu for complete job description and to apply for Job ID: 10072800001.

Contact Info:
lbjfacultyrecruitment@austin.utexas.edu
Website: http://www.utexas.edu/lbj

Asian American Studies, University of Colorado

The Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder seeks to fill a full-time, three semester Instructor position in Asian American studies. Candidates must be able to teach Introduction to Asian American Studies and other courses in the field. Those who employ comparative frameworks or demonstrate the ability to teach a comparative Foundations of Ethnic Studies course will receive fullest consideration. Ph.D. in hand or advanced ABD preferred.

This position will be rostered in Ethnic Studies and will last for three semesters (beginning in January 2011 and terminating in May 2012). Teaching load will be six classes per academic year. There is no formal application process. If you are interested (or know of viable candidates), please email daryl.maeda@colorado.edu with a c.v. and list of classes you have taught or are prepared to teach. Review of files will commence immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Daryl J. Maeda
Assoc. Professor of Ethnic Studies
University of Colorado at Boulder

http://spot.colorado.edu/~maeda

Social scientists know that one institution of American life that is crucial to either alleviating or perpetuating inequalities is our education system. With that in mind, I would like to highlight a few recent news stories, articles, and announcements that include positive news as they relate to Asian Americans and higher education. With each step that the Asian American community (and other racial/ethnic communities as well) takes, hopefully it represents another positive development in reducing social inequalities for all Americans.

Wallace Loh Named New President of Univ. of Maryland

I would like to offer my congratulations to Dr. Wallace Loh on being named the new President of the University of Maryland (home of one of the best Asian American Studies Programs in the country, headed by my friend and colleague Larry Shinagawa).

Dr. Loh and his family left China in 1961 to escape communist oppression, first immigrating to Peru (Dr. Loh is also fluent in Spanish) and then coming to the U.S. for college. He completed his Bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College in Iowa in Psychology (take note of that young Asian Americans — he is not an engineer or physical scientist), a Master’s from Cornell, a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan, and finally a law degree at Yale. He was also Dean of the University of Washington’s law school (where he was also a close advisor to then-Governor Gary Locke) and most recently, Provost at the University of Iowa.

As you can see, Dr. Loh is extremely accomplished and as an Asian American in higher education, I am thrilled to see another Asian American attaining the Presidency of a major university. I wish Dr. Loh the best success in his new position.

Special Issue on Asian American and Pacific Islander Higher Education

The academic journal AAPI Nexus (2010, Volume 7, Number 1 and published by UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center) has just released its second issue of a three part education series, focusing on Higher Education, guest edited by Mitchell J. Chang (UCLA) and Peter Nien-chu Kiang (University of Massachusetts Boston). Below is a listing of the articles included in the issue:

• Ling-chi Wang: Establishing a Chinatown campus of the City College of San Francisco
• Rick Wagoner and Anthony Lin: Southeast Asian American community college students who transfer to four-year institutions
• Jillian Liesemeyer: Historical comparison of exclusionary quotas against Jewish and Asian American college students
• Oiyan Poon: Recent policy changes in eligibility of admissions in the University of California system
• Julie Park and Mitchell Chang: Improving the future influence of AAPI communities on educational matters

While I have yet to read the articles in this issue, from their descriptions it looks like they each tell a story in which Asian Americans — individually and collectively — have faced and continue to face various challenges when it comes to achieving educational access and success. In their own ways, each article seems to highlight ways in which Asian Americans have worked individually and collectively to confront those barriers and in the process, they have not only empowered themselves but others around them to work toward greater inclusion.

Not Just Scientists & Engineers: Asian American College Students Diversify Their Majors

International Business Times reports that Asian American college students are increasingly turning to other fields of study and majors, rather than the more stereotypical ones of physical sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics:

Larry Shinagawa, director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Maryland, said that . . . First-generation immigrant Asians typically pursue STEM careers — fields that are secure, prestigious, pay well, and have low barriers to entry. He added that two generations ago, Asian Americans (even those born and raised in the U.S.) also largely pursued stereotypical STEM careers.

However, Asian Americans (second-, third-, or fourth-generation) have recently begun to defy the STEM stereotype. Now, a greater number of them study humanities and social sciences versus STEM disciplines. And after completing their studies, an increasing number of them are entering into law and business.

Shinagawa said that many Asian Americans feel more “Americanized” and believe they have a broader range of occupational choices. As to why they choose business and law specifically, he explained that many Asian Americans do not feel they can compete with immigrant Asians in STEM fields, so they opt for law and business, which offer the same or better pay and prestige compared to STEM jobs.

As I’ve always said, there’s nothing wrong with becoming a scientist, engineer, mathematician, etc. if that’s what you truly enjoy doing. But if it’s mainly the parents who are pushing their children towards these occupations, that’s a recipe for future alienation and resentment. For Asian American college students in that position, you owe to yourself to have an honest talk with your parents about what you want to do for the rest of your life.

Further, as diverse as the Asian American population is, so too should be our occupational distributions. We need Asian Americans as doctors, scientists, engineers — and also as musicians, authors, professors, corporate executives, journalists, actors, etc. The take home message is: do not limit yourself.

Frank Wu Named New Dean of Univ. of California Hastings Law School

I also offer a belated congratulations to Frank Wu, renowned civil rights scholar and activist, for being named as the new Dean of the Law School at the University of California, Hastings:

Wu, a Michigan native, has said he changed his career plans from architecture to law as a teenager in response to the racially motivated murder of a young Chinese American man in Detroit in 1982 (Vincent Chin).

He first practiced law with a San Francisco firm and later taught at Columbia, the University of Michigan and Stanford. He became the nation’s youngest law school dean at Wayne State University in Detroit in 2004 and served until mid-2008.

Wu was chairman of the Washington, D.C., Human Rights Council in 2001-02. He is the author of the 2003 book Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White, and was a co-author of the 2001 textbook Race, Rights and Reparation: Law and the Japanese American Internment.

As with the cases of Wallace Loh (mentioned above), Jim Young Kim at Dartmouth, and other accomplished Asian American leaders in higher education, it is very gratifying to see Asian Americans in these positions of leadership. With these accomplishments, Asian Americans continue to demonstrate that, contrary to some stereotypes, we can be excellent leaders in helping the U.S. succeed in the age of globalization and transnationalism.

Chinese College Students Flocking to U.S. Campuses

USA Today reports that several colleges and universities around the country have seen a recent surge in students from China enrolling on their campuses:

Last year alone, 98,510 Chinese graduate and undergraduate students poured into U.S. colleges and universities, lured by China’s emphasis on academic achievement and the prestige of U.S. higher education.

China is second only to India when graduate students and undergrads are counted. But undergraduates are the newer phenomenon. Nationally, an 11% growth in undergrad enrollments last year was driven largely by a 60% increase from China, a report by the Institute of International Education says. Grad student enrollments were up 2%. . . .

The increase also reflects a “strong dialogue” between the two countries, says U.S. State Department deputy assistant secretary Alina Romanowski. She says the recent growth can’t be pinned to specific changes in visa policy, but some U.S. college officials say they detect a friendlier attitude among U.S. embassies and consulates, which review visa applications. One key question for any country is whether visa-seeking students can prove they will return to their home country upon graduating from a U.S. college.

“Because the Chinese economy has improved, students feel there are opportunities there waiting for them,” says Gretchen Olson, director of international programs at Drake University in Des Moines, where there are 28 undergraduates from China this fall, up from one in 2003.

Overall, I agree that these increases in “academic exchange” (the proliferation of Confucius Institutes around the U.S. are another example) are a positive development in terms of fostering more interaction between Chinese and Americans, which according to the “contact hypothesis” should by itself result in more understanding and tolerance between two groups, which the USA Today article discusses.

However, Chinese educational and government authorities, along with Chinese students who come to U.S. colleges, should remember that they need to conform to American norms and expectations in regard to things like who gets to determine curriculum (in China, the government does — in the U.S., the colleges, departments, and faculty do) and lax standards when it comes to academic dishonesty.

Overall, each of these recent news items represent a positive step forward for Asian Americans and all of American society in general. The next steps of course, are to keep the momentum going and to ensure that all racial/ethnic groups are also included in what will hopefully be a rising tide of greater empowerment and achievement as we move forward.

Here are some more announcements and links out that have come my way relating to Asians or Asian Americans. As always, links to other sites are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of their contents.

Intern Position at White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is Seeking One Intern for Fall 2010.

The Initiative is responsible for the implementation of the President’s Executive Order 13515 dated October 14, 2009. Its purpose is to develop, monitor, and coordinate executive branch efforts to improve the quality of life of AAPIs through increased participation in Federal programs. The Initiative is housed at the Department of Education but represents a collaboration among many Federal agencies.

Intern duties may include:

• Performing research on AAPI issue areas, including education, community and economic development, health, labor and employment, and civil rights
• Writing policy memos and proposals to improve government programs for AAPIs
• Conducting outreach to national and local API organizations, elected officials, and ethnic media outlets
• Creating communication strategies around social media
• Coordinating events

Intern Qualifications

• Currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate student (must be enrolled at least half-time)
• Outstanding research and writing skills
• Experience working with AAPI communities or familiarity with the issues
• Detail-oriented
• Team player
• Advanced knowledge of various software applications to include but not limited to Microsoft Office

Compensation:
Interns are eligible for transit benefits, which cover the cost of commuting to and from work on public transportation. Interested applicants should send a resume, cover letter, and enrollment verification with the subject “FALL INTERNSHIP 2010″ to Shelly Coles at shelly.coles@ed.gov by August 23rd. Please be advised that if selected to work as an intern, you will have to undergo a security background check.

APIA U: Leadership 101 Host Schools

Hi everyone,

I’m doing the call out for Spring 2011 host sites and would greatly appreciate your help in getting the word out. Please distribute this to the student organizations that you are connected with. I especially need help with reaching out to schools in the Midwest, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, and Hawaii. Thank you!

OCA Now Accepting Applications for Spring 2011 APIA U: Leadership 101 Host Schools

OCA is seeking Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) student organizations from colleges, universities, and community colleges across the country to host a Spring 2011 (Jan-April) APIA U: Leadership 101 training. This interactive college leadership training program involves hands-on exercises, small group discussions, and presentations led by two qualified APIA facilitators. The one-day Saturday training assembles 60 APIA students from each region and focuses on understanding APIA history and identity, leadership development, and social justice and advocacy. Participants will be asked to challenge themselves, share their experiences, and develop leadership tools in order to effectively serve as catalysts for change.

Help bring this exciting and FREE leadership training to your campus! Potential sites are considered from anywhere across the country, coast to coast. We especially encourage new schools to apply from the following regions: Midwest, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, and Hawaii.

Tasks Include:

• Publicizing and recruiting students to attend (both from on campus and other colleges)
• Securing a room that fits approximately 60 people (open area, no fixed desks)
• Providing recommendations for local restaurants and hotels
• Hosting students that cannot afford hotel expenses (optional)

Again, these are only a sample of the tasks involved and OCA covers all expenses. To host a training in Spring 2011, apply online by August 30 at http://bit.ly/b5jJUD or complete the paper application and mail it to 1322 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20036 ATTN: APIA U Host Application. Please contact Iimay Ho at iho@ocanational.org with any questions.

Best,
Iimay Ho
Program Manager
Organization of Chinese Americans National Center
1322 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-223-5500 tel
202-296-0540 fax
iho@ocanational.org
www.ocanational.org
OCA: Embracing the Hopes and Aspirations of Asian Pacific Americans

“Armed With a Camera” Film & Media Fellowship

Visual Communications will begin accepting applications for our 2010/2011 “Armed With a Camera” Fellowship. This fellowship offers emerging Asian Pacific American film and media artists an opportunity to further their development and help them make connections that they will need to thrive within the film industry.

The 10 fellows chosen will receive $500 each to be used for the purposes of making a 5-minute film within a 5-month time frame. The final movies will be shown at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival that has an attendance of over 16,000 people. The Fellowship application will be open until October 1, 2010 and we will announce the winners during the last week of October.

Women, South Asian and Southeast Asian filmmakers are highly encouraged to apply to the Armed With A Camera Fellowship! More details and information on how to apply can found on our website.

Latest Stats on Taiwanese Immigrants

From the Migration Information Source: according to our analysis of 2008 federal government data (the most recent year available):

• There were about 342,000 foreign born from Taiwan residing in the United States — 47 percent of them in California alone.
• Seventy-six percent of Taiwanese immigrant adults owned the home they resided in compared to 57 percent of all immigrants and 73 percent of native-born adults.
• Among the Taiwanese foreign born, 72 percent were naturalized US citizens while just 43 percent of all immigrants were naturalized.
• Over 70 percent of Taiwanese-born adults had a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than double the rate among the foreign born overall (28 percent) and the native-born adult population (27 percent).
• Management, business, and finance was the dominant occupation reported by Taiwanese immigrant men (23 percent) and Taiwanese immigrant women (28 percent).

Kind Regards,
Kirin Kalia

Senior Editor, Migration Information Source
www.migrationinformation.org
Migration Policy Institute
1400 16th Street, NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
www.migrationpolicy.org
phone: 202-266-1913
fax: 202-266-1900

Online Archives: Yellow Seeds Papers

You can now find copies of the Yellow Seeds newspaper on-line. As many of you know, Yellow Seeds was an Asian American anti-imperialist organization focused on the Asian American community and Chinatown neighborhood in Philadelphia during the 1970s.

From the organization’s description:

Yellow Seeds aligns itself with the liberation struggles of all people all over the world against all forms of imperialism and colonialism. Here in America we actively participate in the struggle of the people against attacks on the livelihood of workers, against racism, against sexism and all other forms of exploitation. We recognize that Asian Americans are a part of this broad struggle against a common enemy and part of a movement to build a society free of exploitation for all people.

They published a newspaper of the same name from 1972-1977 in English and Chinese; editions from 1972-1975 are available on line in pdf format and downloadable for free at: http://bandung1955.wordpress.com/yellow-seeds-newspaper-collection/

You might be interested to read the following posts from August of years past:

• 2009: Young Hip-Hop Asians: Promoting Diversity or Stereotypes?
  A recent article profiling young Asian Americans generates controversy over whether it promotes more inclusion and diversity, or just biased and harmful stereotypes.
• 2008: The History of the First Suburban Chinatown
  Discussing Professor Susie Ling’s research on the history of Monterey Park, America’s first suburban Chinatown.
• 2007: Controversy Over Martin Luther King Memorial
  Criticisms over who gets to create the Martin Luther King memorial exposes racial and nationalist tensions between African Americans and Asians.
• 2006: Housing Discrimination Against Non-Koreans
  Korean American landlords are accused of housing discrimination against mostly Black and Latino renters.
• 2005: Wal-Mart and Asian Americans
  Asian American individuals and organizations face a dilemma in regard to the question of Walmart’s effect on their communities.
• 2004: Can Ignorance be More Blatant?
  Looking at the reasons why conservative Asian American ‘pundit’ Michelle Malkin defends the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

As part of this blog’s mission of making academic research and data more easily accessible, understandable, and applicable to a wider audience and to practical, everyday social issues, I highlight new sociological books about Asian Americans and other racial/ethnic groups as I hear about them. A book’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its contents.

In addition to mentioning new book releases, I will periodically include links to recent news articles from around the internet that relate to the books’ topic as well, to give readers a wider exposure to the different dynamics involved. This time around, I highlight books and internet links that focus on art and entertainment involving Asians and Asian Americans.

East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres, by Andrew Lam (Heyday Books)

From cuisine and martial arts to sex and self-esteem, East Eats West shines new light on the bridges and crossroads where two hemispheres meld into one worldwide immigrant nation. In this new nation, with its amalgamation of divergent ideas, tastes, and styles, today s bold fusion becomes tomorrow s classic. But while the space between East and West continues to shrink in this age of globalization, some cultural gaps remain.

In this collection of twenty-one personal essays, Andrew Lam, the award-winning author of Perfume Dreams, continues to explore the Vietnamese diaspora, this time concentrating not only on how the East and West have changed, but how they are changing each other. Lively and engaging, East Eats West searches for meaning in nebulous territory charted by very few. Part memoir, part meditations, and part cultural anthropology, East Eats West is about thriving in the West with one foot still in the East.

Yellow Future: Oriental Style in Hollywood Cinema, by Jane Chi Hyun Park (University of Minnesota Press)

Yellow Future examines the emergence and popularity of techno-oriental representations in Hollywood cinema since the 1980s, focusing on the ways East Asian peoples and places have become linked with technology to produce a collective fantasy of East Asia as the future. Jane Chi Hyun Park demonstrates how this fantasy is sustained through imagery, iconography, and performance that conflate East Asia with technology, constituting what Park calls “oriental style.”

Park provides a genealogy of oriental style through contextualized readings of popular films-from the multicultural city in Blade Runner and the Japanese American mentor in The Karate Kid to the Afro-Asian reworking of the buddy genre in Rush Hour and the mixed-race hero in The Matrix. Throughout these analyses Park shows how references to the Orient have marked important changes in American popular attitudes toward East Asia in the past thirty years, from abjection to celebration, invisibility to hypervisibility.

Unlike other investigations of racial imagery in Hollywood, Yellow Future centers on how the Asiatic is transformed into and performed as style in the backdrop of these movies and discusses the significance of this conditional visibility for representations of racial difference.

No Safe Spaces: Re-Casting Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality in American Theater, by Angela C. Pao (University of Michigan Press)

No Safe Spaces looks at one of the most radical and enduring changes introduced during the Civil Rights era — multiracial and cross-racial casting practices in American theater. The move to cast Latino/a, African-American, and Asian-American actors in classic stage works written by and about white Europeans and Americans is viewed as both a social and political gesture and an artistic innovation. Non-traditionally cast productions are shown to have participated in the national dialogue about race relations and ethnic identity and served as a source of renewed creativity for the staging of the canonical repertory.

The book opens with a historical overview of multiracial casting, considering the artistic, political, and pragmatic dimensions of nontraditional approaches to casting. Two subsequent chapters examine non-traditional casting in terms of the relationship between reality and stage representation being assumed by various theatrical genres and in the context of the process of racial formation in the United States. The remaining chapters focus on case studies from the dominant genres of twentieth-century American theater: classical tragedy and drama, modern domestic drama, anti-realist drama, and the Broadway musical.

Asian Horror, by Andy Richards (Oldcastle Books)

Since Japanese horror sensations The Ring and Audition first terrified Western audiences at the turn of the millennium, there’s been a growing appreciation of Asia as the hotbed of the world’s best horror movies. Over the last decade, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Hong Kong have all produced a steady stream of stylish supernatural thrillers and psychological chillers that have set new benchmarks for cinematic scares.

Hollywood soon followed suit, producing high-profile remakes of films such as The Ring, Dark Water, The Grudge, and The Eye. With scores of Asian horror films now available to Western audiences, this guide helps viewers navigate the eclectic mix of vengeful spooks, yakuza zombies, feuding warlocks, and devilish dumplings, discussing the grand themes of Asian horror cinema and the distinctive national histories that give the films their special resonance.

Tracing the long and noble tradition of horror stories in eastern cultures, it also delves into some of the folktales that have influenced this latest wave of shockers, paying tribute to classic Asian ghost films throughout the ages.

China vs. Disney: The Battle for Mulan

• A Chinese-made production of the story of “Mulan” competes with the Disney version to capture attention, history, and revenue. As the article also notes, “While the Disney film wove comedy into a Disney-esque plot about a young girl breaking out of the confines of tradition to pursue her own destiny, the new Mulan focuses on patriotism, filial piety, romance and the difficulties of war. The formula is part of an evolving mainland genre that has seen filmmakers incorporating more nuanced, entertaining storytelling into patriotic plots.”

Sumo Suits Instruments of ‘Oppression’

• The Alma Mater Society of Queens University in Kingston, Canada declares that sumo costumes are offensive and that organizations should stop using them as part of their activities:

  “Sumo suits, the plastic novelties that can transform a skinny sports fan into a comically unstable sphere for the delight of a stadium audience, are racist and dehumanizing instruments of oppression, according to the student government of Queen’s University. They “appropriate an aspect of Japanese culture,” turn a racial identity into a “costume,” and “devalue an ancient and respected Japanese sport, which is rich in history and cultural tradition.” They also “fail to capture the deeply embedded histories of violent and subversive oppression that a group has faced.”

  Likewise, the owners of the two suits have never imagined they could be considered offensive. “It’s the first time we’ve heard of [the racist aspects],” Mike Grobe, a spokesman for Queen’s Athletics, which uses the suits at football and basketball games for half-time shows, when people run obstacle courses in them. “They’re just big puffy suits. They’re pink… No one’s complained.”

Filipino American Group Legaci Finds Fame Backing Up Justin Bieber

• Comprised of four Filipino Americans from San Francisco, Legaci has recently gained fame by performing in support of Justin Bieber. But does their success reinforce the notion that Asian American pop music performers can’t be successful as lead acts?

  “Even if most people just know us as Justin Bieber’s Asian backup singers,” [Legaci co-founder] Micah Tolentino said, “we’re proud to be out there, to show the world that Asian-Americans are talented.” While the pop charts are a familiar home to African-Americans and Latino-Americans, they’ve been less hospitable to Asian-Americans in the United States.

  “Asian-Americans are locked out,” said Phil Yu, who runs the pop-culture blog angryasianman.com. “There are definitely elements of racism, but it’s also that audiences are not used to seeing Asian faces on the pop charts or on music videos, and record labels won’t take a chance on that.” Legaci can list its fellow travelers on one hand. There’s the Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger (her father is Filipino), the fledgling Filipino pop star Charice (who sings a duet with Iyaz on her first United States single, “Pyramid”) and most famously, Allan Pineda, a k a Apl.de.ap, of the Black Eyed Peas.

  Christine Balance, a professor of Asian-American studies at the University of California, Irvine, points out that while Latin and black music have longstanding currency in the industry, there’s nothing comparable for Asian-Americans. “How do you market an Asian-American star?” she said. “African-Americans are foundational to U.S. popular culture, and for Latinos there’s the adjective ‘Latin’ music that’s used to describe a variety of musical forms. But Asians are still seen as foreign or alien to mainstream America.”

Below is an announcement about a research project and online survey in need of Asian American respondents. As always, this announcement is provided for informational purposes only and does not necessarily imply an endorsement of the research project.

Participants Needed for Study on Biracial Adults of Chinese and White Backgrounds

• Are you 18 years of age or older?
• Are you biracial with a Chinese or Chinese American parent and a White European parent?
• Were you born in the U.S.?
• Would you like to take part in a raffle for 10 Amazon gift cards of $35?

I am a graduate student in clinical psychology and I am currently conducting a study on ethnic identity. For more information and to participate in the study, please visit one of the following websites:

https://www.psychdata.com/s.asp?SID=135507 or www.psychdata.com and type “135507” for the survey # (in the top right corner).

Thank you,
Meilin Mehri, M.A.
Doctoral Candidate
The Wright Institute
Berkeley, CA

The following is guest post by Kyle Simpson. His post summarizes several important inventions and technology that originated in Asia. It’s a good reminder that many Asian cultures are several thousands of years old and through the years, have accumulated much history and innovation.

The Asian continent has a long and storied history of grand dynasties and bustling metropolitan areas that predate similar Western civilizations by a long shot. As a result, they seem to have been ahead of the curve on technological advancements (especially those that benefit all mankind) for a lot longer than you may imagine.

Did you really think Europeans invented warships? Or man-made tools? Or that they were the first to discover the world was round? All of these advancements occurred in one part of Asia or another long before they trickled into Western civilization. And it has to be said, they hit on many of the sciences long before Westerners.

In fact, many conveniences that we depend on and take for granted in our modern life had origins in different parts of Asia, from plumbing and municipal planning to the paper we use without a thought to where it came from. Here are a few of the big ones you might not know about.

1. Gunpowder
China was the first to discover the combination of elements needed to produce gunpowder. In an attempt to create an elixir that would bring about immortality (through the use of chemistry), they found that mixing sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate produced an explosive black powder. This definitely dates back at least as early as the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE), since it was used at that time to create bombs and other explosives used in wars. However, historians have found veiled textual references as far back as 850 BCE.

2. Guns
Closely following the arrival of gunpowder, it’s no surprise that weapons meant for targeted use came next. What is interesting is that it wasn’t the Chinese who created the technology. In fact, Arabs are credited with introducing the first firearm in the early 14th century CE after gunpowder made its way over from China.

3. Sewage Systems
The ruined city of Mohenjo-Daro in India, which existed around from about 3000-1500 BCE has unveiled many secrets about early civilization. The city was not only laid out in a clearly planned grid system with homes two or more stories high, but the layout included complex waste-control measures. Both human waste and trash were carried out of houses through chutes that connected to underground sewers, all of which led to a central sewage system.

4. Water Control
Systems of canals, waterworks, and even some hydraulics and a man-made lake were used in and around the areas of Cambodia and Vietnam (then the kingdom of Funan) to control flooding and transport water as early as the 3rd to 6th century CE.

5. Paper
The Chinese were the first to develop a process for making paper and they did so during the Tang dynasty. As the production and use of paper spread, Asians also began to dabble in moveable type (at least as early as the 13th century CE, and possibly sooner). Although the Chinese were doing wood-block printing about 200 years before that, it was Korea that implemented the use of moveable metal type for printing.

Kyle Simpson writes for Medical Coding Certification website where you can find information on a career in medical billing and coding industry.

To highlight the continuing growth and vitality of Asian American Studies, the following is a list of recent doctoral dissertation from scholars in the social sciences and humanities that focus on Asian Americans. As you can see, the diversity of research topics is a direct reflection of the dynamic and multidimensional nature of the Asian American population. Last but not least, congratulations to my new academic colleagues on being “Ph.inally D.one.”

The records are compiled by Dissertation Abstracts International. Copies of the dissertations can be obtained through your college’s library or by addressing your request to ProQuest, 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346. Telephone 800-521-3042, email: disspub@umi.com. As always, works included in this list are for informational purposes only and do not imply an endorsement of their contents.

• “U.S. Korean Youth’s Ideas and Experience of U.S. Education, U.S. Society, and U.S. History”
  An, Sohyun (University of Wisconsin – Madison)
• “Sharuk and Shylock: The Creation of a South Asian American Aesthetic”
  Bose, Neilesh (University of North Texas)
• “East Asian American Educational Pursuits: Examining Effects of Racial Barriers and Cultural Factors for College Students”
  Chen, Yung-Lung (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee)
• “Episodes in the Life of a Place: Regional Racial Formation in Los Angeles’s San Gabriel Valley”
  Cheng, Wendy Hsin (University of Southern California)
• “The Experiences of Marriage and Family Therapists of Asian Descent and Their Perception of the Practice and Profession”
  Chou, Liang-Ying (Syracuse University)
• “A Study of Success Characteristics of East Asian American Executives in Corporate America”
  Coleman, BaoKim N. (Pepperdine University)
• “‘Funny Asians’: Comedy and Humor in Asian American Literature, Film, and Popular Culture”
  Hong, Caroline Kyung (University of California, Santa Barbara)
• “Identity Integration and Intergroup Bias in the Communication Behavior of Asian Americans”
  Hsu, Ling-Hui (University of Texas at Austin)
• “South Asian American Youth Negotiate Ethnic Identities, Discrimination, and Social Class”
  John, Jaicy M. (City University of New York)
• “Contextual Factors and Interest-Occupation Congruence in South Asian Americans’ Vocational Development”
  Kantamneni, Neeta (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee)
• “Cultural Influences on South Asian American Relationships”
  Kapadia, Malika (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
• “Socialization and Agency of Asian American Doctoral Students in Education: A Grounded Theory Study”
  Kim, Jessica K. (University of Pennsylvania)
• “Understanding How Identity Supportive Games Can Impact Ethnic Minority Possible Selves and Learning: A Design-Based Research Study”
  Lee, Joey J. (Pennsylvania State University)
• “The Career Adjustment of Asian American Males: Perceptions and Reflections of a Glass Ceiling in Corporate Finance”
  Li-Liang, Robin (Fordham University)
• “Gender, Heterosexuality, Sexual Violence and Identity Among Heavy-Drinking White and Asian American College Students”
  Luke, Katherine Pavelka (University of Michigan)
• “Development of the Preliminary East Asian Relationship Norm Scale: Factor Analysis, Reliability, and Validity”
  Park, Yong Sue (University of California, Santa Barbara)
• “Parental Influences on Friendships of Low-Income Ethnically Diverse Adolescents: A Longitudinal Analysis of Adolescent Perspectives”
  Mukherjee, Preetika (New York University)
• “Opinion Leadership for Ethnic Products Among Asians, Hispanics, and African Americans”
  Richard, Levi (Alliant International University, San Diego)
• “The Immigration Generation: Nativity and the Political Socialization of Filipino and Vietnamese Americans”
  Segui, Alan Serrano (University of California, Santa Barbara)
• “Help-Seeking Values and Attitudes of Indian-Born and American-Born Asian Indians in the United States”
  Shah, Sejal M. (California Institute of Integral Studies)
• “Cultural Influences on Relationships and Well-Being: An Exploratory Study with South Asian American Adults”
  Sobhan, Sabera (University of Houston)
• “Challenges and Privileges, Entanglement and Appropriation: Rhetorical Practices of Asian Americans from Hawai’i”
  Tasaka, Robyn (Michigan State University)
• “Beyond the Railroad People: Race and the Color of History in Chinese America”
  Thompson, Wendy Marie (University of Maryland, College Park)
• “Like White on Rice: Asianness, Whiteness, and Identity”
  Wong Lowe, Anna (University of Oklahoma)
• “Grandparent Perspectives on Raising Their Grandchildren: Protection, Obligation, and Sense of Loss”
  Wooten Thomas, Clara (La Sierra University)
• “An Exploration of Multidimensional Perfectionism, Academic Self-Efficacy, Procrastination Frequency, and Asian American Cultural Values in Asian American University Students”
  Yao, Melissa P. (Ohio State University)
• “East Asian-American College Students’ Attitudes about and Interactions with African Americans”
  Yee, Nicole S. (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

The following are announcements about jobs for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes only and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.

Job Opportunity: Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies, The Claremont Colleges

The Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies at the Claremont Colleges and the Asian American Studies field group at Pitzer College invite applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Asian American Studies, to begin 1 July 2011.

The successful candidate should, by the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester, have a Ph.D. in ethnic studies, American Studies, or other disciplines or interdisciplinary studies appropriate to this subject. Candidates should have the ability to teach a community-based learning course and Asian American History. The department has identified a need for research and teaching expertise in Filipino, Muslim, Pacific Islander, South Asian, or Southeast Asian communities. We especially encourage candidates whose work takes place within frameworks of transnationalism and globalization.

Pitzer College, a member of the Claremont Colleges, has a strong institutional commitment to the principles of diversity in all areas and strongly encourages candidates from underrepresented social groups. We favor candidates who can contribute to the College’s distinctive educational objectives, which promote interdisciplinary perspectives, intercultural understanding, and concern with social responsibility and the ethical implications of knowledge and action. Pitzer College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. For the successful applicant with the relevant interests, affiliations are possible with the intercollegiate departments of Africana Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, and/or Women’s Studies.

To apply, send letter of application, curriculum vitae, selected evidence of excellence in teaching and research, statement of teaching philosophy, statement on social responsibility, a statement of research, and three letters of recommendation (at least one (1) of which addresses your teaching effectiveness) via email to “idaas_search@pitzer.edu.” Electronic documents should be sent in PDF format. Applications will be considered beginning September 17, 2010, until the position is filled.

Assistant Professor in Sociology, Univ. of Hawai’i West O’ahu

This position is responsible for teaching sociology courses in the Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences program. The teaching assignment is three courses per semester, including day, evening, and distance education courses. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to teaching a variety of sociology courses in areas consistent with personal interests and program needs. The successful candidate is also expected to engage in scholarly research and publication, committee service, student academic advising, and to participate in faculty governance.

Minimum qualifications: PhD from an accredited college or university in Sociology. (ABD candidates are eligible to apply, but must complete all degree requirements prior to the appointment.) Candidates must have a broad knowledge of sociology and a commitment to teaching excellence.

Desirable qualifications: Areas of specialization are open, but preference will be given to applicants prepared to teach at least two of the following: introductory sociology, social stratification, sociology of aging, medical sociology, sociological theory, writing-intensive courses, and demonstrated ability to teach using distance education technology.

To apply: Send a letter of application, curriculum vita, copies of transcripts (originals required at time of hire) and the names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of at least three professional references. All items become the property of the University of Hawai’i – West O’ahu. Application materials may also be e-mailed as an MS Word file attachment to delucchi@hawaii.edu. Closing date: Continuous – application review begins October 15, 2010.

Address:
University of Hawaii – West Oahu
Sociology Search Committee
96-129 Ala Ike
Pearl City, HI 96782

Inquiries: Dr. Michael Delucchi (phone: 808-454-4718, email: delucchi@hawaii.edu)

Lecturer in Asian American Studies, Univ. of California, Irvine

The Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California Irvine invites applications for a part-time Non Senate Faculty position with primary responsibility in teaching an upper division interdisciplinary course in Asian American Studies for 2010-11. Minimum base salary per course is $5579. The appointment dates would be as follows: Winter Quarter 2011 1/01/11-03/31/11 or Spring Quarter 2011 4/1/11 to 6/30/11.

We are looking for applicants who can teach the “Vietnamese American Experience” course.

Applicants with a Ph.D. preferred. Applicants who are ABD or have a M.A.; M.F.A. or equivalent will be considered. UC graduate students must have filed their dissertation or have a degree in hand by mid- December 2011 to be eligible to teach in Winter Quarter 2011 and by mid-March 2011 to be eligible to teach in Spring Quarter 2011.

Send materials via e-mail attachment to Jim Lee at jkl@uci.edu, followed by a hard copy of your application materials:

Cover letter

• Curriculum vitae
• Teaching evaluation summaries (no raw data needed)
• Two letters of recommendations sent directly from the recommender
• Complete sample syllabus of the course you are proposing
• Indicate quarters available (Winter/Spring)

Applications will be accepted until positions are filled. However, to ensure fullest consideration, all applications materials should be submitted by August 31, 2010 to:

Jim Lee, Chair
Department of Asian American Studies
3000 Humanities Gateway
University of California Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-6900

Program Coordinators of Multicultural Affairs, Duke Univ.

The Duke Center for Multicultural Affairs has launched a search for two Program Coordinator positions for our office. Each Program Coordinator will be expected to be knowledgeable of the histories, cultural and developmental issues of Native American, African American, Latino-American, South Asian American, East Asian American and South East Asian American ethnic communities.

In addition the Program Coordinator will be expected to provide a comprehensive program of services in the areas of community engagement, multicultural education and leadership development to empower students and their organizations to create an inclusive multicultural student community. This individual will also offer student club/organization advising, design experiential training in diversity education and multicultural competency to prepare students to participate in a complex global community.

Interested applicants should apply online through the Duke Human Resources website and find job requisition # 400413331. Please also find the position description below.

Specific Duties:
Program Development

• Develop and implement programs that support academic persistence
• Create and implement programs that promote skill development in diversity education and multicultural competency
• Design programs that enhance knowledge and understanding of principles of social justice, activism and advocacy
• Deliver educational presentations and other co-curricular programming such as informal and formal discussions in and outside of the classroom, house courses, film series, etc. on the issues pertaining to multicultural competency and social justice education
• Evaluate and assess programmatic effectiveness through regular qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis such as focus groups, pre- and post-surveys, benchmark tracking, or other performance or outcome data

Student and Student Organization Advising

• Hire, train and supervise undergraduate, graduate and professional student staff, interns and volunteers who work in the CMA
• Advise multicultural student clubs and organizations
• Develop a leadership curriculum that prepares students to lead their multicultural student organizations
• Promote student group cross-cultural communication, inter/intra-group interaction and program collaboration

Administration

• Complete all administrative duties including but not limited to financial paperwork in accordance with University policy and reports as assigned by the Assistant Director
• Participate on the Campus Life Program Coordinator Group
• Develop and maintain relationships with campus, community and alumni organizations that support the mission of the Center for Multicultural Affairs
• Attend appropriate department, Division, and University meetings that support the goals of the Center for Multicultural Affairs
• Participate in the design and implementation of short and long-term strategic planning and annual budgeting for the Center for Multicultural Affairs

General Qualifications:
Minimum educational requirement: Master’s Degree in relevant field. Strongly prefer 2-3 years experience as multicultural educator in a higher education setting.

Specific Skills and Competencies:
Position requires knowledge and understanding of American ethnic student communities in higher educational settings and ability to work with a diverse group of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members. Candidate must have excellent written, verbal and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to work in a team environment. Outstanding organizational skills with ability to handle multiple projects/priorities and meet deadlines are required.

Policy Analyst, Citizenship & Immigration Services, Dept. of Homeland Security

Position: Policy Analyst (Research & Evaluation Division)
Department: Department Of Homeland Security
Agency: Citizenship and Immigration Services
Job Announcement Number: CIS-PJN-359063-OPP
Salary Range: $89,033.00 – $136,771.00 /year
Open Period: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 to Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Series & Grade: GS-0301-13/14
Position Information: Full Time Career/Career Conditional
Promotion Potential: 14
Duty Location: Washington DC
Who May Be Considered: United States Citizens

Job Summary: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services secures America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration.

General Responsibilities of Policy Analysts:

• Analyze, develop and review a variety of technical reports
• Draft and review proposed legislation
• Ensure effective coordination and integration of recommended policy

You will provide expert advice, analysis, and services on complex and sensitive issues related to the agency’s immigration policies and programs. Your duties will include the following:

• Developing and managing quantitative and qualitative studies related to various immigration programs, policies, and petition types.
• Analyzing, developing and reviewing a variety of technical reports and assessment instruments for use within the Agency.
• Conducting and leading comprehensive studies on new and proposed policy initiatives, providing balanced information and analyses of the issues.
• Preparing written analyses based on quantitative or qualitative findings of immigration program/policy studies.
• Isolating and defining Agency conditions; developing study approaches, methods, techniques and hypotheses. Conducting and managing projects that may impact existing Agency processes, practices, or policy.
• Identifying and evaluating the advantages and disadvantages, risks and benefits, or strengths and weaknesses of particular policy proposals.
• Assessing the political and institutional environment in which decisions are made and implemented.
• Ensuring effective coordination and integration of study findings in support of recommended policy changes or agency strategic plans.
• Reviewing proposed legislation and drafting research reports and policy papers on research needs and study findings.
• Representing the agency in dealings with interested groups and organizations regarding sponsored research and evaluations.
• Participating with top agency officials and stakeholders in meetings, conferences, and symposia.

Sociology Professor, College of William and Mary

The College of William & Mary invites applicants for a tenure-eligible position to begin August 2011. Ph.D. in sociology or related field required. We seek a candidate with research and teaching expertise in the fields of race, ethnicity, or immigration studies. The successful candidate will assist in strengthening the department’s links with other programs in the College such as Africana Studies (including Black Studies) or Latin American/Latino Studies. Candidates with a comparative or international focus are encouraged to apply.

Application materials must be submitted electronically at the College’s online site at https://jobs.wm.edu. The following items are required, preferably in a PDF format: a curriculum vitae, a cover letter describing the candidate’s scholarship, teaching, and how these would enhance campus diversity, and three letters of reference (Applicants should submit the email addresses of recommenders via the online system). Review will begin October 1, 2010 and will continue until the position is filled.

The following is guest post by Louise Baker, a freelance author and journalist. Her post is a brief profile of Five Asian Americans Who Changed the World. Feel free to nominate other possible famous Asian Americans who changed the world in the comments section.

1. Bruce Lee: One of the most famous martial artists of all time, and one of the most influential pop culture figures of the twentieth century. An athlete, actor, and philosopher, Lee’s exceptional talent and pan-racial appeal helped him to break many color barriers for protagonists in American cinema. During his lifetime, Lee’s name became synonymous with Asiatic martial arts, and remains so to this day, nearly forty years after his death. Lee’s enduring legacy and cross-cultural personal appeal place him in a rarified pantheon of iconic American actors of ageless popularity.

2. Jerry Yang: Co-founded Yahoo!, one of the first popular search engines of the internet era. Debuting in the mid-1990′s, Yahoo! offers both experienced and novice web users a way to search for entertainment and information, and did double duty in its early days as a web directory for a variety of topics. One of the architects of the internet as we know it today, Yang’s massive contribution to the world began as a side project with his friend, David Filo, while both were pursuing doctoral degrees at Stanford University. Today, Yahoo! remains one of the most popular sites and networks on the web.

3. Tiger Woods: One of the best golfers of all time, and one of the first minorities to achieve superstardom in that sport, Woods’s youth, charisma, and star appeal brought an element of glamour to his profession that had previously been absent. Having shattered the stereotypes of the typical professional golfer in both age and race, Woods has singlehandedly made his sport of choice seem far more accessible, more inclusive, and more glamorous to the general public than ever before. The global influence of Woods on golf can be seen in the popular champion’s vast number of endorsement deals.

4. Steven Chu: A Nobel Prize winning physicist, who won the aforementioned award as the result of his groundbreaking work in laser cooling technologies, Chu is the current Secretary of Energy of the United States. Chu’s current focus as Energy Secretary is largely on the development of alternative fuel technologies, with particular attention to the possibilities of a “glucose economy,” wherein the various byproducts of sugar might be cultivated and used as fuel on a scale large enough to power the modern world. Chu’s vision, precision, and commitment to excellence might just set the tone for new technologies to come.

5. I.M. Pei: Considered one of the masters of modern architecture, Pei is responsible for designing such iconic buildings as the Bank of China building in Hong Kong, the Louvre Pyramid, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and Boston’s Hancock Tower. With his work firmly ensconced as part of the backdrop for many world-class cities, Pei’s work has been an unmistakably powerful influence on art and architecture around the globe.

Louise Baker is a freelance author and journalist. She currently writes about online degrees for Zen College Life, where she most recently ranked the top online colleges.

My family and I recently got back from our three week vacation to see family, friends, and sites in California. Our original plans actually involved camping out at the Grand Canyon and driving through Arizona but after the state passed their law to crack down on unauthorized immigrants through racial profiling, we joined the boycott and changed our plans to drive through California instead.

In chronological order, we were in Orange County (OC), Deer Park Monastery in Escondido (just north of San Diego), then back to OC for a couple of days, then up Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) to San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay for a night, then continuing up Highway 1 into San Francisco and Berkeley for a few days, then over to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks for a couple of days, then finally back to OC. While it was a pretty packed schedule, we had a lot of fun cruising around the state in our rented PT Cruiser convertible. I posted a short photo album of our trip at my Facebook page (thanks to reader Kevin for the tip on making the album viewable by everyone).

It was during this time last year that I posted about a couple of incidents at the annual Family Retreat at Deer Park Monastery that illustrated some curious racial/ethnic differences that still exist in an otherwise progressive and peaceful social environment. As you can see by the comments at the end of that post, my observations generated a fair amount of controversy and discord.

This time around, I would like to share some more observations about racial/ethnic issues that I encountered while on vacation, but this time describe how they illustrate a different set of interactions — harmony and a sense of cross-racial and cross-national community.

Specifically, it was during our visit to Yosemite National Park (picture of El Capitan above, taken by my daughter). We only had about 24 to spend at the park so in order to see as many of the most famous sites as possible in a relatively short amount of time, we decided to drive to the Yosemite Valley area and take their free shuttle around to different stops. At the stop nearest to Half Dome, we got out and walked up the trail a little bit to get a closer look, then walked back and got back on board the next arriving shuttle.

Once on board the shuttle, a conversation ensued regarding a pine cone — a young Japanese man was holding a large pine cone and a young German couple next to him asked him where he got it. He replied that he found it on his hike up Half Dome. Then an Asian Indian family close by remarked on how cool it looked and asked to take his picture with it. My Asian American wife also commented on how big the pine cone was and then a White American next to us chimed in by pointing out other areas of the park where people might find similar pine cones.

This relatively short interaction encapsulates and symbolizes that there are still plenty of wonderful and beautiful things about the U.S. that we can all enjoy and celebrate together as a community. That is, while there are still plenty of differences across numerous forms of identity that can potentially divide us, there are also many points in which we have in common, in this case, the natural beauty of Yosemite National Park.

As sociologists point out, these physical landmarks and social institutions can serve as a very strong kind of “social glue” to bind people from different backgrounds together across shared interests and values and in the process, start to bridge the social gaps and promote more solidarity between different groups. Other examples of common institutions can include religion, arts and entertainment, education, sports, food and cuisine, tourist attractions, etc.

While social divisions will continue to exist, there are many more things here in the U.S. and beyond that can potentially unite us as Americans and as citizens of the world. Far from being a contradiction, using common interests and institutions can actually help us assert equality and justice for everyone. Indeed, something as simple as a pine cone can also be a very powerful symbol of unity.

Here are some more announcements and links out that have come my way relating to Asians, Asian Americans, or racial/ethnic minorities in general. As always, links to other sites are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of their contents.

Teaching Fellowships in China

The Overseas Young Chinese Forum (“OYCF”), a non-profit organization based in the United States, is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for its Teaching Fellowships, which sponsor short term teaching trips by overseas scholars or professionals (Chinese or non-Chinese) to universities or other comparable advanced educational institutions in China. The subjects of teaching include all fields of humanities and social sciences, such as anthropology, art, communication, economics, education, geography, law, literatures, philosophy, political science, sociology, etc.

OYCF will grant 15 fellowship awards to support short term teaching trips during the Academic Year of 2010-11, including five (5) OYCF-Ford fellowships in the amount of $2,500 each and ten (10) OYCF-Gregory C. and Paula K. Chow fellowships in the amount of $2,000 each. The application deadline is August 15, 2010. Awards will be announced on September 15, 2010. More information can be found at: http://www2.asanet.org/sectionasia/jobs.html

Fighting Anti-Asian School Violence: The Philadelphia Story

Date: Saturday, July 24
Time: 3-5 PM
Location: Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
Community Room 38 Ash St. Boston Chinatown

Featuring:

• Helen Gym, Asian Americans United
• Cecilia Chen, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Students from South Philadelphia High School

On December 3rd, some students at South Philadelphia High School attacked other students, two dozen Asian American youth, while school personnel looked on. The Asian American students, supported by community members and others, have organized, marched and met with an unresponsive school administration. A civil rights suit is being pursued.

What happened? How did the students and community build an effective coalition, what is the legal case and situation, did anti-immigrant sentiment played any role, and are Asian American students facing similar issues locally? What can we do? We hope to discuss these and other questions with principals in Philadelphia and local activists.

Sponsors: Asian/Pacific Islander Movement, Institute for Asian American Studies at University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, A-WAY Youth Collaborative, Massachusetts Asian American Resource Workshop, Asian American Educators Association.

Asian MBA Leadership Conference

It is our great pleasure to invite the professional community to participate at the 2nd Asian MBA Leadership Conference and Career Expo (AMBA) which will be held from August 26th to 28th, 2010 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.

In 2009 we made history with the launch of this groundbreaking event. Over 2,500 present and emerging leaders from the pan-Asian community came together to rise to new heights and to overcome barriers faced in the corporate world. AMBA, through its inaugural event, was the spring board for many new careers and helped to propel numerous more to greater horizons.

Over the course of two and a half days, Asian American MBAs, professionals and executives will be a part of the largest professional development, recruiting and networking event ever staged for the community. AMBA’s Leadership Conference will comprise of a comprehensive forum of events including presentations from acclaimed keynote speakers, expert panel discussions, workshops, networking sessions, the AMBA Global Diversity Forum and Asian Affinity Group Leaders Summit and the prestigious Gala Awards Leadership Dinner. AMBA’s career expo offers an unparalleled opportunity for leading companies to connect with the nation’s best Asian American talent.

Call for Papers: Asian American Mixed Race Literature

Call for Papers — Asian American Literature: Discourses and Pedagogies (AALDP), Special Issue on Mixed Heritage Asian American Literature

Special Issue Guest Editor, Wei Ming Dariotis. War babies, love children, tragic half-breeds, cosmopolitan saviors — how are mixed heritage Asian Americans imagined in Asian American literature, drama, and film? How are they represented in literature by people who are not Mixed Heritage Asian Americans? How are mixed heritage Asian Americans imagining and expressing themselves?

This special issue invites scholars and writers to explore how one might teach such narratives and texts in various academic contexts. While traditional pedagogical lenses are appropriate, we especially encourage Critical Mixed Race Studies approaches to analyzing mixed heritage Asian American literature.

Additionally, some themes to consider might include:

• Mixed heritage Asian American characters in literature by authors of heritage other than Asian American
• Mixed heritage Asian American characters in science fiction and fantasy, or other “genre” literature
• Mixed heritage Asian American children’s literature
• Queer themes in mixed heritage Asian American literature
• Asian American transracial adoptees
• Transnational mixed heritage Asian American identities
• Multigenerational mixed heritage Asian Americans
• Multiple-minority mixed heritage Asian Americans

Song lyrics, spoken word, and other non-traditional forms exploring mixed heritage identity would also be welcome (e.g. Colin “Senbei” Ehara’s “Paper Bullets”). All articles must be between 2,000-7,000 words. Please follow the most current MLA format. Book reviews on related texts are also welcome. Book reviews must be under 1,000 words. Please follow the most current MLA format.

Please address all inquiries for this Special Issue to Dr. Wei Ming Dariotis at wmdariotis@yahoo.com. Full final articles must be submitted by July 1, 2011.

Call for Submissions: Asian American ‘Art Slam’

Hi, I am part of a not-for-profit organization called Asian American Art Centre at NYC. For the past several years, the Asian American Arts Centre has held a series of slide slams, allowing new, young, or emerging artists the opportunity to present and talk about their work, meet and network with each other as well as with more established artists and critics/curators.

Last year, the Centre hosted three slide slams, showcasing the work of fifteen artists working in various media. This august we are planning to host two art slams. We need your help to spread the word. Can you publish this artist opportunity at your website or post our website as a link? Thanks…Here is the description for the call.

ArtSlam is an opportunity for artists to share their work with peers, general audience and art professionals in an open forum for critical exchange. This presentation can be done in slides or digital format. We are inviting all artists of Asian and Asian-American descent as well as those who have been significantly influenced by Asia to submit their work for participation.

If you are interested in participating, please send us:

• 6-10 images of your work (CD with images in jpg. format, slides or photographs are fine)
• 1 page artist statement
• Abbreviated artist statement (2-3 lines) for the program
• Artist resume
• Completed information form

Send all submission materials to:
Email: aaacinfo@artspiral.org

Or mail to: Asian American Arts Centre
111 Norfolk St., Ground Flr.
New York, NY 10002
ATTN: ArtSlam 2010

You might be interested to read the following posts from July of years past:

• 2009: Reflections on a Multiracial Buddhist Retreat
  One of my most controversial posts — In an otherwise refreshing and renewing multiracial Buddhist family retreat, two incidents with racial overtones highlight unconscious racial dynamics still present in American society.
• 2008: The New Yorker’s Obama Cover
  The New Yorker’s controversial cartoon cover of Barack and Michelle Obama as terrorists brings up a range of reactions from conservatives and liberals.
• 2007: Allowing Non-Citizens to Vote
  Should immigrants who haven’t become citizens yet be allowed to vote in elections?
• 2006: “Cute Culture” in Japan
  Looking at the rising popularity of “cute culture’s” effect on Japan’s mentality toward outsiders.
• 2005: Native Hawaiian Sovereignty
  Looking at the contentious debate about whether to grant Native Hawaiians sovereignty rights.
• 2004: Jumping the Gun
  Racial paranoia fed by terrorist fears leads to a sad case of racial profiling.

As part of this blog’s mission of making academic research and data more easily accessible, understandable, and applicable to a wider audience and to practical, everyday social issues, I highlight new sociological books about Asian Americans and other racial/ethnic groups as I hear about them. A book’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its contents.

It’s been kind of a quiet start of the summer in terms of pressing issues or current events related to race/ethnicity, so perhaps it’s useful to take a step back and look at the general state of race/ethnicity in contemporary American society.

Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America, by Rich Benjamin (Hyperion Press)

Between 2007 and 2009, Rich Benjamin, a journalist-adventurer, packed his bags and embarked on a 26,909-mile journey throughout the heart of white America, to some of the fastest-growing and whitest locales in our nation.

By 2042, whites will no longer be the American majority. As immigrant populations–largely people of color–increase in cities and suburbs, more and more whites are moving to small towns and exurban areas that are predominately, even extremely, white. Rich Benjamin calls these enclaves “Whitopias” (pronounced: “White-o-pias”).

His journey to unlock the mysteries of Whitopias took him from a three-day white separatist retreat with links to Aryan Nations in North Idaho to the inner sanctum of George W. Bush’s White House–and many points in between. And to learn what makes Whitopias tick, and why and how they are growing, he lived in three of them (in Georgia, Idaho, and Utah) for several months apiece. A compelling raconteur, bon vivant, and scholar, Benjamin reveals what Whitopias are like and explores the urgent social and political implications of this startling phenomenon.

The glow of Barack Obama’s historic election cannot obscure the racial and economic segregation still vexing America. Obama’s presidency has actually raised the stakes in a battle royale between two versions of America: one that is broadly comfortable with diversity yet residentially segregated (ObamaNation) and one that does not mind a little ethnic food or a few mariachi dancers–as long as these trends do not overwhelm a white dominant culture.

Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity, by Tim Wise (City Lights Publishers)

In this powerful follow-up to Between Barack and a Hard Place, Tim Wise argues against “colorblindness” and for a deeper color-consciousness in both public and private practice. We can only begin to move toward authentic social and economic equity through what Wise calls “illuminated individualism”—acknowledging the diverse identities that have shaped our perceptions, and the role that race continues to play in the maintenance of disparities between whites and people of color in the United States today. This is the first book to discuss the pitfalls of “colorblindness” in the Obama era.

Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America’s Future, by Angela Glover Blackwell, Stewart Kwoh, and Manuel Pastor (W.W. Norton & Co.)

With a mixed-race president, a Latino population that is now the largest minority, and steadily growing Asian and Pacific Islander populations, race is both the most dynamic facet of American identity and the defining point of American disunity.

By broadening the racial dialogue, Blackwell, founder of PolicyLink; Kwoh, president of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center; and Pastor, professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at USC, bring new perspective to this essential American issue.

Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century, edited by Hazel Rose Markus and Paula M. L. Moya (W.W. Norton & Co.)

Doing Race focuses on race and ethnicity in everyday life: what they are, how they work, and why they matter. Going to school and work, renting an apartment or buying a house, watching television, voting, listening to music, reading books and newspapers, attending religious services, and going to the doctor are all everyday activities that are influenced by assumptions about who counts, whom to trust, whom to care about, whom to include, and why. Race and ethnicity are powerful precisely because they organize modern society and play a large role in fueling violence around the globe.

Drawing on the latest science and scholarship, the collected essays emphasize that race and ethnicity are not things that people or groups have or are, but rather sets of actions that people do. Doing Race provides compelling evidence that we are not yet in a “post-race” world and that race and ethnicity matter for everyone. Since race and ethnicity are the products of human actions, we can do them differently. Like studying the human genome or the laws of economics, understanding race and ethnicity is a necessary part of a twenty first century education.

Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation, by Molefi Kete Asante (Prometheus Books)

Did the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States signal real progress in bridging America’s long-standing racial divide? In this profound study of systemic racism, Molefi Kete Asante, a leading scholar of African American history and culture, discusses the greatest source of frustration and anger among African Americans in recent decades: what he calls “the wall of ignorance” that attempts to hide the long history of racial injustice from public consciousness.

This is most evident in each race’s differing perspectives on racial matters. Though most whites view racism as a thing of the past, a social problem largely solved by the civil rights movement, blacks continue to experience racism in many areas of social life: encounters with the police; the practice of redlining in housing; difficulties in getting bank loans, mortgages, and insurance policies; and glaring disparities in health care, educational opportunities, unemployment levels, and incarceration rates.

Though such problems are not expressions of the overt racism of legal segregation and lynch mobs – what most whites probably think of when they hear the word ‘racism’ – their negative effect on black Americans is almost as pernicious. Such daily experiences create a lingering feeling of resentment that percolates in a slow boil till some event triggers an outburst of rage. Asante argues that America cannot long continue as a cohesive society under these conditions.

As we embark upon new leadership under America’s first African American president, he urges more public focus on redressing the wrongs of the past and their continuing legacy. Above all, he thinks that Americans must seriously consider some system of reparations to deal with both past and present injustices, an apology, and our own truth-and-reconciliation committee that addresses both the history of slavery and present-day racism. Only in this way, he feels, can we ever hope to heal the racial divide that never seems to be erased.

Here are some more announcements and links out that have come my way relating to Asians, Asian Americans, or racial/ethnic minorities in general. As always, links to other sites are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of their contents.

Job Opportunity: Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies, The Claremont Colleges

The Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies at the Claremont Colleges and the Asian American Studies field group at Pitzer College invite applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Asian American Studies, to begin 1 July 2011.

The successful candidate should, by the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester, have a Ph.D. in ethnic studies, American Studies, or other disciplines or interdisciplinary studies appropriate to this subject. Candidates should have the ability to teach a community-based learning course and Asian American History. The department has identified a need for research and teaching expertise in Filipino, Muslim, Pacific Islander, South Asian, or Southeast Asian communities. We especially encourage candidates whose work takes place within frameworks of transnationalism and globalization.

Pitzer College, a member of the Claremont Colleges, has a strong institutional commitment to the principles of diversity in all areas and strongly encourages candidates from underrepresented social groups. We favor candidates who can contribute to the College’s distinctive educational objectives, which promote interdisciplinary perspectives, intercultural understanding, and concern with social responsibility and the ethical implications of knowledge and action. Pitzer College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. For the successful applicant with the relevant interests, affiliations are possible with the intercollegiate departments of Africana Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, and/or Women’s Studies.

To apply, send letter of application, curriculum vitae, selected evidence of excellence in teaching and research, statement of teaching philosophy, statement on social responsibility, a statement of research, and three letters of recommendation (at least one (1) of which addresses your teaching effectiveness) VIA EMAIL to “idaas_search@pitzer.edu.” Electronic documents should be sent in PDF format. Applications will be considered beginning September 17, 2010, until the position is filled.

Job Opportunity: Asian & Pacific Islander Student Center Coordinator

Recruitment No. 50320, Classification Title: Student Services Professional III

The Office of Student Life and Cultural Centers exist to support student development, cultural enhancement, social justice and academic excellence. Basic services provided by the department include: campus scheduling, student activities, cultural programming, leadership and diversity training, club and organization advising, campus policy, crisis intervention, and a variety of other services related to campus life at Cal Poly Pomona.

Under the general direction of the Director of the Office of Student Life & Cultural Centers, the Coordinator will be responsible for implementing student support programs for the Asian & Pacific Islander (API) community; developing and implementing outreach and retention programs; coordinating campus-wide academic and educational programs for the student community at Cal Poly Pomona; assisting in leadership programs offered by the department; selecting and training student assistants and volunteers; overseeing the day to day operations of the facility; and reaching out to the local community.

Duties will include: oversee program advising to API student organizations; offer leadership development programs; maintain knowledge of university policies/procedures as they relate to campus organizations and the use of facilities; interpret regulations to student groups and assist students in their program design, planning and implementation; maintain knowledge of Associated Students Incorporated (ASI) policies/procedures as they related to programs co-sponsored by ASI and student organizations registered with the API Student Center; act as liaison to student groups; oversee the annual programming budget; develop and implement various programs/services designed to address the needs of the API campus community and the mission of the API Student Center; advise and assist student committees with the coordination of programs such as Asia & The Pacific Islands Heritage Month and various end of year programs; provide direction in program advising regarding publicity, funding proposals, budget preparation, room reservations and program evaluations; develop and implement a Pan-Asian graduation celebration and other workshops/seminars; and perform other duties as assigned.

Three years of progressively responsible professional student services work experience AND equivalent to graduation from a four-year college in a related field plus upper division or graduate course work in counseling techniques, interviewing and conflict resolution. (A Master’s degree in Counseling, Clinical Psychology, Social Work or a job-related field may be substituted for one year of professional experience; a doctorate degree and the appropriate internship or clinical training in counseling, guidance or a job-related field may be substituted for three years of the required professional experience); the ability to plan, develop, coordinate, supervise and organize programs and activities; ability to interact with a diverse student population, faculty, staff and the public; excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Masters degree preferred. Experience in the program area and/or active work with API communities is desirable and the collaborative, demonstrated commitment to all issues of diversity.

Call for Papers: 2011 Association for Asian American Studies Conference

“Consuming Asian America”: 2011 Association for Asian American Studies Conference in New Orleans, May 18-21, 2011. Submissions due by Monday, November 1, 2010 [go to http://www.aaastudies.org/ to submit on-line]

The theme for the 2011 AAAS conference “Consuming Asian America” is inspired, in part, by the site of the conference itself—New Orleans, the city that measures the success of its Mardi Gras celebration by weighing the garbage collected the morning after and whose shopping and nightclub district for locals is called “Fat City.” We invite proposals to engage with all aspects of consumption, such as excess (after all, New Orlean’s tradition of Mardi Gras suggests an excess of consumption), labor material culture, technology, marketing, identity, assimilation, gender, popular culture, religion, music, or tourism.

The title “Consuming Asian America” has a double sense, referring both to the consumption performed by Asian Americans and the consumption of objects, people, and practices that are marked as Asian American. We are interested in the material practices, actions, and cultures of different versions of the consumer, such as eating, buying, viewing, as well as the larger metaphor of consumption.

For example, proposals might examine the material reality of food and its cultivation, production, labor, and marketing: agribusiness, the restaurant industry, our current fascination with television food shows or “authentic” ethnic eating. Others might examine consumption, purchasing, and power by examining chains of production, from the unseen labor of overseas and domestic Asian workers to how the advertising of various products specifically employs or ignores Asian and Asian American bodies.

This topic also encompasses the widespread consumption of goods and services identified as Asian or Asian American. These might include religious iconography, such as Mehndi and the Buddha, artistic traditions such as haiku, martial arts, or manga), or language and writing, such as Chinese writing in keychains, home decor, and body art. Consumption also can be thought of as a means of absorbing, reformulating, or challenging culture through various technologies: how images of Asians, from the yellow peril to the model minority have been circulated and consumed by a multi-racial America, and how one might control or resist the consumption of Asian America.

This is the first time AAAS will meet in New Orleans. Accordingly, we are interested in the ways in which New Orleans (and the Gulf Coast more broadly) has been the object of consumption post-Katrina, as well as the relative invisibility of Asian Americans in the public attention following the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. How might this conference steer us away from being unthinking consumers of New Orleans culture and instead engage us with the possibilities of critical activism?

Online Archive of Asian American Art

Dear Dr. Le,

I would like to introduce to you artasiamerica.org, an online archive of Asian American art. Here is a far-reaching tool for research as well as an invaluable educational resource for educators and students.

ArtAsiAmerica.org is the result of over twenty-five years of art exhibition programming by Asian American Arts Centre (AAAC) in the Asian community of Lower Manhattan. Working on behalf of this community’s cultural history, gradually gathering images and documents, a physical archive of over 1,500 artist entries has been preserved. Many of these artists are well known today.

Throughout the 60s and 70s, artists were found and exhibited at AAAC. Also, we have conducted very projects to reach back to the end of WWII; to learn more, check out artspiral.org/education, under Stories of Chinatown. Fascinating examples of the lives and art of modern artists can demonstrate to young people like no other, how ethnicity evolves and entwines itself into the American landscape.

This recently launched online archive, encapsulates and asserts a little known cultural presence in the United States. The history, meaning and content of the subject “Asian American Art” begins to take shape here with each artist contextualizing the other.

We hope that you will spread the word about AAAC’s digital archive! We need your support and the support of scholars, educators, researchers, and Asian American studies specialists to continue to grow the Archive, and make the story of a contemporary Asian creative presence widely known. Use this Archive and you will come to appreciate its originality and innovative character, where the artworks themselves are featured, vivid in all their detail. See why this visual resource is worthy of your time and interest. Please help us spread the word, and grow this aspect of American history.

Best regards,
Emily Matsuda
On behalf of Bob Lee, Eleanor Yung and the Staff of AAAC
Asian American Arts Centre
111 Norfolk St.
New York, NY 10002
o: 212.233.2154 f: 360.283.2154

I’ve been a little remiss in mentioning that this year marks the 35th anniversary of the end of the Viet Nam War and the start of the eventual exodus of several million Vietnamese out of Viet Nam since South Viet Nam’s capital of Saigon fell to the communists on April 30, 1975. Around this time 35 years ago, my family and I were temporarily living in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, one of the four major housing centers set up by the U.S. government to process and eventually resettle the first wave of Vietnamese refugees arriving from Viet Nam.

After living in Ft. Chaffee for a couple of months, we moved to Camp Pendleton, CA to take custody of my cousin who had been separated from her parents in the chaos of trying to leave Viet Nam (her parents never made it out) and she was eventually “adopted” into our family. From there, we were resettled into the Los Angeles area and began our lives as Vietnamese Americans.

For me and many Vietnamese Americans in general, this annual reflection on the end of the Viet Nam War is a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, this occasion is a time of sadness as many of us mourn the devastation of the war, how many of our friends, relatives, and family members suffered and even died as a result, and how we had to make the difficult choice to leave our homeland behind, perhaps forever.

On the other hand, this occasion is also a time of thankfulness as many of us reflect on being able to escape to the U.S. where we had the chance to begin a new, and in many ways a better life for ourselves and our successive generations. We reflect on our gratitude of living in a country where our material lives are undoubtedly better but just as important, where we have individual freedoms that our counterparts back in Viet Nam can only dream of.

As a reflection of the two sides of this anniversary of the fall of Saigon and end of the Viet Nam War, two sets of stories capture both the anguish and the elation of this occasion. The first two links present a visual montage of the chaos, suffering, and sadness of the war’s end (some of the photos are rather graphic and may not be suitable for children). The first photo collection is from the Boston Globe.

The second photo collection comes from the Denver Post.

Reflecting the other side of this occasion, two stories represent how Vietnamese Americans have built their lives in the U.S. in the decades since while at the same time while still keeping in touch with the legacy of the Viet Nam War. The first article is by Andrew Lam and he profiles “Viet Kieu” (overseas Vietnamese) who have returned to the land they left and how they’re helping rebuild the country:

Nguyen Qui Duc, a Vietnamese refugee who became an American radio host and the author of the memoir Where the Ashes Are, has found yet another incarnation in his mid-50s: Bar owner and art curator in Hanoi, Vietnam. Why would he come back to the country from which he once fled? “Home is where there’s a sense of connection, of family, of community,” he said after struggling to find a single answer. “And I found it here.”

Duc is one of nearly 500,000 Viet Kieu — Vietnamese living overseas — who return to Vietnam yearly, many only to visit relatives, but others increasingly to work, invest and retire. The majority of the people who return are from the United States, where the largest Vietnamese population overseas resides. Indeed, 35 years after the Vietnam War ended, the Vietnamese diaspora is now falling slowly, but surely, back into Vietnam’s orbit. . . .

Vietnamese overseas are playing an important role in Vietnam’s economic life. According to Vietnam’s Chamber of Commerce, in 2008, despite the slowdown in the world economy, Vietnam received overseas aid of more than $7.4 billion. The Vietnamese government said that the diaspora is reducing poverty and spurring economic development. Official development assistance pledged to Vietnam in 2008 by international donors was $5 billion; the overseas population contributed $2.4 billion more.

The second article from the Denton Record Chronicle (TX) highlights similar experiences of “coming home” from the perspective of Vietnamese orphans who fled their country decades ago and are now looking to reconnect in a very personal way:

Thirty-five years ago, Ho and Cope left South Vietnam with the entire Cam Ranh City Christian Orphanage, a war-forced evacuation that would bring them all, improbably, to Buckner Children’s Home in Dallas.

Last week, Thomas Ho and Ty Cope each made their first trip back to Vietnam as part of a reunion of the Cam Ranh/Buckner orphans. Now, suddenly, they were in an identity drama, trying to determine whether a Vietnamese man who had been in touch via the Internet really might be Cope’s dad. Ho talked to the man in Vietnamese for a moment, then pulled away to translate. “He said, ‘I’m very happy. My son! My son!’ ” . . .

Life can take momentous turns, and no one knows that better than the Cam Ranh/Buckner orphans, who were together again last week in their homeland. There were 69 originally, and two dozen came to the reunion, nearly all traveling thousands of miles from Dallas or elsewhere in the United States.

They’re middle-aged now, and middle-class. Most have college degrees, and their professions include architect, banker, computer programmer, nurse, teacher and social worker. They represent a spectrum of assimilation. Many of the younger children were adopted out of Buckner and soon lost their language. The older kids would stick it out, attending Skyline High and speaking Vietnamese among themselves. But they all retained – and still do – a deep bond. . . .

They’ve been having reunions every five years in Dallas, but at the last one, they committed to going back to Vietnam. They raised money, created a website, established an archive of photographs from the Cam Ranh and Buckner days, and ordered reunion T-shirts and ball caps with the slogan “Get Love, Share Love.” After all the planning, the reunion got under way Wednesday, with a big contingent boarding a bus in Ho Chi Minh City (still popularly known as Saigon) heading north toward Nha Trang and Cam Ranh.

Thirty-five years ago, they were orphans on the run, headed the other way.

These two sets of stories and image illustrate not just the sadness and joy that many Vietnamese Americans experience as the reflect on their lives both in Viet Nam and the U.S., but they also represent the “duality” and transnational nature of our identities as Vietnamese Americans. That is, it does not have to be a contradiction to assert our identities as both Vietnamese and as American. As particularly exemplified in the two articles about Vietnamese Americans returning to their land of birth, our two sets of experiences actually complement each other.

In other words, Vietnamese Americans have benefited greatly from the generous opportunities available to us here in the U.S. to rebuild our lives and to enjoy freedoms that we otherwise would not have back in Viet Nam. Despite the past and ongoing struggles, our successes as Vietnamese Americans reinforces the best of what the U.S. can be — the “land of opportunity” for millions of people around the world. It is with these experiences as Americans that we can put our knowledge, skills, and resources to good use back in Viet Nam and around the world.

At the same time, our Vietnamese heritage has also enriched American society in many ways — culturally, as we share our food, traditions, and experiences with our neighbors and economically, as our “Little Saigon” and “Versailles” communities have revitalized urban areas to the benefit of residents from all backgrounds.

As Americans from all backgrounds reflect on this 35th anniversary of the end of the Viet Nam War, I think it’s important to acknowledge what has been lost, but also the many things that all of us have gained in the years since as well.

Today’s new book announcement is a little different from previous ones. The book I would like to profile is entitled The Managed Hand: Race, Gender and the Body in Beauty Service Work and it takes an individual- and institutional-level look at the recent proliferation of Korean American-owned nail salons in New York City and the interactions inside them between the owners, workers, and customers across racial, social class, and immigrant identities. The book’s description:

Two women, virtual strangers, sit hand-in-hand across a narrow table, both intent on the same thing-achieving the perfect manicure. Encounters like this occur thousands of times across the United States in nail salons increasingly owned and operated by Asian immigrants. This study looks closely for the first time at these intimate encounters, focusing on New York City, where such nail salons have become ubiquitous. Drawing from rich and compelling interviews, Miliann Kang takes us inside the nail industry, asking such questions as: Why have nail salons become so popular? Why do so many Asian women, and Korean women in particular, provide these services?

Kang discovers multiple motivations for the manicure-from the pampering of white middle class women to the artistic self-expression of working class African American women to the mass consumption of body-related services. Contrary to notions of beauty service establishments as spaces for building community among women, The Managed Hand finds that while tentative and fragile solidarities can emerge across the manicure table, they generally give way to even more powerful divisions of race, class, and immigration.

The book is written by Miliann Kang, recently-promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in the Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. As it turns out, Miliann also happens to be my wife. On a personal level, I am extremely thrilled and proud of my wife and the hard work that she’s put into her life and her career and this excellence is particularly evident in her book and so it deserves to be profiled here.

But this is more than her proud husband going on and on about his wife — Miliann’s book is published by the University of California Press (widely considered the most prestigious academic press in the social sciences). Secondly, The Managed Hand recently received the Sara Whaley Book Prize from the National Women’s Studies Association. Finally, her book has been acclaimed by nationally-recognized scholars around the country as “a must read for women’s studies and sociology classes on labor, migration and gender,” “a significant contribution to the existing literature on Asian-American women, gender relations, service workers, beauty and the body,” an “innovative and compelling ethnography,” and finally, “a wonderful example of what sociology does best.”

I was also fortunate to land an exclusive interview with Miliann and asked her the following questions about her work and her book:

• What initially motivated you to start researching Korean-owned nail salons in New York City?

  I was a graduate student in Sociology at New York University and I was interested in doing research on Asian immigrant women and work, and nail salons happened to be one of the largest niches in which they were employed. I was also working with an Asian American community organization at the time and we started offering English language workplace literacy classes in one salon. I quickly realized what a rich and revealing research site these salons were for exploring the microinteractions of service exchanges between women of diverse backgrounds. In addition, by exploring both the processes inside and outside of these salons, I could contextualize them within large social shifts such as the emergence of new kinds of services, especially those involving commercialized work on the body, and the influx of new immigrants into filling these jobs.

• There’s been a lot of debate about the nature of Korean-Black relations in large cities such as NYC. What contributes to such tensions on both sides? Ultimately, are such tensions exaggerated by the media?
  

  I think the media has at times misrepresented these tensions, framing them in racial terms rather than focusing on issues such as poverty, lack of jobs and cuts in government programs that have led to tensions in inner-city neighborhoods. At the same time, there is a history of tensions– including the Red Apple boycott in Brooklyn and the Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict – that has produced animosities between black communities and Korean small businesses. What struck me in the nail salons was that many of the very positive interactions between these groups go under the radar, as people for the most part negotiate smooth if not cordial relations despite language and cultural differences.

• Your book goes into a lot of detail about the intersections of gender, social class, race/ethnicity, and immigrant status among the workers and customers. In a nutshell, which of these forms of identity would you say is the most significant in the interactions inside these nail salons?

  Rather than trying to isolate forms of difference and their impacts, I was more interested in seeing how they operate simultaneously, and how they shift in different situations. So in upscale salons in mostly white, upper and middle class neighborhoods, I focused on how manicuring services mirrored racial and class privileges outside of the salons. In nail art salons servicing mostly black and Latino working class customers, the interactions revealed how minority groups negotiate hierarchies and differences among themselves. Discount nail salons serving a mixed racial and class clientele showed how women’s consumption of generic beauty services created a sense of equality, but also resulted in misunderstandings around rushed or botched exchanges.

• It seems that in most other cities around the country, nail salons are most disproportionately owned and staffed by Vietnamese women. Is this true and if so, why is it that Koreans predominate in NYC?

  This is a complicated question. The short answer is that immigrants tend to cluster in particular niches, and new immigrants follow their ethnic networks and end up in the same jobs. So in New York, Koreans went into the nail business because it required little capital or English language skills and at the time was not highly regulated. In other places like California and Texas, Vietnamese were the first to make inroads and they continued to dominate. The longer answer has to do with shifting patterns of service provision and consumption in the global economy and how Asian immigrant women fit into these.

  This is how I sum it up in the book: “The lifestyle that many urban residents take for granted in cities such as New York is only possible because of the influx of new immigrants and their willingness to work long, arduous hours for minimal pay in jobs that many native-born Americans view as beneath them. Furthermore, the availability and skills of immigrant women to fill these feminized jobs is also a crucial component. While immigrant women from specific ethnic groups are not the sole creators of these jobs or the terms under which they perform them, they contribute to job creation in these specialized niches by capitalizing on the limited choices available to them within the opportunity structure of the global service economy.”

• What’s your most significant or poignant memory when you were working, hanging out, and conducting research in these nail salons?

  What stands out for me are the many mundane, daily occurrences in these sites where people from all walks of life find themselves thrown together in intimate physical and emotional contact, and they somehow manage to figure things out. While in the book I focus on the inequalities and differences between customers and manicurists, I also hold onto a sense of awe and hope in people’s ability to connect as human beings through the simplest of acts, such as sharing stories about their kids or work, or just treating each other with dignity.

• If the Korean women in your study could tell your readers one thing about their work or their lives, what do you think it would be?

  I think it would be very similar to what most of us would say – that we work hard to contribute something to society and to support ourselves and our families, and that we want to be treated with respect for the work we do. This quote from one manicurist I think says it well:

  We have to get very close to the customers, like this (holding her hands together) so we try best to get along with them. If you don’t like someone and you have to do this – hold their hand and talk to them face to face – it can be very difficult. This is service work – so you know you have to act a certain way. Of course I don’t like doing the pedicures, having to kneel down, and the foot smell. But I just think of it as part of giving the service… I try very hard to ask them about their families and how they feel. It would be nice if once in a while they asked me, too.

  In other words, manicurists may not be particularly enthralled with their work, but they adjust and find meaning and purpose in it, and the relations that they have with their customers can either enhance or undermine their sense of worth in performing this work.

You might be interested to read the following posts from June of years past:

• 2009: The Model Minority Image: Balancing Praise and Caution
  Analyzing the model minority image and how Asian Americans can both celebrate hard work and accomplishment along with mindful reflection of the different dynamics of what success entails.
• 2008: Disneyland: A Metaphor for Fitting In
  A family outing to Disneyland highlights some of the issues that Asian Americans face when it comes to whether or not we’re part of the American mainstream.
• 2007: Survey of Young People in California
  A recent survey of young Californians highlight many similarities and a few interesting differences across racial groups.
• 2006: Best Companies for Asian Americans
  Research by Diversity Inc. magazine identifies the most Asian American-friendly companies in the U.S.
• 2005: 49ers Video Promotes Anti-Asian Stereotypes
  Analyzing the controversy over a comedy skit produced by the San Francisco 49ers football team that many Asian Americans have criticized as racist.
• 2004: Who’s the More Ignorant?
  Reactions to a racial slur from Bill Parcells highlights the historical and ongoing differences between being ‘Asian’ and ‘Asian American.’