UCLA Asian American Studies Department

Queer Dis/inheritance: Vietnamese Radical Activism on Intergenerational Trauma, Refugee Lineage, and Chosen Future
2021-11-01 09:30 - 10:45 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online via Zoom
Queer Dis/inheritance Talk with Professor Ly Thuy Nguyen
Date: Monday, November 1, 2021
Time: 9:30AM
Location: Online via Zoom
Zoom registration link: https://ucla.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUude2grDgsGt3-EgjCOcRHkP9ujAYB8M2e

Co-sponsored by UCLA Asian American Studies Department and UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Empire's Mistress: Gender, Sex and Imperial Intimacies by Vernadette Gonzalez
2021-10-18 16:00 - 17:15 | Online via Zoom
Vernadette Gonzalez is a Professor of American Studies and Director of the Honors Program at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She is the author of Empire’s Mistress, Starring Isabel Rosario Cooper (2021) and Securing Paradise: Tourism and Militarism in Hawai‘i and the Philippines (2013) and co-editor of Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai’i (2019).
Talk Abstract: How does attention to the intimate help us understand the gendered and sexualized dynamics of empire, and the ways in which they continue to shape how we tell our stories in the present? Empire’s Mistress pieces together the life story of Isabel Rosario Cooper, a mixed-race vaudeville and early cinema star in Manila who became infamous for her liaison with General Douglas MacArthur during the height of American colonialism in the Philippines. It tracks the mobilities and relationships generated by the United States’ desire for the Philippine archipelago—and the ways in which colonized subjects—particularly women—turned those to their own advantage. The scattered and ephemeral archive of “women like her” whose cosmopolitan itineraries ranged from Manila, to Washington, D.C., and Hollywood, outline a life lived on the edges of power but always at the center of imperial desire.
Register here.

Co-sponsored by the UCLA Asian American Studies Department and Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Fall 2021 Asian American Studies T.A. Orientation
2021-09-21 00:00 | Online via Zoom
Date: Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Time: TBD
Location: Online via Zoom

Fall 2021 Asian American Studies M.A. Orientation
2021-09-20 11:00 - 15:15 | Online via Zoom
Date: Monday, September 20, 2021
Time: 11:00AM – 3:15PM
Location: Online via Zoom

Asian American Studies Department Virtual Commencement 2021
2021-06-13 10:30 - 12:00 | Online via Zoom
Please join the Asian American Studies Department for this momentous event as we celebrate our graduating students of 2021, which will be taking place virtually via Zoom.
Date: Sunday, June 13, 2021
Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm (PDT)
Location: Virtual Event using Zoom

Troubling Borders Panel
2021-05-26 16:00 | CA

BOOK TALK: "We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration," by Frank Abe
2021-05-25 09:30 - 10:45 | Online via Zoom
Please join us for this book talk by Frank Abe where he will be discussing his book entitled, “We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration.” This will take place on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, from 9:30am – 10:45am via Zoom. Please register here.
Program moderator/host is Kelly N. Fong, Lecturer, ASIA AM 40: Asian American Movement. Co-sponsored by the George and Sakaye Aratani CARE Award, UCLA Asian American Studies Center, Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience.
For more information on his book, please click here.

Healing from Within: A Workshop on Radical Care and Abolition in the Midst of Anti-Asian Violence
2021-05-19 17:30 - 19:30 | CA
This workshop will focus on radical care in the midst of anti-Asian violence through tangible practices for self-preservation and communal healing. Recognizing the intersections of interpersonal and state violence, this workshop will also underscore the importance of abolition as a central part of the healing process for activists during these moving times. Join us for this critical conversation as we develop the interior knowledge and mindfulness necessary to sustain our organizing efforts, caring for ourselves as we build toward a future of collective liberation.

About Rita
Rita Phetmixay (pronouns: she/they/boo) is a Lao Isaan American womxn/femme dedicated to a life-time of trauma-informed healing work, with the intentions to co-create an inclusive, safe, and enriching experience for communities to thrive. For years, Rita has worked on healing herself as a trauma-survivor and is proud to have witnessed her own personal growth and transformation through various integrative modalities. Her personal connection to this work elicits her passion to bring healing back home to the Lao diaspora and queer communities of color.

Rita applies a variety of healing-centered, liberation-based healing modalities through the practices of mindfulness coaching, meditation, movement/breath, somatics, Cognitive Reappraisal, Ego Psychology, comedy and laughter.

Rita’s formal degree credits include a Master’s of Arts in Asian American Studies, a Master’s of Social Welfare, and is currently a Registered Associate Clinical Social Worker (#87669).
Zoom Webinar: Register at https://tinyurl.com/hfwwkshp
Sponsored by AASD, APC, VSU, IVP, EVP

Diasporic Micronesians: Chamoru and Marshallese Communities in California and Washington
2021-05-15 14:00 - 15:30 | Online via Zoom
“Chamorus and Marshallese comprise two of the six largest Pacific Islander ethnic groups living in California and Washington. As Micronesians, they share similar cultural and historical experiences, all of which have shaped their diasporas to the continental United States. By featuring Chamoru and Marshallese activists and scholars in California and Washington, this roundtable will highlight their expertise in dance, public health, education, language, and public history as they navigate the impacts of climate change, militarism, and settler colonialism.”
Please join us for this community forum. Please RSVP here.

Policing Asian Massage Work And Abolitionist Possibilities: A Conversation with Red Canary Song
2021-05-14 15:00 | CA
Yves Tong Nguyen is a queer disabled abolitionist organizer with Red Canary Song and Survived and Punished NY.
Elena Shih is the Manning Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University and she received her PhD from the Department of Sociology, UCLA. Her forthcoming book, “Manufacturing Freedom: Trafficking Rescue, Rehabilitation, and the Slave Free Good,” is a global ethnography of the transnational social movement to combat human trafficking in China, Thailand, and the United States. She is the author of “How to Protect Sex Workers,” New York Times, March 26, 2021.
Introduction by Jennifer Chun, Associate Professor, Asian American Studies and the International Institute.
We hope you can join this for this very important conversation talking about policing massaging work and abolitionist possibilities. If you would like to join us, you can register here.

Radical Storytelling Workshop with Susan Lieu
2021-05-12 16:00 | CA

UC Asian American Studies Research Colloquium
2021-05-10 12:30 - 2021-05-14 15:00 | Online via Zoom
Please join us for the first UC-wide, student led research colloquium for undergraduates in Asian American Studies. With support from the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, Asian American Studies Department, and Asian Pacific Coalition, the colloquium will showcase research and creative projects pertaining to a topic in Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Desi Studies.
The colloquium will be hosted on a curated website from May 10-14, 2021, where visitors can explore the various projects in which undergraduates are engaged. The colloquium will culminate with a virtual live event on May 14, 2021, from 12:30pm – 3:00pm where undergraduates will have the opportunity to present their research over Zoom. We will also feature a panel of graduate students to speak on the importance of research in the humanities and social sciences. All attendees within the continental US will be eligible to receive prizes shipped to them.
RSVP here.
For more information click here.

"140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother" screening and Q&A with Susan Lieu
2021-05-07 16:00 | CA
Please join us for the screening of Susan Lieu’s “140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother,” on Friday, May 7, 2021, at 4:00pm (PST).
Please register here for the Zoom webinar information. Please note that while the number of registrants is not restricted, Zoom webinar capacity is capped at 500 participants. Only the first 500 attendees who sign into the Zoom webinar on May 7 will be able to attend.

Art & Politics: Asian American Artivists in the Movement for Social Justice
2021-05-06 09:30 - 10:45 | CA
“Two generations of artist-activists/ “artivists” will talk about their role as artists who were active in the grassroots social movements of Asian American communities from the 1960’s to today. This program connects two filmmakers and two songwriter performance artists who will talk about how they use their medium to tell the stories of and engage Asian American communities. This program is for Asian American Studies Department Lecturer Kelly Fong’s ASIA AM 40: Asian American Movement class.”
Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021
Time: 9:30am – 10:45am
Location: Zoom
Please register for webinar: https://asianamartivistsinmovement.eventbrite.com/
This event is co-sponsored by UCLA Asian American Studies Department, Asian American Studies Center, and East Wind Ezine.

Ethnic Neighborhoods in Asian American Cultural Imaginaries: A Film Screening Event
2021-05-04 12:30 | CA
Join us on May 4th, 2021 at 12:30 PM for the screening of Janet Chen’s Phoenix Bakery, Akira Boch and Tad Nakamura’s Atomic Cafe, and Jeff Liu’s film adaptation of David Henry Hwang’s play Trying to Find Chinatown, followed by artists’ discussion.
If you would like to join us for this event, you can register for the Zoom meeting here.

Transferpalooza
2021-04-30 16:00 - 18:00 | CA
The UCLA Asian American Studies Department is hosting its first-ever “Transferpalooza” to offer support and celebrate the transfer student community! This virtual event is open to any student who is interested in learning more about social justice and Ethnic Studies, transferring to UCLA with a major or minor in Asian American Studies, or would like to learn more about the M.A. program.

The info session (4 PM) will consist of current students and alumni speakers that will share insight about their experiences, transfer tips, and possible career paths.

The Q&A session (5 PM) will offer guests an opportunity to interact with all the student speakers along with staff and faculty.

If you are interested, please on this link to register: https://bit.ly/3camZDO. For further questions, you may contact the Community College Outreach Team via misscarinalee@ucla.edu

Talk by Professor Kyeyoung Park
2021-04-30 12:00 - 13:30 | Online via Zoom
Please mark your calendars for this upcoming CCIS/CSIM webinar event on Friday, April 30th. Professor Kyeyoung Park will be discussing her book entitled, “LA Rising: Korean Relations with Blacks and Latinos after Civil Unrest.” Please note that the time listed is Pacific Time. Please see registration link.

A Book Talk By Joyce Mariano
2021-04-29 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Join Professor Mariano in a talk inspired by her book, “Giving Back: Filipino America and the Politics of Diaspora Giving.”
The book explores transnational giving practices as political objects that shape the Filipino diaspora.
“Giving Back shows how integral this system is for understanding Filipino diaspora formation. The book “follows the money” to investigate the cultural, social, economic, and political conditions of diaspora giving. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to reveal how power operates through this charity and the ways the global economic and cultural dimensions of this practice reinforce racial subordination and neocolonialism. Giving Back explores how this charity can stabilize overlapping systems of inequality as well as the contradictions of corporate social responsibility programs in the diaspora.”
If you would like more information about this event, you can click here.
To RSVP for this event, you can click here.
We hope to see you there!

Department of Anthropology's "Culture, Power and Social Change" Colloquium
2021-04-22 12:15 - 13:45 | CA
Professor Jennifer Chun, a faculty member in the Department of Asian American Studies and the International Institute at UCLA, will be guest speaking at this event.
She will be covering the study of protests and how they call attention to rare events that have changed the course of history. She argues that ” the challenges of protesting and sleeping in public space have made indispensable questions of collective care and social reproduction.”
We hope that you can attend this event in support of our faculty here at the Asian American Studies Department.
You can join this event here.

S'21 Undergraduate Check-In: Spring Forward
2021-04-14 17:00 - 18:30 | Online via Zoom
Join us for our quarterly Asian American Studies Undergraduate Check-In!

“Spring Forward” will be an evening focused on moving forward through the guidance of the Asian Am Department’s faculty and mentors. Resources to help you develop your academic, research, and career endeavors will be discussed! Don’t miss out!

RSVP to receive a link to the event:
https://forms.gle/uZpUozQ8JVB4hW9G6

2021 Asian American Studies Research Symposium
2021-04-02 10:30 - 14:00 | CA
Join us for the 2021 Asian American Studies Research Symposium, Friday, April 2nd at 10:30 a.m.!

RSVP: tinyurl.com/AASRESEARCHRSVP

Imagining the Political: Vernacular Idioms of Sexuality in India
2021-03-02 18:00 - 19:30 | Online via Zoom
Professor Navaneetha Mokkil, the Center for Women’s Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, will discuss her new book, Unruly Figures which navigates the pulsating links between subjectivity, political activism and the world-making capacity of cultural practices in a non-metropolitan region in India. It focuses on the non-linear figurations of the sex worker and the lesbian in Kerala, a state in Southern India, and the fractured processes of staging the politics of sexuality. The book moves back and forth from the post-1990s to the pre-1990s interlinking different forms, texts, genres and events in order to show how sexual subjects are not finished portraits, nor silenced bodies eager to claim visibility and recognition. Rather, the transactions between the subject and the figure point to the breaks in the conception of a cohesive, visible and agential political actor.
This book brings a substantial body of Malayalam-language scholarship, literature, and, media texts on gender, sexuality, and social justice (which do not usually travel across the language divide) into conversation with current debates around sexuality studies and transnational feminism in the Asian and Anglo-American academia. It puts forward a reading practice that examines public cultures of sexuality in Kerala, ‘a small place’ in the geopolitical dynamics of the nation and the globe, as the site for theorizing the political. It posits the regional as the ground through which questions can be asked about the past, present and futures of sexuality politics in India.

Winter 2021: Undergraduate Check-In
2021-01-19 17:00 - 18:30 | CA
Declaring your major or minor can be kind of anti-climactic. New and old majors alike, come celebrate it with us!
Clear out your schedules– majors and minors old and new come join us January 19th, 2021 to “renew your vows” as an Asian Am major/minor. It was rough in 2020 but we want to start off on a new foot this 2021 and celebrate something we can all relate to– being an Asian Am student (the best kind). Join us and other Asian Am students in declaring your major in this mini-ceremony we have planned for check-in. We also want to recognize the mental toll that Zoom university has taken on everyone these past few quarters, therefore mental health wellness and discussion will also be a part of this check-in.
Did we also mention that if you RSVP by January 4th, 2021 we will be sending out FREE declaration/care packages?!?! What are you waiting for? Hurry and claim your package and seat at our next check-in!
*** Our check-in welcomes all undergraduate students but only majors and minors will be able to receive a care package (while supplies last). You must RSVP and follow the instructions in order to receive the zoom link for the event.
RSVP Link Here

Asian American Solidarity from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter
2020-11-20 11:00 - 12:30 | CA
“Asian American Solidarity from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter”
November 20, Friday, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
RSVP to https://asianamactivists.eventbrite.com for Zoom webinar info
Speakers are Ed Nakawatase, Marion Kwan, Kabzuag Vaj
Speakers:
Ed Nakawatase worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Atlanta, Georgia from 1963-64. He then went on to work with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) . He joined their Third World Coalition national staff and became AFSC’s National Representative for Native American Affairs, a position he held for 31 years. He is currently on the boards for Asian Americans United, and the Folk-Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School both in Philadelphia, and Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center in New Jersey.
Quote by Ed Nakawatase :“Racism remains deeply rooted in American society…I am encouraged by the anti-racist movement that now includes a full spectrum of people of color, as well as an unprecedented number of white people who now see themselves as antiracists in the struggle. I believe that Black Lives Matter is a continuation of the civil rights movement and applaud its militancy and energy. They seem much like SNCC in that way. They most certainly are part of the long civil rights movement.”
Marion Kwan was active with the Delta Ministry from 1965-66 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She returned home to the San Francisco Bay area where she worked in jobs and roles involved with grass-roots organizing, social protests and education such as Chinatown YWCA Young Adult Program Director, Peace Caravan with the American Friends Service Committee, social work with International Rescue Committee in Hong Kong, anti-Vietnam War protests, academic counselor for low-income students at City College of San Francisco, trainer for Community Boards, Inc. a dispute-resolution neighborhoods program; consultant for Stanford Intercultural Communications Institute. She is now retired and is an active member of San Francisco Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement.
Quote by Marion Kwan :“There is hope. For a while I thought the “Movement” stopped altogether, but the Movement is “moving again.” I saw it on the day after President Trump’s Inauguration in January 2017, in the Million Women March in Oakland – where I couldn’t believe that I saw a young Asian father with his wife and baby in tow in a baby stroller, among the crowd of multiracial, multi-generational, including young men and their girlfriends, and LGBTQ demonstrators. We also now have spotlights on younger people throughout the world (so much more aware of the deterioration of our planet than I ever was in my generation) – the Sunrise Movement (youth for climate change) and March for Our Lives (student led against gun violence). Are Asian Americans ready for building connections and becoming more openly present in society?”
Kabzuag Vaj is the Founder and co-Executive Director of Freedom Inc based in Madison, Wisconsin. She is a strong believer that those who are most deeply impacted must be at the forefront of the movement. Those who are most impacted must have opportunities and resources to advocate for themselves and tell their own stories. In the past 20 years, Kabzuag has spent her life working to build collective power and social change within Southeast Asian and Black communities. She was recognized as a Champion of Change at the White House during Domestic Violence Awareness month in 2011, and was named one of “20 Women of Color in Politics to Watch in 2020” by She the People. Her first love is the movement.
Moderator: Kelly N. Fong, Professor, UCLA Asian American Studies Department
Organized by UCLA Asian American Studies Center & Department; East Wind ezine

LA Rising: Book Talk by Professor Kyeyoung Park
2020-11-19 12:15 - 13:45 | CA
The Department of Anthropology’s colloquium series, “Culture, Power, and Social Change (CPSC),” is hosting a book talk by Professor Kyeyoung Park.
Co-sponsored by the Asian American Studies Center and the Asian American Studies Department.
Please refer to Zoom link here.

UCLA Institute of American Cultures Fall Forum
2020-11-18 15:00 - 17:00 | CA
You are invited to the UCLA Institute of American Cultures (IAC) Annual Fall Forum, featuring the 2020–21 IAC visiting researchers and scholars, graduate and predoctoral fellows, and research grant awardees at UCLA’s four ethnic studies centers. Scholars representing the four centers will talk about their research and goals.
Featuring:
Nicholas Barron, PhD, Associate Faculty of Anthropology at Mission College, Santa Clara, interviewed by Associate Professor Erin Debenport (Anthropology)
Topic: Salvaging Anthropology, Unsettling Sovereignty
AJ Kim, PhD, Associate Professor of City Planning in the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University, interviewed by Professor Karen Umemoto (Urban Planning and Asian American Studies)
Topic: (un)Sanctioned Atlanta: Immigrants Making Place in the New South
Farzana Saleem, PhD, UCLA Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow – Bunche Center, interviewed by Professor Tyrone Howard (Education and African American Studies)
Topic: Addressing Racial Stress and Trauma and Utilizing Racial Socialization in Families in Schools
José A. Muñoz, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology at California State University, San Bernardino, interviewed by Professor Matt A. Barreto (Political Science and Chicana/o and Central American Studies)
Topic: Hidden Burdens: The Experiences of Latino First-Generation and Working-Class Sociologists
Moderated by: Christopher Soto, Assistant Director of Development, UCLA Institute of American Cultures
Organized by the Institute of American Cultures and co-sponsored by the American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, Chicano Studies Research Center, American Indian Studies Interdepartmental Program, Department of Asian American Studies, Department of African American Studies, César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, and UCLA Alumni Diversity Programs & Initiatives.
RSVP/ REGISTER Here!

Pandemics and Vulnerable Communities
2020-11-13 13:00 - 14:30 | CA
This event is sponsored by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, the UCLA Asian American Studies Department, the Carlos Bulosan Center for Filipinx Studies. With support from the UCLA Center for the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
RSVP here

Meet, Greet, and Celebrate UCLA's Newly Established Pilipino Studies Minor!
2020-10-26 18:00 - 19:30 | CA
This event is co-organized by the UCLA Asian American Studies Department and UCLA Samahang Pilipino
RSVP Link HERE!

Undergraduate Check-In Fall 2020: Wine, Whine, and Unwind
2020-10-14 17:00 - 18:30 | CA
Bring your favorite wine and besties as you embark on an interactive and informative journey to “escape” UCLA together with staff and faculty from the Asian American Studies Department! The fastest group to escape wins mystery giftcards!

Come hang out with us and other Asian American Studies Major/Minor Peers!
You don’t have to be a major or minor to attend! Just bring yourself and your enthusiasm for Asian Am!

A Thousand Cuts: On Media, Policing, and Authoritarian Brutality
2020-10-01 08:00 - 23:30 | CA
A Thousand Cuts: On Media, Policing, and Authoritarian Brutality
October 1, 2020

In collaboration with Cornell University, UCLA, Barnard College (Columbia University), University of Toronto, Rutgers University, and Los Angeles’ Visual Communications (VC), you are invited to an international screening of A Thousand Cuts by Ramona Diaz, followed a panel featuring Maria Ressa (Rappler), Jinee Lokaneeta (Drew University), and Gina Dent (UCSC). This panel will be moderated by Neferti Tadiar (Barnard College).
Film Screening Date: Thursday, October 1, 2020 (Film available for streaming in US and Canada)
Film Screening Location: Film viewing instructions will be sent after you.
Film Description: With press freedom under threat in the Philippines, A Thousand Cuts goes inside the escalating war between the government and the press. The documentary follows Maria Ressa, a renowned journalist who has become a top target of President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on the news media. Produced, written, and directed by Ramona S. Diaz (IMELDA, MOTHERLAND).
Film Registration Information: Register for the Screening by Wednesday, September 30, 2020, 8pm EDT.
Film Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-thousand-cuts-media-freedom-and-authoritarian-brutality-registration-120320332353
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Panel Discussion Date and Time: October 1, 8pm EDT (8am+1 Philippines)
Panel Description: Following the screening of A Thousand Cuts, please join us for a panel featuring Maria Ressa (Rappler), Jinee Lokaneeta (Drew University), Gina Dent (UCSC), moderated by Neferti Tadiar (Barnard College). The film focuses on the current effects of Rodrigo Duterte’s infamous “war on drugs” and the shutting down of independent news outlets as well as the arrest, detention, threats and humiliation of journalists, including Maria Ressa. This post-screening panel focuses on policing, state violence, and how the media and ideological landscapes enable populism and authoritarianism across the Philippines, U.S. and India. The discussion also serves as the staging ground for transnational forms of creativity, solidarity, and resistance.
Panel Registration Info: https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__uiiWtuvRUmcoAr1CzHziQ
