Call for Papers: Asian American and Pacific Islander Activism
Commemorating 50 Years of Asian American Studies
Guest Editors: Professor Diane C. Fujino (UC Santa Barbara) and Professor Robyn Rodriguez (UC Davis)
Publication Date: Issue planned for Fall 2019 publication
Due Date: Paper submissions (5,000-6,000 words, excluding endnotes) due November 1, 2018
The field of Asian American studies emerged out of activist struggles, and yet social movement studies are not centralized in Asian American studies in ways comparable to other areas of ethnic studies. Today, at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the field, there are growing reasons to examine Asian American activism. The current rise in social movement activity and shifts in academic inquiry encourage new questions to be raised about Asian American and Pacific Islander activism.
This issue of Amerasia Journal seeks research-based essays that address the meanings and forms of Asian American activism historically or currently. Areas of study may focus on, but are not limited to, those identified in Diane Fujino’s article, “Who Studies the Asian American Movement?: A Historiographical Analysis” (2008), as they attend to national and international contexts. Examples of topics include:
Local and global processes: What can the study of local activism tell us about processes of social change and racialized and intersectional forms of inequality? How have international ideologies and circuits shaped local organizing? What tensions exist between local, national, and global organizing frameworks, and how might there be productive uses of these tensions?
Pan-ethnic and Third World solidarities: How does the study of Asian American and Pacific Islander activism produce new knowledge about the meanings of solidarities? What forms of solidarity exist today that differ from the past?
Theories animating Asian American activism: How do theories of settler colonialism, Third World decolonization, different varieties of Marxism, or the Black Radical Tradition necessitate a rethinking of Asian American activism? How might a framework that centers racialized gender and sexuality shift the ways we think about Asian American activism?
Cultural production and media: How has art and culture shaped political consciousness and practices? What is the relationship between Asian American cultural production and political organizing? How have social media and new technologies impacted organizing?
Political contexts and organizing strategies: How did the collective leadership models of the Asian American Movement impact ideas and practices, organizing and outcomes? What is the role of the radical imaginary in Asian American activism? What is the relationship between political economy and social movement activities?
History and praxis: How does knowledge about the Long Sixties shape Asian American activism today? What new theories about race and liberation emerge from the study of Asian American and Pacific Islander activism?
We welcome submissions from different disciplinary approaches, including, but not limited to, history, sociology, and cultural and gender studies. We especially welcome papers that situate Asian American and Pacific Islander activist studies within relational or comparative, historical, or spatial contexts using interdisciplinary approaches.
Submission Guidelines and Review Process
The guest editors, in consultation with the Amerasia Journal editorial staff and peer reviewers, make decisions on the final essays:
Initial review of submitted papers by guest editors and Amerasia Journal editorial staff
Papers approved by editors will undergo blind peer review
Revision of accepted peer-reviewed papers and final submission
All correspondence should be directed to arnoldpan@ucla.edu and include “Asian American and Pacific Islander Activism” in the subject line.
Fall 2019 MA application is OPEN – Deadline: December 1, 2018
/in NewsFor more information, please review the following: https://asianam.ucla.edu/graduate-study/admissions/
September 2017: Inaugural Ethnic & Indigenous Studies Welcome held on the Hill
In Memoriam: David Wong Louie (1954-2018)
/in NewsSeptember 21, 2018
Dear Asian American Studies Department,
I’m writing to you to share the sad news of the passing of David Wong Louie. After many years of cancer, he died with his family at his side at his home on Wednesday.
David was one of the leading voices in Asian American fiction since the 1980s, and he joined the faculty at UCLA in 1992. He was a founding faculty member of our Department over 15 years ago, and an active part of the Asian American Studies IDP before that. His major works include the short story collection Pangs of Love [1991] and the novel The Barbarians Are Coming [2000], both acclaimed and prize-winning. His recent Harper’s Magazine essay “Eat, Memory” was selected for The Best American Essays 2018. An inspiring and witty and committed teacher and colleague, he retired from UCLA in 2015, after an impactful career that touched so many of us.
Plans for a memorial service are in the works, about which we will keep you posted.
Sincerely,
Victor
***********
Victor Bascara, Chair
Asian American Studies Department
3333 Rolfe Hall
University of California | Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095
vbascara@ucla.edu
310-267-5592
***********
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/in-memoriam:-david-wong-louie-63-pioneering-author-of-chinese-american-experience
Paul Nadal (M.A. ’05) accepts a tenure-track assistant professor position in Asian American literature and culture at Princeton University
/in Alumni SpotlightPaul “PJ” Nadal (M.A. ’07) has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in Asian American literature and culture at Princeton University, a joint-appointment in the Department of English and Program in American Studies. Nadal completed his M.A. in Asian American Studies at UCLA, under the direction of Professors Jinqi Ling and King-Kok Cheung, before pursuing his Ph.D. in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently an Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral fellow in American Studies at Wellesley College, where he is working on his book manuscript, entitled “Remittance Fiction: Human Labor Export, Realism, and the Filipino Novel in English.”
Learn more:https://www.princeton.edu/news/2018/05/17/board-approves-10-faculty-appointments and http://www.paulnadal.com
Congratulations to Asian American Studies alumnus Jennifer Tseng on her new novel, Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness
/in Alumni SpotlightCongratulations to Asian American Studies alumnus Jennifer Tseng on her new novel, Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness.
Forty-one years old, disenchanted wife and dutiful mother, Mayumi is a librarian on an island off the coast of New England. Her most erotic pleasure is in reading. That is, until the day she issues a library card to a shy seventeen-year-old boy who captivates her in a way that no one else ever has. She is hesitant at first, conscious of their age difference, the power differential, and the questionable morality (and legality) of acting on her feelings. But her attraction soon turns to obsession, and after a season of overlong glances and nervous conversation in the library, Mayumi quietly propositions the boy, who reciprocates. They quietly begin a passionate affair that changes the way Mayumi sees her entire life—and herself.
Exquisitely written and compulsively readable, Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness is equal parts wry confession and serious meditation. At its most anxious it’s a book about time; at its most ecstatic it’s a deeply human story about passion and pleasure, book love and physical infatuation.
Jennifer’s first book The Man With My Face won the 2005 Asian American Writers’ Workshop National Poetry Manuscript Competition and a 2006 PEN American Center Open Book Award. Her second book Red Flower, White Flower, winner of the Marick Press Poetry Prize, features Chinese translations by Mengying Han and Aaron Crippen. Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness is her debut novel. She is the Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence at University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Congratulations Tiffany Lytle (MA ’17): Album Release
/in Alumni SpotlightTiffany Lytle’s debut LP “Cambodian Child” centers Cambodian American perspectives and experiences of imperialism, refugeeism, Asian American experience, mixed-race identity, and heart break. Featuring an all-star band, “Cambodian Child” mixes Khmer/ English language, Cambodian music styles, and pop to create a provocative sound fueled by powerful content speaking to today’s political climate. Lytle’s sounds and lyrics are depthful and weighty, embodying Cambodian Americans’ lasting creativity and resilience.
To view a sneak peek at the upcoming documentary that accompanies Cambodian Child visit:
https://vimeo.com/203041802
To donate funding to help aid with the continuation of Tiffany’s project, please visit:
https://www.gofundme.com/cambodianchildmusic
Like Cambodian Child on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/CambodianChildMusic/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
“We” can be found on all music platforms, including iTunes and Spotify.
http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1213397531?ls=1&app=itunes
http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1213397531
https://open.spotify.com/track/0pFS3OnqFtivFAbd2ZY9MG
https://soundcloud.com/tiffany-lytle-246298973/we-1
Art work created by Jillian Shundo (Jill of All Trades Design)
Alice Y. Hom chosen as Soros Equity Fellows
/in Alumni SpotlightJoin us in congratulating Alice Hom in receiving a Soros Equality Fellowship, a new initiative to help emerging mid-career professionals become long-term innovative leaders in the field of racial justice.
Hom received a BA from Yale, an MA in Asian American studies from UCLA, and has a PhD in history from Claremont Graduate University.
Learn more about Alice Hom’s work for the upcoming year:
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/programs/us-programs/grantees/alice-y-hom
Learn more about the Open Society Foundations 2017 Soros Equality Fellows:
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/press-releases/open-society-foundations-announces-2017-soros-equality-fellows
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
The Open Society Foundations are pleased to announce the recipients of the Soros Equality Fellowship, a new initiative to help emerging mid-career professionals become long-term innovative leaders in the field of racial justice.
The seven fellows, chosen from over 1,000 applicants representing a diverse array of professions—from the arts and advocacy to journalism and documentary filmmaking—will work on a wide variety of ways to advance racial justice: documenting the oral histories of queer and trans people of color; tackling structural racism in the food supply; chronicling how slavery helped build a major modern institution of higher learning; and creating an ad campaign to take on distortions in America’s contemporary racial narrative.
The program is intended to help incubate innovators and risk-takers striving to create and develop new ways of addressing the challenges of racial disparity and discrimination in the United States. Beyond nurturing their specific projects, the program seeks to promote leadership development training, networking and other professional support aimed at building a pipeline connecting the energy and ideas of youth with the wisdom and influence of experience.
“We are living in a time of enormous challenge, when forces peddling fear and hate are pushing ever harder to normalize xenophobia and racism,” said Leslie Gross-Davis, director of the Equality team within U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations, who launched the initiative. “While the magnitude of the challenge is daunting, the inaugural class of Soros Equality Fellows gives me hope for the future. Their energy, creativity, and determination to tackle even the longest odds are an inspiration. The Open Society Foundations is honored to have the opportunity to support this amazing cohort of next-generation racial justice leaders.”
The 2017 Soros Equality Fellows will receive stipends ranging from $80,000 to $100,000 to support projects over the course of 12 to 18 months.
Call for Papers: Asian American and Pacific Islander Activism
/in NewsCall for Papers: Asian American and Pacific Islander Activism
Commemorating 50 Years of Asian American Studies
Guest Editors: Professor Diane C. Fujino (UC Santa Barbara) and Professor Robyn Rodriguez (UC Davis)
Publication Date: Issue planned for Fall 2019 publication
Due Date: Paper submissions (5,000-6,000 words, excluding endnotes) due November 1, 2018
The field of Asian American studies emerged out of activist struggles, and yet social movement studies are not centralized in Asian American studies in ways comparable to other areas of ethnic studies. Today, at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the field, there are growing reasons to examine Asian American activism. The current rise in social movement activity and shifts in academic inquiry encourage new questions to be raised about Asian American and Pacific Islander activism.
This issue of Amerasia Journal seeks research-based essays that address the meanings and forms of Asian American activism historically or currently. Areas of study may focus on, but are not limited to, those identified in Diane Fujino’s article, “Who Studies the Asian American Movement?: A Historiographical Analysis” (2008), as they attend to national and international contexts. Examples of topics include:
Local and global processes: What can the study of local activism tell us about processes of social change and racialized and intersectional forms of inequality? How have international ideologies and circuits shaped local organizing? What tensions exist between local, national, and global organizing frameworks, and how might there be productive uses of these tensions?
Pan-ethnic and Third World solidarities: How does the study of Asian American and Pacific Islander activism produce new knowledge about the meanings of solidarities? What forms of solidarity exist today that differ from the past?
Theories animating Asian American activism: How do theories of settler colonialism, Third World decolonization, different varieties of Marxism, or the Black Radical Tradition necessitate a rethinking of Asian American activism? How might a framework that centers racialized gender and sexuality shift the ways we think about Asian American activism?
Cultural production and media: How has art and culture shaped political consciousness and practices? What is the relationship between Asian American cultural production and political organizing? How have social media and new technologies impacted organizing?
Political contexts and organizing strategies: How did the collective leadership models of the Asian American Movement impact ideas and practices, organizing and outcomes? What is the role of the radical imaginary in Asian American activism? What is the relationship between political economy and social movement activities?
History and praxis: How does knowledge about the Long Sixties shape Asian American activism today? What new theories about race and liberation emerge from the study of Asian American and Pacific Islander activism?
We welcome submissions from different disciplinary approaches, including, but not limited to, history, sociology, and cultural and gender studies. We especially welcome papers that situate Asian American and Pacific Islander activist studies within relational or comparative, historical, or spatial contexts using interdisciplinary approaches.
Submission Guidelines and Review Process
The guest editors, in consultation with the Amerasia Journal editorial staff and peer reviewers, make decisions on the final essays:
Initial review of submitted papers by guest editors and Amerasia Journal editorial staff
Papers approved by editors will undergo blind peer review
Revision of accepted peer-reviewed papers and final submission
All correspondence should be directed to arnoldpan@ucla.edu and include “Asian American and Pacific Islander Activism” in the subject line.
UCLA Professor’s Film Documents Forced Sterilization of Mexican Women in Late 60s and Early 70s in L.A.
/in Faculty AccomplishmentsRenee Tajima-Peña’s award-winning documentary “No Más Bebés” tells the story of how Mexican women in the late 60’s and early 70’s L.A. were sterilized without their consent or under extreme duress from doctors.
Congratulations Tiffany Lytle (MA ’17): Album Release
/in Department SpotlightTiffany Lytle’s debut LP “Cambodian Child” centers Cambodian American perspectives and experiences of imperialism, refugeeism, Asian American experience, mixed-race identity, and heart break. Featuring an all-star band, “Cambodian Child” mixes Khmer/ English language, Cambodian music styles, and pop to create a provocative sound fueled by powerful content speaking to today’s political climate. Lytle’s sounds and lyrics are depthful and weighty, embodying Cambodian Americans’ lasting creativity and resilience.
To view a sneak peek at the upcoming documentary that accompanies Cambodian Child visit:
https://vimeo.com/203041802
To donate funding to help aid with the continuation of Tiffany’s project, please visit:
https://www.gofundme.com/cambodianchildmusic
Like Cambodian Child on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/CambodianChildMusic/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
“We” can be found on all music platforms, including iTunes and Spotify.
http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1213397531?ls=1&app=itunes
http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1213397531
https://open.spotify.com/track/0pFS3OnqFtivFAbd2ZY9MG
https://soundcloud.com/tiffany-lytle-246298973/we-1
Art work created by Jillian Shundo (Jill of All Trades Design)
Tad Nakamura
/in Alumni SpotlightCongratulations to Asian American Studies alumnus Tad Nakamura on winning the Audience Award for his film, “Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings”, at the 2013 Gotham Independent Film Awards ceremony!
“Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings” is a compelling portrayal of an inspiring and innovative Japanese American musician, whose virtuoso skills on the ukulele have transformed all previous notions of the instrument’s potential. Through intimate conversations with Shimabukuro (she-ma-BOO-koo-row), “Life on Four Strings” reveals the cultural and personal influences that have shaped the man and the artist. Covering tours from Los Angeles through New York to Japan, the film captures the musician’s solitary life on the road: the exhilaration of his performance, the wonder of his newfound fame, the loneliness of his separation from home and family.
A few years ago, the Los Angeles-based filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura was named one of CNN’s “Young People Who Rock” for being the youngest filmmaker at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival as well as one of the “30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30” by the popular website Angry Asian Man. Now at 33 years old, the fourth-generation Japanese American has completed his first full-length documentary – on internationally acclaimed ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro – which was broadcasted nationally on PBS in May, 2013.
Nakamura’s trilogy of documentary films on the Japanese American experience, “Yellow Brotherhood” (2003), “Pilgrimage” (2007), and “A Song for Ourselves” (2009) have garnered over 20 awards at film festivals around the world with “Pilgrimage” being one of 83 short films selected out of 7,500 submissions for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival competition. Film scholar B. Ruby Rich remarked, “Nakamura takes the joy of activism and makes it downright contagious!”
For information on Tad’s film, “Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings”, please click here.