Related Links
The Daily Illini Online
published Monday, February 10, 2003
Nicole Pegues
The Daily Illini
Featuring local and visiting scholars from across the country, the University's Asian American Studies Program held its first symposium Friday and Saturday.
The two-day symposium, called "In the Wake of a Critical Mass: New Directions in Asian American Studies," highlighted the most recent work being done in Asian American studies and provided information for faculty and students, said Sharon S. Lee, assistant director of Asian American studies.
Topics discussed in the 13 distinct presentations included talks about Asians in cyberspace the Hindu Diaspora in the United States and Asian-American youth cultures and globalization.
The symposium also aimed at making the Midwest a presence for this kind of work, said Viet Nguyen, assistant professor of English, American Studies, and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
"Usually, one has to travel pretty far to hear such talks, but we have created a venue here to help educate and raise awareness of this issue," Lee said.
The concept of the Asian American Studies program is broken up into two phases, said Kent Ono, University director of Asian American studies.
The first phase was concerned with national identity. The phase relates to hostility, political non-recognition and student protests of the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Fighting for civil rights and the self-determined idea to liberate from the constructs of a racial society are also included in the first phase.
The second phase involves research and development on different aspects in the Asian-American community. Ono said the research in Asian American studies is entering the second phase.
Ono questioned the ability of scholars to make issues of post-coloniality, Diaspora, and trans-nationality relevant to the public.
He added that there needs to be a meeting ground between Asian and Asian American studies. He suggested perhaps some of the tensions between the two are "definitive of what it means to be in the field of Asian American studies."
Sunaina Maira, associate professor of English and director of Asian American studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, said she was excited to hear findings from other presentations.
"There is a new wave of scholars in the field, and so it is exciting to discover what people are doing," Maira said.
© 2003 Illini Media Company, all rights reserved.
Send letters to 
Printer-friendly version