Microsoft's Kin ad has sparked a bit of a controversy.
The scene: a hipster hoedown.
The people: young, fun-loving, and socially networked. Primarily white and heavily bearded, but it's a hoedown after all.
The one Asian guy: sexting?
The public's verdict: creepy, just plain creepy.
Wanting to be seen and heard is common for those of us circumscribed by "silent Asian" stereotypes. Though, between you and me, I find this stereotype boring.
"Why are people still talking about this?" I think to myself. And then I remember. I was that college kid who walked the library with copies of Lucille Clifton and Gwendolyn Brooks tucked under my arm, wondering "Where are the women poets who scream for me? Where are the Asian American women who yell 'See me! Hear me!'"
Ah, yes. That eternal question: What can I do with an Asian American Studies degree?
As an Asian American Studies masters student, I ask myself that every day as I sustain myself on 90 cent Chinese buns and try to slog through chapters on intersectionality and heterogeneity. 'Tis a glamorous life.
But a bunch of cool folks at Claremont Graduate University -- specifically the CGU Transdisciplinary Studies Group on Asian American Studies -- decided to put together a free, one-day conference for students in the Asian American Studies field who want to know where they can take their knowledge when they hit the professional or academic path. It ain't a business degree, but that doesn't mean there aren't options for the Asian American Studies afterlife, particularly in academia, community/non-profit, and media.
Two years ago, music artist Dawen and fellow singer-songwriter Spark*shop sat down in a cafe and had an idea: an Asian American musical showcase during Independence Day weekend, in Chicago.
"That's where the name, Declare INDIE, came from," Dawen said. Dawen and Spark*shop launched their first show, along with two other artists, in July 2008.
The show was originally branded "Declare INDIEpendence," since shortened to Declare INDIE. But the show's success, Dawen said, has only grown.
Great news for all you Asian American studies scholars out there. The University of California, Riverside, is launching a Korean American studies center with the help of a $2.7 million endowment from the Overseas Koreans Foundation.
Wednesday April 14th -- NYC
Asian Pacific Americans in Public Service Panel
This week, we're highlighting blogger Cynthia Brothers. You know Cynthia as our intrepid events blogger, the one who gives us the scoop on all the happening Asian American events happening across the nation and gets us to contemplate actually putting on a clean shirt and leaving the house to be social.
This past Saturday, I was in the audience for the first Bay Area installment of quintessential Asian American talent show Kollaboration (of which Hyphen is a media sponsor), which has been up and running since 2000.
