Director's Welcome

As the 2008-2009 academic year draws to a close, it is apropos to reflect on the program’s recent accomplishments. On April 17-18, 2009, we held our third annual conference, “Global-is-Asian: Asian Diaspora identities in the context ofglobalization,” featuring journalist and activist Helen Zia as the keynote speaker. APASO and OCAT organized the kick-off pSerformance by spoken word artist Denizen Kane. The broad variety of sponsors from MSU, including the Asian Studies Center, the Office of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender Resource Center , the VIPP Program, the African Atlantic Research Team, and the School of Journalism, reflected developing partnerships and collaborations between APA studies and these units. In addition we received generous funding from the Creating Inclusive Excellence program through the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives, and from the CIC Consortium for Asian American Studies.

One of the many highlights of the conference included a roundtable discussion on the movie Gran Torino, featuring members of HASA (the Hmong American Student Association) and Dr. Mina Shin. The fact that four of the five HASA panelists are enrolled in the APA Studies specialization was reflected in the insightful analysis they provided on a variety of topics related to the film, including representations of gender roles and male figures, Hmong cultural difference, language and subtitles, and gang violence. The panel featured a surprise guest, Ahney Her, one of the stars of the movie and a junior at Sexton High School in Lansing, MI. She provided insights into the filming of the movie, including efforts by Hmong American cast members to provide feedback to filmmakers on what they viewed as the inaccurate portrayal of Hmong culture.

Within this newsletter are featured articles on Senator Mee Moua’s visit in Fall of 2008, faculty accomplishments and publications, new faculty member profiles, and an article on last year’s conference. In closing, I would like to thank the wonderful APAS office staff, which worked effectively together as a team under the guidance and mentorship of program coordinator Dr. Joe Cousins, for another productive year. Thank you to John Gyul Ra, Pazau Moua, Lucy Her, student intern Stephanie Nguyen, and J.P. Villafuerte, who helped with the conference organization. We could not have accomplished so much without you.