Conference on Points of Connection: South Asians and the Diaspora – Topic Abstracts

Session 1: “South Asian Human Rights in Global Context”

TBA

Session 2: “Issues on Leadership within the South Asian Community”

Thomas Abraham; Chairman, Global Organization of People of Indian Origin
Topic: “Indian Americans, Issues and Prospects”

Indian Americans constitute a population of over 500,000 people in the tri-state of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Along with this, one can add another 100,000 Indo-Caribbeans to the Indian Diaspora. The community has done quite well in education, profession, business and services. The second generation is also making its mark in comparison to the larger society. While the Indian American community is termed as the most educated and has one of the highest per capita income, there are pockets of the community which struggle to carry on their lives. Although the community is increasingly making its impact in the political arena, it has not reached to the level of influence consummate with its strength and economic influence. The presentation will provide an overall perspective of the Indian American community covering some of the issues and prospects for the future.

Mohammad Ali; Member, South Asian American Political Action Committee
Topic: “Pakistani Americans: Where We Come From, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going”

A brief history of Pakistan will be presented to provide an overview of the cultural, religious and linguistic bases of the Pakistani American community.  The current social, economic, demographic and political status of Pakistani Americans will be presented to provide an understanding of the community and some of its issues and problems.  The aspirations and goals of Pakistani Americans will be discussed to provide an insight into the future plans of the community as a whole.

Jewel Chowdhury; President, Sylhet Sadar Thana Association
Topic: “Bangladeshi Community”

This presentation will focus on Bangladeshi community in NY area with special reference to the issue of leadership.

Zahid Ali Syed; Commissioner, Nassau County Human Rights Commission
Topic: “South Asian’s Political Involvement”

This presentation focuses on how to get South Asian communities in the mainstream of American politics.  While some members of the community are active and some have also been elected to public offices, the process is slow.  It is time that community activists take this challenge and work toward this goal.

Session 3: “South Asian Youth: Socio-Cultural and Educational Challenges and Opportunities”

Rifat Salam; Adjunct Professor, Sociology, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Topic: “Second Generation South Asian Americans: Ethnic Identity, Cultural Conflict and Continuity”

This presentation will report on the findings of her dissertation (Second Generation South Asians: Dating, Mating and Becoming American), and will raise key questions in the socialization and life course of second generation South Asians such as early family experiences, impact of ethnic socialization, tensions in managing American and native/parental culture and cultural values, and intergenerational conflict between the second generation youth and their first generation parents.  Specific issues such as major life choices around education, careers, dating, marriage and the tension between individual autonomy and obedience to parental authority will be raised for discussion.

Samina Shahidi; Adjunct Lecturer, English and Composition, Lehman College, CUNY
Topic: “Writing From Third Spaces: Student Negotiations of Gender, Ideology and Literacy”

This presentation will focus on the processes that South Asian Muslim women college students undergo in negotiating ideology in the practices of composition at a predominantly working class and minority college in the Bronx. As these students acquire interdisciplinary literacy they are asked, in written and classroom discourses, to engage with issues of identity while representations of their identities are constructed in the mainstream institutions of media, popular culture and academia. Samina’s presentation will highlight how these student writers assimilate these dissonant representations and develop their own varied voices, knowledge bases and literacy.

Niloufar Haque; Assistant Professor, Department of Physical and Biological Sciences, New York City College of Technology, CUNY
Topic: TBA

Prof. Haque will address additional social and emotional issues of South Asian youth. Based on interviews and conversations with young South Asians, she will present a first hand analysis of ‘growing pains’ they experience, confront and have to overcome in their daily lives.

Sohana Barot; Undergraduate Student, Political Science, City College of New York, CUNY, will share her experiences of growing up Indian in the U.S. and the challenges of grappling with issues on self-identity.

Rimaz Hussain; Undergraduate Student, Physics Education, City College of New York, CUNY, will share his experiences with school expectations and academic work, having arrived in the U.S. as a high school student from Sri Lanka.

Ruhma Choudhry; Doctoral Student, TESOL, Columbia University, will speak about the perceptions of South Asians as Second Language English Speakers and the reactions of students in Bangladesh to taking the TOEFL exams. Ruhma is also a member of SAVE (South Asian Voices in Education), a student organization at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Session 4: “Challenges and Opportunities for South Asians in Business”

This presentation would focus on the personal, professional and cultural challenges which South Asian women are facing.  The personal challenges include: immediate multi-tasking responsibilities of rearing children, upholding a professional career, and being a home-maker in a traditional (not typically Western), the positive or negative effects developed by the spouse’s career and professional goals.  The professional issues which influence South Asian women focus on the way they managed the process of assimilating into the American work lifestyle against bias hurdles based on race and gender and how these perceptions about South Asian women helped or hindered this process.  In regard of cultural challenges, South Asian women have to deal with maintaining ties within the Asian community and her own family, either in  the U.S. or back home and the expectations from the community and the acceptance of being a professional woman.  Success strategies will also be introduced through this session.

Manawendra Roy; Associate Professor, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Topic: “Challenges of moving from West to East”

Since the business trend is moving from USA to South Asian countries, the focus of my  talk is about the challenges and opportunities  in the IT Business including education,  not only in India but in South Asia overall.  South East Asia is one of the fasting growing in technology in the world because of lower cost of IT personnel and resources.  However, there are also many challenges including cultural gaps, lack of infrastructure, languages and poor working environments in many areas. I will also discuss challenges such as changing attitudes and government support systems affecting differing trends and work ethics.  I will focus my speech on educational outsourcing of online courses and transcription. My speech will cover both men and women in the working environment.

Special Presentation
Hon. Upendra Chivukula; Member, New Jersey State Assembly
Topic: “Do healthcare disparities among South Asians exist or not? You decide!”

In the Kaiser Family Foundation 2001 National Survey, physicians surveyed on health care disparities said that 55% of them agreed that minority patients generally receive lower quality care than white patients and 62% of the nation’s physicians report they have witnessed a patient receive poor quality health care because of the patient’s race or ethnicity. But, majority of physicians believe disparities in how people are treated within the healthcare system ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ happen based on factors such as income, fluency in English, educational status, or racial or ethnic background.

Session 5: “Natural Disasters and the Tsunami in South Asia”

Vrunda Prabhu; Professor, Mathematics, Bronx Community College, CUNY
Topic: “After the Wave – Building Capacity in Tamil Nadu; A Teaching-Research Project in Mathematics”

With international spotlight on Nagapattinam and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu, December 26, 2004 was the beginning of understanding in some depth the educational problems faced by the Dalit communities of Tamil Nadu for a team of teacher-researchers at CUNY.  For the past year, through 4 visits to India and e-mail discussions between visits, the team has engaged in collaborating with the communities to address the expressed mathematical needs of the young teachers of community-based schools in Tamil Nadu.  The presentation will describe their work in the affected communities, what has been done and the task ahead.

Nehru E. Cherukupalli; Professor, Brooklyn College, CUNY
Topic: “Natural Disasters in South Asia and an Update on Tsunami Warning System in Indian Ocean”

A short analysis of the Geologic hazards present in the “South Asian Region” in general with particular reference to the recent earthquakes, Tsunami alerts, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and other natural disasters. An update of the Tsunami warning systems being installed in the Indian Ocean by India and in other the countries.

Azra Shahidi; Director, Microbiology, Bronx Veteran’s Hospital
Topic: “The Challenges of Setting Up a Field Diagnostic Lab in Earthquake Affected Mansura, Pakistan”

The massive earthquake that struck Pakistan, India and Kashmir brought tremendous destruction and impacted the lives and well being of all affected. 3.5 million Pakistanis were forced out of their homes and into makeshift tent cities. Attendant to the devastation was the need for medical care. In response, many countries and non-governmental organizations opened field hospitals, clinics and shelters.

In November 2005, with winter approaching, students and faculty of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Karachi visited the Pakistani earthquake zone. They identified a pressing need for diagnostic microbiology laboratories in these areas because of the unanswered prevalence of infectious diseases. Dr. Shahidi, a member of the Pakistani American Microbiology Society, will discuss, through a slide presentation some of the difficulties and successes encountered in setting up such a lab.