Mon, October 25 to Fri, October 29, 2021
Online Event: RSVP
Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence Program
Established by Brooklyn College and supported by the Robert L. Hess Fund, the purpose of the program is to invite to the campus each year a distinguished individual representative of an academic discipline at the college, with the selection of such scholars being rotated through the disciplines. The scholar in residence engages in a variety of activities appropriate to the discipline, whether public lectures, performances, master classes, or guest lectures in undergraduate courses; participates in panels or symposia; and meets informally and socially with members of the faculty, students, alumni, and friends of Brooklyn College.
Lisa Lowe is Samuel Knight Professor of American Studies at Yale University, and an affiliate faculty in the programs of Ethnicity, Race, and Migration, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. An interdisciplinary scholar whose work is concerned with the study of race, immigration, capitalism, and colonialism, she is the author of Critical Terrains: French and British Orientalisms (Cornell University Press, 1991), Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics (Duke University Press, 1996), and The Intimacies of Four Continents (Duke University Press, 2015), and the co-editor of The Politics of Culture in the Shadow of Capital (Duke University Press, 1997) and New Questions, New Formations: Asian American Studies, a special issue of positions: east asia cultures critique 5:2 (Fall 1997). Lowe’s teaching interests include the study of Asian American studies and critical race and ethnic studies, colonialism and U.S. empire, and cultures of globalization.
Program of Events
Monday, October 25, 9:30-11 a.m.
Global Asian Experiences in Brooklyn and Beyond
The formal welcoming of Lisa Lowe by Brooklyn College administration, followed by an overview of Asian and Asian American experiences in Brooklyn by Brooklyn native and Queens College Professor Tarry Hum. Lisa Lowe will share her family’s experience of immigrating to and living and working within the USA.
Speakers
- Tarry Hum (Urban Studies, Queens College)
- Lisa Lowe (American Studies, Yale)
- George Stonefish
- Reverend Samuel Wong
Moderated by Dr. Rosamond S. King, Director of the Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute for the Humanities
Monday, October 25, 12:50-2:05 p.m.
Asian American Studies 101
An overview of the history of, and major topics and trends within Asian American Studies through a conversation between Moustafa Bayoumi (English, Brooklyn College), Lisa Lowe (American Studies, Yale)
Moderated by Yung-Yi Diana Pan (Sociology, Brooklyn College)
Monday, October 25, 5:05-6:30 p.m.
Disruptive Pedagogies
How can our teaching practices overcome centuries of what Freire calls the “banking model of education”, which treats students as empty vessels to be filled, instead of seeing them as active participants in their own learning?
Speakers
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- Anna Gotlib (Philosophy, Brooklyn College)
- Stephanie Jensen-Moulton (Music, Brooklyn College)
- Susan Longtin (Communications, Brooklyn College)
- Lisa Lowe (American Studies, Yale)
Moderated by Anna Gotlib (Philosophy, Brooklyn College)
Tuesday, October 26, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
The Subaltern Archive
The adage goes, “History is written by the victors.” If the “victors’ ” voices appear in historical archives more often than “subaltern” voices (i.e. the voices of people who were not of the ruling class/age/gender/race/caste), how do we reclaim those voices and let the subaltern “speak”? And in archives that more regularly collect sources from powerful elites, how can we listen to the voices of more (seemingly) marginalized and (seemingly) undocumented historical figures?
Speakers
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- Colleen Bradley-Sanders (Library & Archives, Brooklyn College)
- Louis Fishman (History, Brooklyn College)
- Vivian Louie (Urban Policy & Planning/Asian American Studies Program & Center, Hunter College)
- Lisa Lowe (American Studies, Yale)
- Raquel Otheguy (History, Bronx Community College)
- Gunja Sengupta (History, Brooklyn College)
Moderated by Lauren Mancia (History, Brooklyn College)
Tuesday, October 26, 3:40-4:45 p.m.
A Reading Featuring Asian American Alumni of Brooklyn College’s Creative Writing Programs
A reading featuring Asian American Alumni of Brooklyn College’s Masters of Fine Art in Creative Writing programs.
Readers
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- Jai Chakrabarti (Fiction Writer)
- R.O. Kwon (Fiction Writer)
- Cherry Lou Sy (Playwright, English, Brooklyn College)
- Yun Wei (Poet)
Moderated by Madeleine Thein (MFA Faculty, Brooklyn College)
Tuesday, October 26, 6:05-7:45 p.m.
Asian Americans in the BC Archives
Brooklyn College students and faculty discuss their research into the history of Asian Americans and Asian American studies on campus, Asian Americans in the general archives, and in the COVID Archive.
Speakers
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- Niara Johnson (Student, Brooklyn College)
- Joshua Leonard (Student, Brooklyn College)
- Anum Momin (Student, Listening Project, Brooklyn College)
- Bridget Squitire (Student, Brooklyn College)
Moderated by Miriam Deutch (Library, Brooklyn College)
Wednesday, October 27, 12:30-2 p.m.
Student Activist Luncheon
Students who identify as activists focused on any issue have a private, informal opportunity to speak with the Hess Scholar. Current Brooklyn College students who identify as activists can request an invitation, and faculty can suggest students as well: WolfeInstitute@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Wednesday, October 27, 5:05-6:20 p.m.
The Secret History of Academic Disciplines
Many of the disciplines and departments of our modern university were formed and developed in the nineteenth century, at the same time that European countries were colonizing various parts of the world. Panelists will discuss how colonialism shaped various academic disciplines, and how scholars today are attempting to fundamentally decolonize and transform age-old concepts and categories that have historically been foundational to their disciplinary methodologies.
Speakers
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- Yana Kuchirko (Psychology, Brooklyn College)
- Lisa Lowe (American Studies, Yale)
- Rhea Rahman (Anthropology, Brooklyn College)
- Christopher Richards (Art, Brooklyn College)
- Sophia Suarez (Biology, Brooklyn College)
Moderated by Lauren Mancia (History, Brooklyn College)
Thursday, October 28, 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Before 1492: Comparative Premodern Colonialisms
We often think about imperialism and colonialism as phenomena that happened in the world after 1500 C.E., as a result of European exploration. But how (and by whom, and of whom) was colonialism practiced before the early modern period, in the premodern world? And how does such premodern history both deepen our understanding of colonialism in modernity and enhance our understanding of the world before European hegemony?
Speakers
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- Lynda Day (Africana Studies, Brooklyn College)
- Jason Frydman (English, Brooklyn College)
- Lisa Lowe (American Studies, Yale)
- Hyunhee Park (History, John Jay College of Criminal Justice)
- Brian Sowers (Classics, Brooklyn College)
Moderated by Lauren Mancia (History, Brooklyn College)
Thursday, October 28, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
The New Nativism
How do we understand and address the growing xenophobic upsurge in the United States (and elsewhere)? Is it just a matter of economic frustrations and security-focused phobias, or are the voices of nationalist hatred emerging from deeper, and more troubling, waters?
Speakers
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- Alan Aja (Judaic Studies, Brooklyn College)
- Anna Gotlib (Philosophy, Brooklyn College)
- Lisa Lowe (American Studies, Yale)
- Beaudelaine Pierre (Women’s Studies, St. Catherine University )
- Chandan Reddy (Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies, University of Washington)
Moderated by Anna Gotlib (Philosophy, Brooklyn College)
Thursday, October 28, 5 p.m.-6:45 p.m.
Robert L. Hess Memorial Lecture
45-minute new, original lecture by Lisa Lowe.
Co-Sponsors
Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute for the Humanities – Brooklyn College/CUNY
Asian American / Asian Research Institute – CUNY
