Asian American / Asian Research Institute
The City University of New York
During the Cold War, Chinese Americans struggled to gain political influence in the United States. Considered potentially sympathetic to communism, their communities attracted substantial public and government scrutiny, particularly in San Francisco and New York. Between Mao and McCarthy looks at the divergent ways that Chinese Americans in these two cities balanced domestic and international … Read more
AAARI co-founder, Betty Lee Sung, will read from her recently published memoir, Defiant Second Daughter: My First 90 Years. This is Prof. Sung’s ninth book. What started as a request by Dr. Sung’s granddaughter to learn more about her grandmother, turned into a memoir that discusses her life as the daughter of a Paper Son, teaching Asian American Studies at CUNY, and other triumphs and struggles.
Filmmaker Steven De Castro will screen his award-winning documentary film FRED HO’S LAST YEAR, now available for academic license. What does it take for Asian American artists, mostly ignored, to make their mark? Controversial activist and avant garde composer Fred Ho, who passed away in April 2014, fought to overturn every field which he entered, … Read more
Alvin Tan will share his experiences on the effective use of community theatre. He will discuss The Necessary Stage’s devising and collaborative methodology, using some plays to illustrate how The Necessary Stage negotiates multiple cultural sensibilities, and the need to educate themselves before embarking on the artistic journey of theatre-making. One of the plays include … Read more
Russell C. Leong, former CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professor and current senior editor of international projects for the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, has produced his second picture book after a 50 year hiatus! For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Leong will read from his illustrated graphic poem (for adults and youth) based on his … Read more
Award-winning journalist and author Meet Me in Venice, Suzanne Ma will draw parallels between the Chinese experience in Italy and the Chinese-American experience and talk about the unique challenges she faced reporting and researching her book in China and in Europe. She will also tackle some hard questions: Is life better in the West? And … Read more