Keeping Up with the Nguyens: When Poor Immigrants Return to the Homeland

This lecture focuses on the social and personal sides of monetary flows in the Vietnamese diaspora. With few exceptions, the private use of money has been considered too personal and too mysterious for migration scholars to tackle, unless they examine “development issues,” such as daily household expenditures. Prof. Hung Cam Thai will focus on low-wage … Read more

Chinese Porcelain, Tea Ceremony & Guqin Music: Artistry for the Five Senses

With the ebb and flow of China’s long history comes the waxing and waning of the longstanding tradition in the production of porcelain. As we travel through the centuries from guan-ware of the Song to fen-cai enamelware of the late-Qing, Chinese porcelain is an embodiment of continual refinement through transmission, creative innovation, and practice. On … Read more

Asian/American Scholars of Education: 21st Century Pedagogies, Perspectives, and Experiences

Nicholas D. Hartlep and Daisy Ball will discuss their book Asian/American Scholars of Education: 21st Century Pedagogies, Perspectives, and Experiences, which shares the knowledge and travails of Asian/American luminaries in the field of education. This unique collection of essays acknowledges the struggle that Asian/American Education scholars have faced when it comes to being regarded as … Read more

Revisiting the 1960s, Globalization, Monopoly, and Art Outlaws: Yayoi Kusama and the Rise of the Global Art Market

Based on her 2015 book, Yayoi Kusama: Inventing the Singular, Prof. Midori Yamamura will discuss Japanese-born artist Yayoi Kusama and Jewish art dealer Leo Castelli, who both launched their careers in New York’s 1950s multicultural downtown scene, where immigrants from diverse backgrounds converged after the Second World War. By the early 1960s, Kusama was exhibiting … Read more

CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship 2017 Recipient

Mr. Peter Lee is an undergraduate student majoring in Anthropology at Brooklyn College/CUNY. As part of a year-long anthropological research project starting in Fall 2017, Mr. Lee will curate and complete an ethnographic photo collection that documents the practice of Chinese seniors who travel to long distances to casinos to redeem vouchers as a way of living. The project will critically examine the larger issues of poverty, aging, and the well-being within the Chinese community.

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