Asian American / Asian Research Institute
The City University of New York
Based on his new book, this presentation explores the recent history of Chinese immigration within the United States and the fundamental changes in spatial settlement that have relocated many low-skilled Chinese immigrants from New York City’s Chinatown to new immigrant destinations.
Dr. Khánh Lê’s talk draws from his doctoral project with Vietnamese American youth in the Philadelphia area. During Fall 2020, the youth participated in eight workshops to learn about their Vietnamese history, culture and language, as well as their history in the U.S. The eight workshops utilized the arts and storytelling to guide the youth to collectively narrate their experiences living in the diaspora. The careful examination of the youth’s narratives during the workshops helped him develop a theory of what he called “transtrauma.”