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Academic Version: Applying my personal experiences and academic research as a professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies to provide a more complete understanding of political, economic, and cultural issues and current events related to American race relations, and Asia/Asian America in particular.
Plain English: Trying to put my Ph.D. to good use.
Time Magazine has an article that summarizes many of the trials and tribulations young Asian Americans experience as they grow up Asian in America. These common experiences that many of them share include growing up in predominantly- or all-White neighborhoods and schools, enduring racial taunts from classmates, rejecting their Asian roots and culture so that they can fit into their Read More →
You may remember that Michelle Wie is the 16 year old Korean American phenom who is predicted to set the golf world on fire and become the female equivalent of Tiger Woods. Despite only turning pro recently, she has played in several men’s tournaments, including this past weekend’s Sony Open. Unfortunately, this past weekend, similar to all other men’s Read More →
The Daily Northwestern college newspaper has an article that discusses a very common phenomenon among Asian Americans: changing one’s original name to an “American” name that should be easier for non-Asians to pronounce:
Whether they immigrate to the U.S. or have parents from other countries, some students adopt more traditional American names for a host of reasons. . . . Adopting Read More →
The New York Times has an interesting article about Asian Americans — particularly recent immigrants — who, upon arrival into the U.S., are quickly assimilating into a particular unhealthy trend — eating too much junk food and putting themselves at greater risk for obesity and diabetes:
Asians, especially those from Far Eastern nations like China, Korea and Japan, are acutely susceptible to Read More →
What is up with Japan these days? Everywhere I look, I come across more and more examples that the Japanese are intent on deliberately antagonizing and alienating its Asian neighbors and the international community on various social issues. First, it’s the Japanese Prime Minister’s ongoing visits to a war shrine to honor Japanese war criminals during World War II. Read More →
As reported in National Geographic, based on evidence from two European archaeologists, there is increasing speculation that the human species may have originated not in Africa — as the scientific consensus has accepted — but in Asia:
Robin Dennell, of the University of Sheffield in England, and Wil Roebroeks, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, describe their ideas in the December 22 Read More →
The holidays are obviously over now, but in my regular reading of AngryAsianMan, I came across these two “collector” Barbie dolls: Geisha Barbie and Chinese New Year Barbie.
You can make up your own mind about whether or not this is a good thing. For me, it’s a little complicated because on several occasions, I’ve read how many Read More →
The New York Times reports that as China continues to modernize and forge its own path toward being an economic (and political) international superpower, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, much of its youth culture is actually influenced by South Korea:
From clothes to hairstyle, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of many Chinese and other Asians for the Read More →
ABC News has an article that many may find a little surprising — in the midst of India’s rise in recent years as the international capital of outsourced labor, there are increasing signs that this powerhouse is starting to sputter due to a lack of educated and English-proficient workers qualified to fill the jobs that have been outsourced into India:
Many of you have probably heard about Chinese American director Ang Lee’s latest movie Brokeback Mountain, a story about two cowboy ranch hands who have a gay love affair. In a recent issue of AsianWeek Magazine, Ang Lee discusses his thoughts on what Asians, gays, and cowboys share:
Question: Cowboys are not known for openly expressing their emotions. Asians share Read More →
As you may have heard and as many news organizations such as CBS News have reported, South Korea medical scientist Hwang Woo-suk has recently resigned from his university position after it was revealed that his research, which was initially touted as a breakthrough success in the area of stem cell research, was mostly if not entirely fabricated:
The York Times has an interesting article that described how many young Catholics are increasingly reluctant to enter the priesthood, but that Vietnamese Americans are the exception. Apparently, many young Vietnamese Americans are eager to become Roman Catholic priests:
At a time when fewer American Catholics are expressing interest in the priesthood, Vietnamese-American men are an anomaly. They are now Read More →
