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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.
As the spring semester gets underway at many colleges and universities around the country, that means that new groups of students get their first introduction to Asian American Studies. With that in mind, these recently-published books provide some more details and sociological context about the history and contemporary dynamics of the Asian American community.
Asian Americans are often stereotyped as the “model minority.” Their sizeable presence at elite universities and high household incomes have helped construct the narrative of Asian American “exceptionalism.” While many scholars and activists characterize this as a myth, pundits claim that Asian Americans’ educational attainment is the result of unique cultural values. In The Asian American Achievement Paradox, sociologists Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou offer a compelling account of the academic achievement of the children of Asian immigrants.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with the adult children of Chinese immigrants and Vietnamese refugees and survey data, Lee and Zhou bridge sociology and social psychology to explain how immigration laws, institutions, and culture interact to foster high achievement among certain Asian American groups. For the Chinese and Vietnamese in Los Angeles, Lee and Zhou find that the educational attainment of the second generation is strikingly similar, despite the vastly different socioeconomic profiles of their immigrant parents. Because immigration policies after 1965 favor individuals with higher levels of education and professional skills, many Asian immigrants are highly educated when they arrive in the United States.
They bring a specific “success frame,” which is strictly defined as earning a degree from an elite university and working in a high-status field. This success frame is reinforced in many local Asian communities, which make resources such as college preparation courses and tutoring available to group members, including their low-income members. While the success frame accounts for part of Asian Americans’ high rates of achievement, Lee and Zhou also find that institutions, such as public schools, are crucial in supporting the cycle of Asian American achievement. Teachers and guidance counselors, for example, who presume that Asian American students are smart, disciplined, and studious, provide them with extra help and steer them toward competitive academic programs.
These institutional advantages, in turn, lead to better academic performance and outcomes among Asian American students. Yet the expectations of high achievement come with a cost: the notion of Asian American success creates an “achievement paradox” in which Asian Americans who do not fit the success frame feel like failures or racial outliers. While pundits ascribe Asian American success to the assumed superior traits intrinsic to Asian culture, Lee and Zhou show how historical, cultural, and institutional elements work together to confer advantages to specific populations. An insightful counter to notions of culture based on stereotypes, The Asian American Achievement Paradox offers a deft and nuanced understanding how and why certain immigrant groups succeed.
A New History of Asian America is a fresh and up-to-date history of Asians in the United States from the late eighteenth century to the present. Drawing on current scholarship, Shelley Lee brings forward the many strands of Asian American history, highlighting the distinctive nature of the Asian American experience while placing the narrative in the context of the major trajectories and turning points of U.S. history. Covering the history of Filipinos, Koreans, Asian Indians, and Southeast Indians as well as Chinese and Japanese, the book gives full attention to the diversity within Asian America.
A robust companion website features additional resources for students, including primary documents, a timeline, links, videos, and an image gallery. From the building of the transcontinental railroad to the celebrity of Jeremy Lin, people of Asian descent have been involved in and affected by the history of America. A New History of Asian America gives twenty-first-century students a clear, comprehensive, and contemporary introduction to this vital history.
Born out of the Civil Rights and Third World Liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s, Asian American Studies has grown significantly over the past four decades, both as a distinct field of inquiry and as a potent site of critique. Characterized by transnational, trans-Pacific, and trans-hemispheric considerations of race, ethnicity, migration, immigration, gender, sexuality, and class, this multidisciplinary field engages with a set of concepts profoundly shaped by past and present histories of racialization and social formation.
The keywords included in this collection are central to social sciences, humanities, and cultural studies and reflect the ways in which Asian American Studies has transformed scholarly discourses, research agendas, and pedagogical frameworks.Spanning multiple histories, numerous migrations, and diverse populations, Keywords for Asian American Studies reconsiders and recalibrates the ever-shifting borders of Asian American studies as a distinctly interdisciplinary field.
While there are books on racism in universities, few examine the unique position of Asian American undergraduates. This new book captures the voices and experiences of Asian Americans navigating the currents of race, gender, and sexuality as factors in how youth construct relationships and identities. Interviews with 70 Asian Americans on an elite American campus show how students negotiate the sexualized racism of a large institution. The authors emphasize the students’ resilience and their means of resistance for overcoming the impact of structural racism.
In the past fifty years, Asian Americans have helped change the face of America and are now the fastest growing group in the United States. But as award-winning historian Erika Lee reminds us, Asian Americans also have deep roots in the country. The Making of Asian America tells the little-known history of Asian Americans and their role in American life, from the arrival of the first Asians in the Americas to the present-day.
An epic history of global journeys and new beginnings, this book shows how generations of Asian immigrants and their American-born descendants have made and remade Asian American life in the United States: sailors who came on the first trans-Pacific ships in the 1500s; indentured “coolies” who worked alongside African slaves in the Caribbean; and Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, and South Asian immigrants who were recruited to work in the United States only to face massive racial discrimination, Asian exclusion laws, and for Japanese Americans, incarceration during World War II.
Over the past fifty years, a new Asian America has emerged out of community activism and the arrival of new immigrants and refugees. No longer a “despised minority,” Asian Americans are now held up as America’s “model minorities” in ways that reveal the complicated role that race still plays in the United States. Published to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the United States’ Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that has remade our “nation of immigrants,” this is a new and definitive history of Asian Americans. But more than that, it is a new way of understanding America itself, its complicated histories of race and immigration, and its place in the world today.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues, with a particular focus on Asian Americans. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
The Asian American Studies Program at Hunter College is currently seeking adjunct faculty for the fall 2014 semester, to teach the three courses listed below. We need to fill these courses ASAP, since the semester begins August 28. Please note that these courses are fully enrolled and scheduled, so days/times cannot be changed.
Candidates must have a graduate degree in a relevant field (M.A., M.F.A., PhD/ABD) and a stellar record of teaching at the undergraduate level. We are looking for faculty who are committed to public education and the critical teaching of Asian American Studies to a socioeconomically and racially diverse urban student population. The Asian American Studies Program at Hunter College offers a 12-credit minor and is a small but dynamic program, with extraordinarily dedicated faculty. For more information about the program, please visit our website at www.hunter.cuny.edu/aasp
Please submit CV, cover letter, and teaching statement via email to:
Jennifer Hayashida, Director
Asian American Studies Program
jennifer.hayashida@hunter.cuny.edu
ASIAN 210.00
Asians in the US
M/TH 11:10 – 12:25
There are today nearly 1.2 million Asian American New Yorkers, making up approximately 14% of the city’s population. Asians in the U.S. provides a critical introduction to Asian American history and contemporary experience, frequently omitted or marginalized in mainstream narratives about the origins and ongoing formation of the U.S. With a focus on intersectional analysis and attention to constructions of race, class, gender, and sexuality, students in this course engage in active reading and discussion to become closely familiar with historic and contemporary issues in Asian American communities; the social construction of race in the U.S.; and Asian American political, economic, and cultural contributions to the larger fabric of U.S. culture. Key topics include, but are not limited to: Orientalism; the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act; Japanese American Internment; pan-Asian and cross-racial political activism; post-9/11 detention and deportation; Asian American cultural production; postcolonial theory; critical race studies; media representations; U.S. wars in Asia; and transnational adoption.
ASIAN 340.01
Asian Pacific American Media
M/TH 1:10 – 2:25
This course will explore and critically analyze representations of Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs) in the media, including stereotypical images of APIA identity, culture, behavior, sexuality and history, as well as media that contests or subverts these dominant narratives. This course will examine how political, social, and cultural forces have affected Asian American participation in the media and how these forces have shaped APIA media representations. Through class readings and analyzing films and other media, we will utilize frameworks on immigration, nationalism and citizenship, race, ethnicity, gender, capitalism, class, sexuality and transnationalism, all within the social construction of race in the United States both historically and currently.
ASIAN 390.18
Asian American Poetics
Wed 10:10 – 1:00
This course will provide a broad survey of contemporary poetry by Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs). This course will examine how assumptions and dominant narratives about APIA identity, culture, behavior, sexuality and history—and our own values and belief systems about what poetry is—affect both the reading and availability of APIA poetry. We will also read critical essays and other texts to contextualize readings of poetry and class discussion. This course strives to equip students with a framework to both read and relate to poetry as an artistic discipline as well as a framework with which to use poetry as a means to connect individual and collective expression within a broader social, political, migratory, historical, colonial and/or neoliberal context. Works explored will include both Asian American canonical poetry, experimental and other schools of poetry, and poetry that contests or subverts the dominant narratives. Students will also be given the opportunity to participate directly in the creative process by writing their own poetry and other creative work.
Call for Papers: Race and Contention in 21st Century U.S. Media Book Proposal
In the 21st century, colorblind ideology permeates all structures and institutions of society, including the institution of media. While representations of minorities continue to reflect contentious stereotypes and ideologies, these characters reflect the racial
order in which they were produced. To date, much has been written on the topic of minority representation in the media. However, there have been fewer critical works on the ways in which increased minority characters are created within contemporary media structures, and the ways in which these representations reflect a normative racial ideology.
In Race and Contention in 21st Century U.S. Media, we strive to address the ways in which minority characters have broken the historical limitations of representation in 21st century mainstream/popular media. Through the works presented in this anthology, we will acknowledge the power of dominant values and ideologies in non-normative racial/gender representations, and the types of characterizations these representations reproduce. We contend that these representations have direct consequences on contemporary racial ideologies and hierarchies.
We seek both theoretical and empirical submissions that address minority representations in a variety of post-2000 media – including film, television, music, news media, and online/new media. Please submit your completed chapter (5000-7000 words), OR a chapter proposal (500-750 words, including your research question, key literature, and conclusions) to the editors by August 30, 2014. Authors will be notified by October 2014 if their proposals have been accepted for the book prospectus. For more information and to submit proposals, contact Jason Smith (jsm5@gmu.edu) and Bhoomi K. Thakore (bhoomi.thakore@northwestern.edu).
The Department of Sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs at Syracuse University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position to begin Fall 2015. We seek a scholar with a strong background and interest in qualitative methods, and a research focus on the social problems of citizenship, including political, cultural, and legal structures of community. The department seeks candidates with teaching interests in political sociology, social movements, or ethnographic/ qualitative methods. Preference will be given to candidates who contribute to Maxwell School-wide priorities.
Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Sociology or a related discipline by the time of appointment and must show success in or a strong promise of scholarly achievement and productivity, as well as a commitment to graduate and undergraduate teaching. Faculty members have the opportunity to affiliate with one of the Maxwell School’s research institutes or a number of other interdisciplinary centers and We will begin reviewing applications on September 15 and continue until the position is For consideration, interested candidates must apply online at www.sujobopps.com
Candidates must attach a letter of interest, vita, and one publication or writing sample. Three letters of recommendation are required. Other materials may be requested if needed.
The Asian American Commission represents the interests of Asian Americans throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is dedicated to advocacy on behalf of Asian Americans throughout Massachusetts. The Commission’s goal is to recognize and highlight the vital contributions of Asian Americans to the social, cultural, economic, and political life of the Commonwealth; to identify and address the needs and challenges facing residents of Asian ancestry; and topromote the well-being of this dynamic and diverse community, thereby advancing the interests of all persons who call Massachusetts home.
The 21 Commissioners of the Asian American Commission, appointed by the constitutional state officers, makeup this governing body. The ED is a commissioner-appointed position. The ED reports to the Commissioners and is responsiblefor the Commission’s financial stability and achievement of its mission. Some of the ED’s activities include, but are not limited to:
Organizational responsibilities:
Develop and execute current and long-term organizational goals and objectives as well as policies and procedures
Cultivate open and active communications between the Commission and state offices
Promote state officer support of Commission initiatives, activities, and events
Encourage an active Commission where all members will participate fully
Ensure the Commissioners’ terms are kept current and lead the recruitment process of new Commissioners
Convene regular meetings and prepare agenda items
Review and update internal policies to maintain compliance with state laws
Work closely with the Executive Officers of the Commission
Manage and oversee fundraising efforts
Other administrative duties as necessary
Financial Responsibilities:
Manage fundraising goals and activities, including the annual Unity Dinner
Develop and maintain sound financial practices
Explore alternative funding and grants from government and nonprofit sources
Community Responsibilities:
Provide quality programming that promotes the Commission’s identity
Establish working relationships with community organizations
Respond to and manage incoming and outgoing communications and be an effective voice for the Commission
Applicants must have a college degree. A successful candidate should be articulate, energetic, and enthusiastic about being an active participant in the Massachusetts Asian American community. Strong project leadership and interpersonal skills are essential. 3-5 years of experience, or the equivalent, in the management of a community non-profit and/or for-profit organization, government agency, or business, is preferred. A graduate degree in business management or government is a plus. Good working knowledge of Boston-based, regional, and state Asian American community organizations is optimal.
Salary is $40K with benefits. Time commitment is 0.75 Full Time Equivalent. Send your resume (3-page limit) and cover letter (1-page limit) to job@aacommission.org with subject “Job Opportunity.”
Position: Sociology, U.C. Riverside
University of California, Riverside. The Department of Sociology invites applications for an Assistant Professor position in medical sociology and/or population health beginning July 1, 2015. We seek a scholar with an emphasis in disparities of health and/or health care linked to gender, race, class, ethnicity and/or immigrant status, as well as candidates who can add to existing strengths within the Department of Sociology, while also offering the potential for collaboration with UCR’s new School of Medicine. Competitive candidates will demonstrate a strong record of publication, a commitment to extramural funding, and teaching excellence.
UC Riverside ranks among the top 5 PhD granting institutions nation-wide in racial and ethnic diversity. Thus, competitive candidates will possess a strong commitment to pedagogical excellence in a diverse context at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Successful candidates will be qualified to teach quantitative or qualitative methods at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Supervision of graduate students, curricular development and performance of Departmental and University service are also expected.
A PhD in Sociology is preferred prior to the appointment start date. Applications received by October 1, 2014, will receive full consideration. The position will remain open until filled. To apply, submit a letter of application, research and teaching statement, three letters of recommendations, and up to three writing samples to https://aprecruit.ucr.edu/apply/JPF00163. Address inquiries to the search committee chair, Matthew C. Mahutga, Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside. matthew.mahutga@ucr.edu.
The States of Southeast Asian American Studies
Southeast Asians in Diaspora Conference | October 2 & 3, 2014
The fourth triennial Southeast Asians in the Diaspora Conference will take place at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities on October 2-3, 2014. The conditions that “brought the field into being” have shifted in light of recent events and new scholarship across various fields and communities. Hosting this event in Minnesota is significant given the vibrant Southeast Asian population in the state.
Minnesota has experienced dramatic demographic shifts over the past few decades, becoming an immigration hub for people from Southeast Asia and elsewhere. This timely event will bring together scholars, artists, activists, and other members of Southeast Asian American communities to consider the past, present, and future of these communities.
Please visit our website to view schedule, speaker, and registration information. We encourage you to register by September 15, 2014. The program has not yet been finalized so please visit the site for updates and changes. For those traveling from out of town, you will find accommodations information here. We encourage you to book your rooms soon to ensure you receive the conference rate.
Please email us with any questions: SEADconference2014@gmail.com.
Position: Sociology, American University
Department of Sociology Assistant Professor Multiple Fields/Theory
The Department of Sociology, College of Arts & Sciences, at American University (Washington, D.C.), invites applications for a tenure line appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin August 2015. The department seeks candidates with expertise in health, urban sociology, immigration and globalization or social inequality and with ability and interest to teach sociological theory. Responsibilities will include active scholarship in the area(s) of specialization and teaching two courses per semester, including theory and at least one graduate course each academic year. Preference will be given to candidates with the potential to contribute to the Department and University’s growing emphasis on externally funded research.
Please send application materials (curriculum vitae, letter describing research and teaching interests and experiences, statement of teaching philosophy, teaching evaluations, (p)reprints, and at least three letters of reference) to: socio@american.edu with the subject line, “Faculty Search”. Electronic submissions are preferred; applications may also be mailed to: Search Committee Chair, Department of Sociology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016-8072. Review of applications will begin by October 6, 2014 and will continue until the position is filled.
American University is an Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status. Women and minority candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. American University offers employee benefits to same-sex domestic partners of employees and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation/preference and gender identity/expression.
We are emailing you to let you know about the current redistricting issue in Los Angeles Koreatown. The Korean American Coalition is organizing a campaign called “Who Killed Koreatown?” to raise awareness of how the city ignored thousands of requests to keep Koreatown whole and drew district lines to influence future elections, cutting Koreatown into two. As a result, Koreatown has no representative to advocate for the community, and residents still lack basic services like community centers and parks. Several Koreatown residents filed a lawsuit against the city to address the many injustices against their community.
The lawsuit is not only about Koreatown, but also about the disenfranchisement of a community and the need for Asian American representation. You can read up on the lawsuit in the KoreaAm article and our media page. We have also created a FAQ that summarizes the issues as well. We are currently working on a video and a crowdfunding campaign to fundraise for legal fees associated with the lawsuit.
Thank you,
Eric Kim
Miriam Cho
Post-Doc: Race & Ethnicity, Indiana Univ.
The Center for Research on Race & Ethnicity in Society (CRRES) at Indiana University, Bloomington is pleased to accept applications for two Postdoctoral Fellowships for scholars studying race and ethnicity from a broad range of social science fields, including (but not limited to) African American Studies, American Studies, Asian American Studies, Anthropology, Economics, Geography, History, Native American Studies, Latino Studies, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology.
The CRRES postdoctoral fellowship program aims to create a legacy of scholars who will be positioned to address issues related to race and ethnicity using a multidisciplinary lens. These fellowships are designed to nurture the academic careers of new scholars by providing opportunities to pursue research while gaining mentored experience as teachers, CRRES fellows, and members of the faculty in host departments. Strong applicants will demonstrate evidence of scholarship potentially competitive for tenure-track appointments at Indiana University and other research universities.
Terms of Agreement Fellows are expected to pursue research activities associated with their primary area, as demonstrated by conference presentations and published work. Fellows will also teach two courses in their home departments during each year of their residency, and are expected to participate in CRRES activities and in seminars in their home departments.
The positions are available for two years beginning August 1, 2015 through May 31, 2017, at a 10-month starting salary of $51,500. Each postdoctoral fellow will also receive $3,000 each year in research support and Indiana University health benefits. Fellows are allocated office space with basic office supplies, and a computer and printer.
Application Process We invite applications from qualified candidates who are at the beginning of their academic careers, having received the Ph.D. in 2013 or 2014 but who do not yet hold tenure-track academic positions. Candidates who do not hold a Ph.D. but expect to by June 30, 2015 must provide a letter from the chair of their dissertation committee, confirming the proposed timeline for completion. All applicants must file their dissertations no later than June 30, 2015.
Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, personal statement (3,000 words describing dissertation project, work in progress, professional goals and plans for publication, and proposed major field[s] of teaching), writing sample, and three letters of reference. If available, applicants may also submit materials demonstrating their aptitude as teachers. Following review by the CRRES postdoctoral committee, strong applications will be circulated to relevant departments. We prefer that applications be submitted online at http://indiana.peopleadmin.com.
Materials sent by mail or any questions regarding the position or application process can be directed to: Dina Okamoto, Search Committee Chair, Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society, Indiana University – Schuessler Institute for Social Research 209, 1022 E. Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 or crres@indiana.edu. Applications received by November 10, 2014 will receive full consideration.
Among Asians and Asian Americans, “community” can take many different forms, whether it refers to the historical and contemporary dynamics of enclaves or diasporic and imagined frameworks of identity. As a reflection of this, the following books examine different examples and aspects of this emerging trend.
Based on more than a decade of research, Making a Global Immigrant Neighborhood charts the evolution of Sunset Park–with a densely concentrated working-poor and racially diverse immigrant population–from the late 1960s to its current status as one of New York City’s most vibrant neighborhoods.
Tarry Hum shows how processes of globalization, such as shifts in low-wage labor markets and immigration patterns, shaped the neighborhood. She explains why Sunset Park’s future now depends on Asian and Latino immigrant collaborations in advancing common interests in community building, civic engagement, entrepreneurialism, and sustainability planning. She shows, too, how residents’ responses to urban development policies and projects and the capital represented by local institutions and banks foster community activism.
Hum pays close attention to the complex social, political, and spatial dynamics that forge a community and create new models of leadership as well as coalitions. The evolution of Sunset Park so astutely depicted in this book suggests new avenues for studying urban change and community development.
In the early twentieth century—not long after 1898, when the United States claimed the Philippines as an American colony—Filipinas/os became a vital part of the agricultural economy of California’s fertile San Joaquin Delta. In downtown Stockton, they created Little Manila, a vibrant community of hotels, pool halls, dance halls, restaurants, grocery stores, churches, union halls, and barbershops.
Little Manila was home to the largest community of Filipinas/os outside of the Philippines until the neighborhood was decimated by urban redevelopment in the 1960s. Narrating a history spanning much of the twentieth century, Dawn Bohulano Mabalon traces the growth of Stockton’s Filipina/o American community, the birth and eventual destruction of Little Manila, and recent efforts to remember and preserve it.
Mabalon draws on oral histories, newspapers, photographs, personal archives, and her own family’s history in Stockton. She reveals how Filipina/o immigrants created a community and ethnic culture shaped by their identities as colonial subjects of the United States, their racialization in Stockton as brown people, and their collective experiences in the fields and in the Little Manila neighborhood. In the process, Mabalon places Filipinas/os at the center of the development of California agriculture and the urban West.
In the final years of the nineteenth century, small groups of Muslim peddlers arrived at Ellis Island every summer, bags heavy with embroidered silks from their home villages in Bengal. The American demand for “Oriental goods” took these migrants on a curious path, from New Jersey’s beach boardwalks into the heart of the segregated South. Two decades later, hundreds of Indian Muslim seamen began jumping ship in New York and Baltimore, escaping the engine rooms of British steamers to find less brutal work onshore.
Koreans are one of the fastest-growing visible minority groups in Canada today. However, very few studies of their experiences in Canada or their paths of integration are available to public and academic communities. Korean Immigrants in Canada provides the first scholarly collection of papers on Korean immigrants and their offspring from interdisciplinary, social scientific perspectives.
The contributors explore the historical, psychological, social, and economic dimensions of Korean migration, settlement, and integration across the country. A variety of important topics are covered, including the demographic profile of Korean-Canadians, immigrant entrepreneurship, mental health and stress, elder care, language maintenance, and the experiences of students and the second generation. Readers will find interconnecting themes and synthesized findings throughout the chapters. Most importantly, this collection serves as a platform for future research on Koreans in Canada.
In the late 1870s, thousands of Chinese men left coastal British Columbia and the western United States and headed east. For these men, the Prairies were a land of opportunity: there, they could open shops, and potentially earn enough money to marry. The result of almost a decade’s research and more than three hundred interviews, Cultivating Connections tells the stories of some of prairie Canada’s Chinese settlers – across the generations, between the genders, and through cultural difference. These stories reveal the critical importance of networks of belonging within these communities in coping with experiences of racism and establishing a successful life on the Prairies.
I am teaching my “Sociology of Immigration” course again this semester and to reflect the importance of this issue within the public and political realms of U.S. society at the moment, below are some recently-released books that highlight the multidimensional and interrelated aspects of immigration to the U.S. these days. As always, a book’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its contents.
In 2010, the governor of Arizona signed a controversial immigration bill (SB 1070) that led to a news media frenzy, copycat bills in twenty-two states, and a U.S. Supreme Court battle that put Arizona at the cross-hairs of the immigration debate. Arizona Firestorm brings together well-respected experts from across the political spectrum to examine and contextualize the political, economic, historical, and legal issues prompted by this and other anti-Latino and anti-immigrant legislation and state actions. It also addresses the news media’s role in shaping immigration discourse in Arizona and around the globe. Arizona is a case study of the roots and impact of the 21st century immigration challenge. Arizona Firestorm will be of interest to scholars and students in communication, public policy, state politics, federalism, and anyone interested in immigration policy or Latino politics.
Education is a crucially important social institution, closely correlated with wealth, occupational prestige, psychological well-being, and health outcomes. Moreover, for children of immigrants – who account for almost one in four school-aged children in the U.S. – it is the primary means through which they become incorporated into American society. This insightful new book explores the educational outcomes of post-1965 immigrants and their children.
Tracing the historical context and key contemporary scholarship on immigration, the authors examine issues such as structural versus cultural theories of education stratification, the overlap of immigrant status with race and ethnicity, and the role of language in educational outcomes. Throughout, the authors pay attention to the great diversity among immigrants: some arrive with PhDs to work as research professors, while others arrive with a primary school education and no English skills to work as migrant laborers. As immigrants come from an ever-increasing array of races, ethnicities, and national origins, immigrant assimilation is more complex than ever before, and education is central to their adaptation to American society.
Widening global inequalities make it difficult for parents in developing nations to provide for their children, and both mothers and fathers often find that migration in search of higher wages is their only hope. Their dreams are straightforward: with more money, they can improve their children’s lives. But the reality of their experiences is often harsh, and structural barriers—particularly those rooted in immigration policies and gender inequities—prevent many from reaching their economic goals.
Sacrificing Families offers a first-hand look at Salvadoran transnational families, how the parents fare in the United States, and the experiences of the children back home. It captures the tragedy of these families’ daily living arrangements, but also delves deeper to expose the structural context that creates and sustains patterns of inequality in their well-being. What prevents these parents from migrating with their children? What are these families’ experiences with long-term separation? And why do some ultimately fare better than others?
As free trade agreements expand and nation-states open doors widely for products and profits while closing them tightly for refugees and migrants, these transnational families are not only becoming more common, but they are living through lengthier separations. Leisy Abrego gives voice to these immigrants and their families and documents the inequalities across their experiences.
The rapid rise in the proportion of foreign-born residents in the U.S. since the mid-1960s is one of the most important demographic events of the past fifty years. The increase in immigration, especially among the less-skilled and less-educated, has prompted fears that the newcomers may have depressed the wages and employment of the native-born, burdened state and local budgets, and slowed the U.S. economy as a whole.
Would the poverty rate be lower in the absence of immigration? How does the undocumented status of an increasing segment of the foreign-born population impact wages in the U.S.? In Immigration, Poverty and Socioeconomic Inequality, noted labor economists David Card and Steven Raphael and an interdisciplinary team of scholars provide a comprehensive assessment of the costs and benefits of the latest era of immigration to the U.S. Immigration, Poverty and Socioeconomic Inequality rigorously explores shifts in population trends, labor market competition, and socioeconomic segregation to investigate how the recent rise in immigration affects economic disadvantage in the U.S.
Race and Immigration, by Nazli Kibria, Cara Bowman, and Megan O’Leary (Polity Press)
Immigration has long shaped US society in fundamental ways. With Latinos recently surpassing African Americans as the largest minority group in the U.S., attention has been focused on the important implications of immigration for the character and role of race in U.S. life, including patterns of racial inequality and racial identity.
This insightful new book offers a fresh perspective on immigration and its part in shaping the racial landscape of the US today. Moving away from one-dimensional views of this relationship, it emphasizes the dynamic and mutually formative interactions of race and immigration. Drawing on a wide range of studies, it explores key aspects of the immigrant experience, such as the history of immigration laws, the formation of immigrant occupational niches, and developments of immigrant identity and community. Specific topics covered include: the perceived crisis of unauthorized immigration; the growth of an immigrant rights movement; the role of immigrant labor in the elder care industry; the racial strategies of professional immigrants; and the formation of pan-ethnic Latino identities.
Immigrant rights activist Aviva Chomsky shows how “illegality” and “undocumentedness” are concepts that were created to exclude and exploit. With a focus on US policy, she probes how and why people, especially Mexican and Central Americans, have been assigned this status—and to what ends. Blending history with human drama, Chomsky explores what it means to be undocumented in a legal, social, economic, and historical context. She also unmasks how undocumented people live—how they work, what social services they’re eligible for, and how being undocumented affects the lives of children and families. Undocumented turns a fresh lens onto one of today’s most pressing debates.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues, with a particular focus on Asian Americans. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
In its twelfth season, the successful Armed With a Camera (AWC) Fellowship for Emerging Media Artists nurtures the next generation of Asian Pacific American media artists to capture their world, surroundings and outlook on life. Visual Communications works with the Fellows for seven months and provides special training, mentoring and networking opportunities, access to facilities and equipment, plus a cash and rental stipend to create four to five-minute digital shorts that premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and other venues nationwide.
The 2013-2014 Armed With A Camera Fellowship is accepting submissions May 15 – August 2, 2013. Up to 10 artists will be selected for the Fellowship. We will announce the new class of Fellows in September.
Visual Communications (VC) seeks to cultivate a new generation of Asian Pacific American media artists committed to preserving the legacy and vision of VC. The Armed With A Camera Fellowship will award up to ten fellows $1,000 in cash and $1,000 in equipment rental to complete a four to five-minute digital video. Through the Armed With A Camera Fellowship, emerging media artists will capture their world, surroundings and outlook on life as a part of a new generation of Asian Pacific Americans.
Final projects must be shot in digital video format and completed by March 21, 2014. A special program will showcase all completed projects at various VC exhibitions across the city of Los Angeles, including the 2014 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and other venues nationwide. VC will co-own the productions and will also package and distribute completed works. Distribution income will aid in the continuation of the Armed with a Camera Fellowship.
Applicant Eligibility
Eligible applicants must be of Asian Pacific descent and residents of Southern California. If accepted, Fellows must be able to attend mandatory meetings and workshops in Los Angeles. Women, South Asian and Southeast Asian filmmakers are highly encouraged to apply to the AWC Fellowship. If you’re not sure of your eligibility, please contact Visual Communications.
My name is Brianna Werner, and I am a research assistant to Dr. Frances Shen, a faculty member at the University of Illinois Springfield. We are in need of university student participants to complete a survey on the impact of discrimination on Asian American LGB persons.
We are seeking individuals who (1) identify as Asian American, (2) identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, and (3) are at least 18 years of age to complete a confidential web-based survey that will ask you about the impact of discrimination on Asian American LGB persons.
The entire study should take approximately 30-40 minutes. The answers you provide will be kept completely confidential. You will not be asked to provide your name on the inventory. This research has been reviewed and approved by the UIS Human Subjects Review Officer, Dr. Lynn Pardie. Dr. Pardie can be reached at 217-206-7230 to answer any questions about your rights as a volunteer participant in this study.
As a thank you, participants who complete the survey can enter into a lottery drawing to win one of four $25 gift certificates or one of four $50 gift certificates.
For more information about the study, and to participate, please go to https://illinois.edu/sb/sec/4852751.
You are invited to participate in a study exploring relationships among People of Color. The requirements are as follows: you must be 18 years of age or older; a Person of Color, and be involved in an interracial relationship for a minimum of one year. Participation in this study is voluntary and anonymous and you will not be compensated.
If you would like to participate or have any questions please contact Magie S. Maekawa at magiemaekawa@gmail.com or click on the following hyperlink: https://csulapsychology.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ebQFLDRt1n30oHX.
Call for Papers: Submit your manuscript for publication in Race and Social Problems.
We welcome manuscripts that explore, but are not limited to, such topics as criminal justice, economic conditions, education, the elderly, families, health disparities, mental health, race relations, and youth.
To submit a manuscript, please visit www.crsp.pitt.edu/publications/CallForPapers.pdf. Articles in the journal are available for free online at http://link.springer.com/journal/12552. In 2014, there will be a special issue on Asian Americans. You may submit your manuscript to www.crsp.pitt.edu/publications/SpecialIssueCallforPapers2013-2.pdf.
Expected future special issues of Race and Social Problems include the following:
Women of Color, 2015
Race and Religiosity, 2016
Race and Education, 2017
Race and Aging, 2018
As another contributing author to the Asian-Nation team, I would like to introduce Jerry Z. Park.
Jerry Z. Park is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Baylor University. His research interests are in American race relations, religion, social identities, culture and civic engagement, with a focus on Asian Americans. He has published peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Social Forces, The Sociological Quarterly, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sociological Perspectives, and Journal of Asian American Studies.
He has participated in obtaining the Asian American oversample of the Portraits of American Life Survey Wave I (2006) and has been a regular contributor of the Baylor Religion Surveys (2005-2013). In 2012, he served as an advisory panel member of the Pew Asian American Survey and is currently studying the religious influences in workplace outcomes and in entrepreneurial enterprises through a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Below is a solicitation for respondents for an online survey about Southeast Asian American college students and recent graduates.
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Dear Dr. Le:
We are conducting a study on the lived experiences of Southeast Asian American undergraduate students and recent graduates to understand how they navigated to and through higher education. The insights gained from this research may have implications for how faculty, administrators, and policymakers create supportive environments for and improve student success among Southeast Asian American students in Massachusetts.
We are using criterion sampling to recruit and identify participants for individual interviews. Interviews will last approximately 2 hours. If you are a Southeast Asian American college student or recent graduate, please fill out this short questionnaire to find out if you qualify to participate in the study.
Participation is totally voluntary and your responses will be kept confidential. After you have completed the questionnaire, we will let you know if you will be selected for interviews. Participants who complete the interview process will be given a $20 gift card as an honorarium. Please email us with any questions or concerns.
Below are some recently-released books that highlight the challenges and the rewards associated with racial/ethnic diversity in U.S. society. Almost all types of heterogeneity is likely to produce strain and tension, but if dealt with in certain ways, can also result in many positive changes and greater cohesion as well. These books provide some glimpses into how these dynamics are taking place as we speak. A book’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its contents.
The sweeping forces of globalization present new challenges for higher education but also represent a clear mandate for change. Because of the unfinished business of remedying the underrepresentation of minorities and women in higher education, this book is designed to assist campus leaders and educators in the difficult process of cultural transformation in support of diversity and inclusion. The book explores the model of reciprocal empowerment as a moral framework linking the institution’s values, culture, and workplace practices to the outside world through the prism of diversity.
Bridging the Diversity Divide is a practical guide that provides concrete approaches to the creation of a genuinely inclusive campus. Its focus is on research-based strategies that will enable institutions of higher education to assess current practices, create successful action plans, and move beyond structural representation to true reciprocal empowerment. The measurement strategies, organizational learning tools, and best practices included here will assist institutions of higher education in building a flexible repertoire of institutional approaches to reciprocal empowerment and inclusion.
Only by systemic organizational change will universities bridge the diversity divide and create a campus culture that values and celebrates the contributions of all its members. This is a must-read for educators seeking to translate diversity principles into practice.
Postville is an obscure meatpacking town in the northeast corner of Iowa. Here, in the most unlikely of places, unparalleled diversity drew international media. Now people declare the town’s experiment in multiculturalism dead. It was not native Iowans, or the newly-arrived Orthodox Jews, or the immigrant workers who made Postville fail.
Postville was stopped in its tracks by a massive raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on May 12th 2008. 20% of the population was arrested, forcing the closure of the town’s kosher meatpacking plant. The raid exposed the disastrous enforcement of immigration policy, the exploitation of Postville by activists, and disturbing questions about the packing house’s operators.
This innovative work provides a new model for the analysis of ethnic and racial settlement patterns in the United States and Canada. Ethnoburbs — suburban ethnic clusters of residential areas and business districts in large metropolitan areas — are multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual, and often multinational communities in which one ethnic minority group has a significant concentration but does not necessarily constitute a majority. Wei Li documents the processes that have evolved with the spatial transformation of the Chinese American community of Los Angeles and that have converted the San Gabriel Valley into ethnoburbs in the latter half of the twentieth century, and she examines the opportunities and challenges that occurred as a result of these changes.
Traditional ethnic and immigrant settlements customarily take the form of either ghettos or enclaves. Thus the majority of scholarly publications and mass media covering the San Gabriel Valley has described it as a Chinatown located in Los Angeles’ suburbs. Li offers a completely different approach to understanding and analyzing this fascinating place. By conducting interviews with residents, a comparative spatial examination of census data and other statistical sources, and fieldwork—coupled with her own holistic view of the area—Li gives readers an effective and fine-tuned socio-spatial analysis of the evolution of a new type of racially defined place. The San Gabriel Valley tells a unique story, but its evolution also speaks to those experiencing a similar type of ethnic and racial conurbation. In sum, Li sheds light on processes that are shaping other present (and future) ethnically and racially diverse communities.
Understanding of cultural diversity is essential to a healthy multicultural society. Fundamental to this book’s approach is the belief that a comparative, cross-cultural view of human differences and similarities enhances understanding of diversity and multiculturalism within contemporary North America.
On Being Different provides an up-to-date, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary account of diversity and multiculturalism in the United States and Canada. Conrad Kottak and Kathryn Kozaitis clarify essential issues, themes, and topics in the study of diversity, including ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. The book also presents an original theory of multiculturalism, showing how human agency and culture work to organize and change society. The authors use rich and varied ethnographic examples, from North America and abroad, to help students apply the material to their own lives, and thus gain a better understanding of diversity and multiculturalism.
More than forty years have passed since Congress, in response to the Civil Rights Movement, enacted sweeping antidiscrimination laws in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. As a signal achievement of that legacy, in 2008, Americans elected their first African American president. Some would argue that we have finally arrived at a postracial America, but The Imperative of Integration indicates otherwise.
Elizabeth Anderson demonstrates that, despite progress toward racial equality, African Americans remain disadvantaged on virtually all measures of well-being. Segregation remains a key cause of these problems, and Anderson skillfully shows why racial integration is needed to address these issues. Weaving together extensive social science findings–in economics, sociology, and psychology–with political theory, this book provides a compelling argument for reviving the ideal of racial integration to overcome injustice and inequality, and to build a better democracy.
Considering the effects of segregation and integration across multiple social arenas, Anderson exposes the deficiencies of racial views on both the right and the left. She reveals the limitations of conservative explanations for black disadvantage in terms of cultural pathology within the black community and explains why color blindness is morally misguided. Multicultural celebrations of group differences are also not enough to solve our racial problems. Anderson provides a distinctive rationale for affirmative action as a tool for promoting integration, and explores how integration can be practiced beyond affirmative action.
Offering an expansive model for practicing political philosophy in close collaboration with the social sciences, this book is a trenchant examination of how racial integration can lead to a more robust and responsive democracy.
Between the early 1900s and the late 1950s, the attitudes of white Californians toward their Asian American neighbors evolved from outright hostility to relative acceptance. Charlotte Brooks examines this transformation through the lens of California’s urban housing markets, arguing that the perceived foreignness of Asian Americans, which initially stranded them in segregated areas, eventually facilitated their integration into neighborhoods that rejected other minorities.
Against the backdrop of cold war efforts to win Asian hearts and minds, whites who saw little difference between Asians and Asian Americans increasingly advocated the latter group’s access to middle-class life and the residential areas that went with it. But as they transformed Asian Americans into a “model minority,†whites purposefully ignored the long backstory of Chinese and Japanese Americans’ early and largely failed attempts to participate in public and private housing programs.
As Brooks tells this multifaceted story, she draws on a broad range of sources in multiple languages, giving voice to an array of community leaders, journalists, activists, and homeowners—and insightfully conveying the complexity of racialized housing in a multiracial society.
How do you tell the difference between a “good kid†and a “potential thug� In Dangerous or Endangered?, Jennifer Tilton considers the ways in which children are increasingly viewed as dangerous and yet, simultaneously, as endangered and in need of protection by the state.
Tilton draws on three years of ethnographic research in Oakland, California, one of the nation’s most racially diverse cities, to examine how debates over the nature and needs of young people have fundamentally reshaped politics, transforming ideas of citizenship and the state in contemporary America. As parents and neighborhood activists have worked to save and discipline young people, they have often inadvertently reinforced privatized models of childhood and urban space, clearing the streets of children, who are encouraged to stay at home or in supervised after-school programs. Youth activists protest these attempts, demanding a right to the city and expanded rights of citizenship.
Dangerous or Endangered? pays careful attention to the intricate connections between fears of other people’s kids and fears for our own kids in order to explore the complex racial, class, and gender divides in contemporary American cities.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues, with a particular focus on Asian Americans. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
Position: Ethnic Studies, Univ. of Colorado
The Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder invites applications for a full-time instructorship in Comparative Ethnic Studies with an emphasis in critical sports studies. Applicants must be able to teach classes on sports and their social contexts of race, gender, sexuality, and/or globalization, as well as a comparative Foundations of Ethnic Studies course and other courses in their specialties.
A Ph.D. is preferred, though ABD candidates will be considered. The teaching load is 4-3, plus additional service to the department such as working with student groups. This is a non-continuing position with a two-year contract beginning in Fall 2013. To apply, please send a letter of application discussing teaching interests and experience, c.v., and evidence of teaching excellence to: ethnicst@colorado.edu. Review of applications will begin on April 8 and continue until the position is filled.
Post-Doc: Immigration, USC
The Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) combines data analysis, academic scholarship, and civic engagement to support improved economic mobility for, enhanced civic participation by, and receiving society openness to immigrants.
Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 2013-2015
The USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) and the USC Department of Sociology announce a two-year post-doctoral Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship, beginning Fall 2013. The fellowship focuses on immigrant populations and the potential impact and/or need for Comprehensive Immigration reform (CIR) for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 academic years.
While we would prefer a post-doctoral teaching fellow looking at the populations likely to benefit from CIR in order to help us build a research project looking at the longitudinal effects, we would also be open to candidates who would study the politics of change. We would prefer an interdisciplinary researcher who could utilize and teach mixed methods approaches (i.e., both quantitative and qualitative) to Sociology graduates and undergraduates in his/her teaching role. The fellow will teach one course each semester at USC and is expected to conduct research with CSII. The fellowship will offer a competitive salary, a yearly $2,000 research allowance, and fringe benefits. The fellow must have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. by mid-August, 2013.
Review of applications will commence on May 03, 2013, with a decision expected approximately May 17, 2013. Please follow the application process and upload the following materials:
C.V.
Detailed description of the nature of the research to be undertaken during the fellowship period
Relevant writing sample of no more than 30 pages
Contact information for three references (they will be asked to directly submit on your behalf)
Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration
950 W. Jefferson Blvd., JEF 102 | Los Angeles, CA 90089-1291
P: 213.740.3643 | F: 213.740.5680 | E: csii@usc.edu
Lecture Series: Mentoring Faculty of Color, CUNY
Mentoring of Future Faculty of Color Project Lecture Series
Developed in conversation with many students in the GC English PhD program, this initiative aims to offer scholarly and professional mentorship to students of color in CUNY PhD Programs by bringing in faculty of color from a variety of U.S. universities to share both their scholarship and their experiences in navigating the academy. We are delighted to announce that four fantastic scholars will be visiting us each consecutive Friday, starting April 19th. Each of these scholars will provide a talk on their current research. Please find the description, dates/times and venues for each of the four talks below. All events taking place at the CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Ave NYC).
“Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Empire: British Literature in the Eighteenth-century”
Suvir Kaul (English at UPenn)
Fri 4/19 @ 2PM – Room 4406, English Lounge
This paper will explore the idea that “Cosmopolitanism,” as a term, an idealized state of being, and a cultural and political idea, comes into vogue in historical circumstances where the putative attributes of cosmopolitanism—tolerance of, even ease with, people of different nationalities, cultures, religions, and races—are disabled in practice. Eighteenth-century English and European commentators on cultural difference derived most of their operative sociological and historical categories from the explosion of information produced by commercial and colonial expansion across the globe.
Out of this welter of knowledge emerged the theories of kinship and social development that underpinned imperialist ideas of human difference as well as more cosmopolitan arguments that insisted on the recuperative powers of cultural knowledge and human sympathy. Such cosmopolitanism was a forceful, though necessarily compromised, response to the cultural coercions of empire. I will show that eighteenth-century literary texts are a fruitful archive for discussions of the forms and vocabularies of cosmopolitanism, and also venture a larger, more speculative claim: cosmopolitanism, that is, the awareness of the mediated relations between provinces and nations, nations and colonies, and between competitive empires in history and in the contemporary moment, enabled “English Literature†to come into institutional being in the eighteenth century.
“‘One of these mornings, you’re gonna rise up singing’: Black Women (Un)Doing Gershwinian Time”
Daphne Brooks (English at Princeton)
Fri 4/26 @ 2PM – Room 4406, English Lounge
This talk considers the ways in which a range of black women musicians–from jazz musicians and opera legends to pop divas and avant-garde experimentalists–have traversed the music of the Gershwins’ folk opera Porgy and Bess, and it explores the ways that these artists have transformed this unlikely musical vehicle into black feminist temporal insurgencies.
“Carceral Aesthetics: Art and Visuality in the Era of Mass Incarceration”
Nicole Fleetwood, (American Studies at Rutgers)
Fri 5/3 @ 2PM – Room 4406, English Lounge
Popular entertainment, journalistic exposes, and documentary sobriety produce countless images of “life behind bars.†These images fascinate, horrify and titillate; and yet prison is a site that the majority of the public will never enter as inmate, guest, worker, or researcher. It is a site that we know almost exclusively through the lens of others; and yet we know it so well. As Angela Davis argues, prison is such a foundational feature of our contemporary environment and polity that it has taken on a quality of familiarity and common sense. The popularity of visual representations of prison life underscores the significance of visuality in establishing and maintaining the modern carceral system—particularly in the United States. And yet, the visual world of prison has received little sustained analysis in scholarship and public discourse.
In this talk I examine carceral aesthetics to refer to how visual lenses operate and artistic practices emerge in relationship to the modern prison industrial complex. The talk examines late twentieth century documentary studies and artistic projects by incarcerated and non-incarcerated subjects. These works are composed and staged in ways that speak to, work through, or incorporate the ever-looming and multiple lenses of carceral optics. The works of Deborah Luster, Dread Scott, Duron Jackson, and others will be considered.
“Wildness” has emerged as a post-ecological motif among critics interested in pushing queer and critical race studies past the impasse of the death-bound subject. But where exactly is this wild to which we imagine a return located? This talk mounts an imaginative itinerary through the haunts and havens of the fabulous beasts and little monsters of today. It speculates that a new entelechy of the queer is increasingly subsuming the epistemology of the closet, with its emphasis of power-knowledge. Queerness is mutating and developing new immunities to disclosure and new vulnerabilities as raw life. Popular music increasingly moves along the grooves of this fugitive queer vitalism.
Please feel free to forward widely and to contact us should you have any further questions: ceng@gc.cuny.edu
Call for Papers: Asians in the Americas, Pepperdine Univ.
Call for Papers: Second Symposium on Asians in the Americas Pepperdine University
Sponsored by Pepperdine University and the International Studies and Languages Division
September 27-28, 2013
This symposium aims to explore the multifaceted representations of Asian lives in the Americas in history, sociology, religion, anthropology, art, education, film, and popular culture. In contemporary diaspora, globalization, and transnational studies we are reminded of the movement of Asians to the Americas as a people and through representations. We emphasize that although Asians have been in the Americas since at least the 16th Century, the movement of Asians outside of Asia is, ostensibly, a footnote in many fields. Similarly, current scholarship of Asians in the Americas focuses on East Asians in the Americas and rarely discusses South Asians, Southeast Asians, Central Asians, and Western Asians.
The symposium seeks to examine the multiple intersections of borders, race, nationality, geopolitical power, homeland, identity, and the transmission of culture as it specifically relates to the Asians in the Americas. We invite papers that focus on any aspect of the symposium themes and especially encourage interdisciplinary approaches. Topics may focus on a specific diaspora, such as the Japanese diaspora, or tied to the specific host country, for example, the South Asians in Canada, but should be able to serve as a general context to this hemisphere as a whole.
Please send an abstract of no more than 200 words to:
Dr. David Simonowitz (Organizer) by May 15, 2013
David.simonowitz@pepperdine.edu
Co-organizers: Dr. Zelideth Rivas, Marshall University
Dr. Alejandro Lee, Central Washington University
Positions: Poll Workers, Boston
The Boston Election Department is recruiting Poll Workers to assist in the important work of staffing the City’s 254 precincts for all the upcoming Elections.
In order to guide voters through the electoral process smoothly and speedily and to ensure that all the poll-ing locations are adequately staffed, the Election Department requires a full complement of Poll Workers. There is also a critical need for bilingual individuals to serve in all the Poll Worker roles: Wardens, Clerks, Inspectors and Interpreters. Bilingual speakers of Spanish, Cape Verdean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Russian, Portuguese, and Somali are strongly encouraged to apply.
Job responsibilities include, but are not limited, to the following: assist with preparing the voting location for opening; hang signs in accordance with legal requirements; count ballots; check in voters; maintain a record of the Election Day・s activities; check handicap access; assist in removing signage; pack up election materials; and help check counts at the end of the day.
Please note these are one day positions only.
There are stipends ranging from $135-$175 for Poll Workers. While it is encouraged that all Poll Workers be available from 6AM to the closing of the polls (9PM), those workers serving as Inspectors or Interpreters may opt for a half-day shift: 6AM to 2PM or 1PM to 9PM (prorated pay rate of $9/hour). All prospective Poll Workers will be required to attend a mandatory 2-hour training session prior to the Elections.
Poll Workers must be registered voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; preference will be given to voters with proven and consistent voter history. All Poll Workers must exhibit a professional and helpful demeanor, and must be respectful and mindful of the ethnic and cultural diversity of Boston・s voters.
For more information on becoming a Poll Worker , please contact the Boston Election Department at (617)635 ・3767 or by email at email at Election@cityofboston.gov. Applications can be downloaded directly from our website and can be mailed, faxed or returned as an email attachment.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues, with a particular focus on Asian Americans. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
Position: Korean American Studies, U.C. Riverside
The Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Riverside, announces a tenured Associate or Full Professor position in Korean American Studies, beginning July 1, 2013. Advanced degree in field related to theories and principles of Korean American Studies is required. The candidate should be a scholar with demonstrated record of commitment to research, grant writing, fundraising, teaching excellence, and community service.
UCR is a research institution with high expectations for scholarly productivity and excellence in teaching. Position supports the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at UC Riverside with research and inquiry to facilitate effective Center planning, decision making and mission fulfillment. Salary will be commensurate with education and experience.
Interested candidates should send electronic applications of their curriculum vitae, a cover letter describing their interest in and fit for the position, research and teaching statements, and 2-3 sample essays; journal articles, book chapters, or other works-in-progress (if available) to yokapp@ucr.edu. Additionally, arrange to have at least three letters of recommendation sent to yokrec@ucr.edu.
All application materials should be sent as email attachments in a PDF format and addressed to: Edward T. Chang, Recruitment Committee Chair, Ethnic Studies Department. Review of applications will commence on February 1, 2013. We will continue to accept applications until this position is filled.
Position: Sociology/Globalization, Christopher Newport Univ.
The Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology at Christopher Newport University invites applications for a non-tenure appointment as Lecturer or Instructor of Sociology/Social Work to begin August 19, 2013. This is a one-year appointment, with potential for renewal depending upon the incumbent’s performance and University need. The teaching load is 4-4. The position requires a Ph.D. granted, or nearly completed, in Sociology or Social Work, or a closely related field. Candidates with a MSW from a CSWE-accredited program and a minimum of two years post-MSW practice experience are strongly encouraged to apply.
A hired candidate with a Ph.D. in hand by August 19, 2013 can anticipate an initial appointment of Lecturer. A hired candidate with a Ph.D. nearly completed can anticipate an initial appointment of Instructor. We seek creative, effective teachers who are committed to excellence in undergraduate teaching in the context of liberal learning. Expertise and/or willingness to teach in one or more of the following areas is strongly preferred: Globalization; Race, Class and Gender; Macro-Practice or Field Instruction.
To apply, send a letter of interest, statement of teaching philosophy, graduate transcripts (photocopies acceptable for initial screening), and three letters of reference to:
Director of Equal Opportunity and Faculty Recruitment
Sociology/Social Work (Lecturer/Instructor) Faculty Search
Search #8405
Christopher Newport University
1 Avenue of the Arts
Newport News, VA 23606-3072
Or mlmoody@cnu.edu
Review of applications begins February 25, 2013. Applications received after February 25, 2013, will be accepted but considered only if needed. Search finalists are required to complete a CNU sponsored background check.
Position: Immigration & Diaspora, Pratt Institute
The Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Pratt Institute invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor with expertise in the study and teaching of immigration and diaspora. Areas of specialization might include, but are not limited to, Memory, Trauma, Genocide, War Crimes, Stateless Peoples and Human Rights. This is a full-time, tenure-track faculty position available August 2013.
Pratt is an internationally recognized school of architecture, art, design, information science, writing, and critical and visual studies. Its strong programs in architecture, film, video, photography, computer graphics and other areas of art and design draw students from diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds. The Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies contributes to the students’ core education and also has its own major in Critical and Visual Studies. The Institute is located on a 25 acre campus in the historic Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn.
Position Responsibilities:
Teach six courses per year to students from a range of disciplines
Contribute to either the department’s World History program and/or the Minor in Psychology
Develop curriculum in Social Science and Cultural Studies
Advise students
Serve on department, School and Institute committees
Provide outreach to other departments in the Institute
Complete individual research projects
Perform all other related activities as required
Salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Qualifications:
The successful candidate will have a Ph.D in a core area of the social sciences, history, psychology or philosophy. ABD will be considered only for otherwise exceptionally accomplished applicants. While disciplinary field is open, preference will be given to candidates who can contribute to the Department’s World History program or to building a departmental Minor in Psychology. Candidates must have at least one (preferably two) year’s college level teaching experience in an institution other than the one in which terminal degree was earned. Strong evidence of future scholarly productivity is essential.
To Apply:
Please submit only your cover letter, resume/CV, and the names and contact information for three professional references. Review of application will begin on February 25, 2013 and continue until the position is filled.
Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) 2013 Leadership In Action Program
Developing emerging young leaders
Bridging self and community
Taking learning beyond the classroom
Approaching its 16th year, LEAP’s eight-week Leadership In Action (LIA) Summer Internship Program offers a unique opportunity for personal leadership development with hands-on training and exploration of the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) nonprofit sector. Interns will be placed at a nonprofit organization four days a week and will receive leadership training with LEAP once a week.
The 2013 program will be held in Los Angeles from June 17 – August 9, 2013. (Applicants must be able to commit to the entire program). The intern will be paid $2,500 for the eight-week internship.
Applicants will be evaluated based on demonstration of leadership, community service, interpersonal skills, written and verbal communication skills, maturity and professional demeanor, and grade point average.
Applicants must have completed two years of college by June 18, 2013
Applicants must be either currently enrolled in college or a recent graduate
Interested applicants must submit all application materials by Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Conference: Latino Communities
Latino Communities in Old and New Destinations: Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Assessing the Impact of Legal Reforms
Conference Organizer:
Elizabeth Aranda
University of South Florida
Co-sponsors:
University of South Florida System Internal Awards Program
Department of Sociology, USF
College of Arts & Sciences, USF
Citizenship Initiative, USF
Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC), USF
Dates and Location: November 8, 2013, Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club, St. Petersburg, FL.
Theme: Latinos/as in the United States are increasingly diverse with regards to their countries of origin, race, social class and immigrant status. Long-standing Latino communities in traditional ‘gateway’ cities are diversifying as they are receiving new Latin American immigrants at the same time that immigrant Latinos/as are establishing thriving communities in new destinations.
As Latinos in these communities incorporate into the United States, they encounter federal, state and local laws that are often in tension with one another. Homeland Security programs continue to result in detentions and deportations of undocumented immigrants and state laws modeled after Arizona’s S.B. 1070 continue to be proposed and passed; at the same time, recent federal initiatives are providing temporary legal status to select populations and new laws are expanding the social safety net for Latino/a citizens through reforms such as the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Moreover, immigration laws are often intertwined with policies that affect other realms of social life, such as education and social welfare. Unclear is how these recently enacted laws and initiatives are currently affecting and will continue to shape the various dimensions of Latino/a lives in both old and new destinations.
This conference seeks to bring together leading scholars who are researching a variety of social, economic and political issues confronting Latino communities in both old and new destinations to answer the question of how these laws, including current efforts at immigration reform, are affecting the lived experiences of Latinos/as—both recent arrivals as well as those who have been in the United States for generations. This will be the common theme uniting the conference panels.
Specific topics of interest include: how recently enacted laws and policies affect the educational prospects of Latinos/as? What are the consequences and implications of legal uncertainties and the contradicting realities dictated by federal, state and local laws for the psychological states of immigrants and their children, including their health and family well-being? How are proposals for immigration reform being received by Latinos/as (both immigrant and U.S. born) in old and new destinations, particularly how they affect civic engagement and political attitudes?
Consideration also will be given to papers that focus on more general issues of critical importance to all Latinos/as regardless of destination (e.g., health, crime, politics, inter-ethnic relations, gender, etc.). Preference will be given to works in which empirically and theoretically meaningful comparisons may be drawn between Latinos/as in old and new destinations, and in which the impact of federal reforms and state and local laws on Latino populations is assessed.
Objectives:
To bring together a group of social scientists from across the country involved in cutting-edge research on issues of importance to Latino/a populations
To learn how recent changes in federal, state and local laws and current legislative attempts are shaping the lived experiences of Latinos/as around the country
To identify areas of future research within Latino Studies and their policy implications by collectively proposing an agenda for future work in this field that would advance our knowledge of Latino communities across the country
Outcomes:
The inter-disciplinary journal, American Behavioral Scientist, has committed to publishing a select group of manuscripts for a special issue on the general themes of the conference. Laura Lawrie, Managing Editor for the journal, will attend the one-day conference as well as the second-day workshop centered on preparing the selected manuscripts for publication.
Deadline:
Please submit an extended abstract (1-2 pages single spaced) of your paper in which you identify a research question, theoretical framework, data source and methodology by March 31, 2013 to earanda@usf.edu. Please put in the subject line of the email: Latino/a Conference Submission. Papers will be due by September 1, 2013. Conference funds will be used to pay for two nights of lodging at the Vinoy and meals for the day of the conference for the author of each manuscript that is accepted for presentation and completed by the due date. A workshop will be held the day after the conference for those authors whose completed papers will be part of the special issue of ABS. Questions should be directed to Elizabeth Aranda (email address above).
Call for Applications: 2013 East of California Junior Faculty Retreat
Location: University of Illinois at Chicago
July 25-27, 2013
Application Deadline: April 1, 2013
This July, East of California and University of Illinois at Chicago will host a junior faculty development workshop for early-career Asian Americanists. The workshop reflects EOC’s historical commitment to mentoring junior faculty and providing support to those working to increase the disciplinary and curricular visibility of Asian American Studies in higher education. Specifically, the workshop will help professionalize junior faculty by focusing on how to:
Create extra-institutional networks of support
Identify meaningful research projects and develop vocabularies for how to talk about such projects with a variety of audiences (department chairs, audiences outside of Asian American Studies, potential editors)
Confront pedagogical challenges
Establish effective collegial relationships
Navigate the tenure process successfully
To accomplish these goals, the workshop will feature panel discussions, breakout sessions, and work-in-progress workshops. The workshop will begin on Thursday (7/25) and conclude on Saturday (7/27). We will provide lodging for two nights (Thurs-Fri) and some meals (depending on funding). Participants will be expected to cover their own travel.
Please note that space will be limited to ensure a high level of interaction among all participants. Interested scholars should submit:
Brief letter of application outlining what the applicant hopes to gain by attending the workshop
Draft or excerpt of approximately 7-15 pages of the article or book chapter being proposed for workshop development (only work that has not yet been published is eligible)
CV
Please send materials (and questions) to Mark Chiang (mchiang@uic.edu) and Sue J. Kim (sue_kim@uml.edu).
This event is funded by the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Connecticut Asian American Studies Program, Northwestern University, DePaul University and UMass Lowell.
Food and Immigrant Life: The Role of Food in Forced Migration, Migrant Labor, and Recreating Home
The 29th Conference in the Social Research Series
Presented By The Center For Public Scholarship At The New School
April 18-19, 2013, NYC
The conference will examine the complex relationships between food and migration. Food scarcity is not only at the root of much human displacement and migration-the food industry also offers immigrants an entry point into the U.S. economic system and it, simultaneously, confines migrants to low wages and poor, if not unsafe, work conditions. In addition, food allows immigrants to maintain their cultural identity. The conference places issues of immigration and food service work in the context of a broader social justice agenda and explores the cultural role food plays in expressing cultural heritage.
The keynote address will be given by Dolores Huerta, co-founder and first Vice President Emeritus of United Farm Workers of America, on Thursday, April 18 at 6:00pm.
The New School’s Center for Public Scholarship and the Food Studies Program presents this conference in collaboration with the Writing Program, India China Institute, Vera List Center for Art and Politics, Center for New York City Affairs, Global Studies Program, Gender Studies Program, and International Center for Migration, Ethnicity, and Citizenship (ICMEC).
Tickets:
$45 Full Conference + Proceedings
$15 per Session + Proceedings
Free for all Students, New School Alumni, Staff (Eligible to Buy Proceedings For $9)
We Petition the Obama Administration to:
Work with Congress to Establish a National “Immigrants Day” Holiday
There are currently 11 federal holidays many of which recognize landmark moments and people that quintessentially shaped America. These include Independence Day, Veterans Day, Labor Day, and MLK Day.
America is a nation founded by immigrants and still composed largely of first-generation immigrants and their families, all of whom share a common dedication to the American Dream. Further, the landmark passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act fundamentally changed American demographics and remains a model of immigration legislation worldwide.
This petition proposes that the White House work with Congress to establish October 3, the day the 1965 Immigration Act was signed by Pres. Johnson, as national ‘mmigrants Day to celebrate immigrants and remember our history of immigration. Please consider signing the online petition.
Call for Participants: Vietnamese
Hello,
I am currently engaged on a research project for the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, examining that often-neglected period in the Vietnam War from the moment the last U.S. ground combat unit left country to President Ford’s official declaration that the conflict was at an end. I am particularly interested in the experiences of the Southern Vietnamese people when faced with the increasing encroachments of the NLF and PVA. I wonder if any of those reading this might have memories of this time or heard stories from their parents. I would be most grateful for any help in this quarter. Please contact me at the email below.
Research in the Sociology of Work is accepting manuscripts for Volume 26, focusing on “Immigration and Work” (Expected publication early 2015).
We invite manuscripts that address issues of immigration and work broadly defined, such as entrepreneurship, labor markets, low-wage and high-wage work, technology, globalization, equity and discrimination, and racial/ethnic relations in the workforce. Submissions may be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. We welcome submissions from all fields. The deadline for submission of manuscripts is February 1, 2014.
Submit manuscripts/inquiries/abstracts to Jody Agius Vallejo (Editor, Volume 26), University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Department of Sociology. Electronic submissions to vallejoj@usc.edu preferred.
As another contributing author to the Asian-Nation team, I would like to introduce Justin Lockenwitz.
Justin graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in Political Science and an Asian/Asian American Studies Certificate. Currently he is enrolled in a Master’s program in Intercultural Relations at Lesley University. He is also an office manager for a business research center at MIT Sloan and plans to pursue a career in International Education.
Welcome aboard, Justin. It’s great to have you be a part of the expanding Asian-Nation team and I and my readers look forward to reading your posts!
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues, with a particular focus on Asian Americans. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
Postdoc: Diversity and Educational Policy, Univ. of Delaware
The President’s Diversity Initiative at the University of Delaware, in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Diversity, invites applications from recent Ph.D. graduates for two postdoctoral positions. The purpose is to promote early career scholars who are doing work that furthers our understanding of diversity. We are particularly interested in those who can contribute to the interdisciplinary understanding in any of the following areas:
Diversity, Access, and Educational Policy
Health, Environment, and Social Inequalities
These positions will be awarded for a one year period, appointment for September 1, 2013 through August 31, 2014, renewable for a second year. Postdoctoral scholars will work with senior mentors and peers and will be expected to teach one course during each year in residence, as well as participating in faculty development opportunities provided by the Office of the President’s Diversity Initiative. The time in residence will include mentoring experiences that will help these scholars publish their scholarly work, develop strong teaching skills, and learn about funding opportunities.
Postdoctoral scholars will be expected to engage with the activities of the Center for the Study of Diversity and may also be affiliated with other Centers/Institutes at the University, depending on the area of research. These scholars will be expected to share their work with other UD faculty either by a formal lecture, colloquium, or other appropriate venue.
All requirements for the Ph.D. must be completed before the start date, with strong preference for those who have earned their degree within the last two years. Applicants must not have another employment obligation to follow this appointment. Postdoctoral scholars will receive a salary of $60,000 plus University health care benefits. Postdoctoral scholars will have full access to the University of Delaware Library and will be given $5000 in support for research and /or professional travel expenses, as well as a computer and full access to the university IT resources. The term for these positions extends from September 1, 2013 until August 31, 2014.
Applications will be evaluated based on:
The quality of the applicant’s research scholarship
The significance of the applicant’s research for the interdisciplinary study of diversity
The ability to benefit from collaboration with colleagues at the University of Delaware
The contribution candidates are likely to make to higher education in the future through teaching, research, and professional service
Demonstrated accomplishments in working with diverse populations
Applicants must submit all of the following information as one pdf document to http://www.udel.edu/udjobs/ by February 1, 2013:
Academic vitae.
A statement of no more than 1,500 words describing the proposed research project(s) to be completed while in residency, including how the candidate meets the criteria listed above; the statement should include a statement about the match between the candidate’s work and that of faculty mentors at the University of Delaware with whom the candidate would like to be affiliated.
Contact information for three references (at least one from someone who was not a dissertation supervisor); please do not send letters with the application.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Postdoctoral scholars must not have accepted employment elsewhere.
Presidential Fellowship in Sociology
State Policy, Migration & Gender
Utah State University
The Sociology Program at Utah State University seeks applicants for a Presidential Doctoral Research Fellow with research interests in state policy, migration and gender. The Presidential Fellow will receive an annual stipend of $20,000 for four years. Qualified applicants will have an MS in sociology or a related field, GRE scores above the 70th percentile and a cumulative GPA above 3.5. The Presidential Fellow will work closely with sociology faculty on one of several on-going research projects related to policy, migration and gender.
Applicants should complete an application and provide a letter of intent outlining one’s research interests, curriculum vitae, a writing sample, official transcripts and GRE scores and three letters of reference. To apply for the position go to http://sociology.usu.edu/grad summary.aspx. We will begin reviewing applicants on February 1, 2013 and will continue until a qualified candidate has been selected. The Sociology Program is committed to excellence through diversity, and we strongly encourage applications from women, persons of color, ethnic minorities, international students, veterans and persons with disabilities.
Fellowship: Asian American Studies, UCLA
The Institute of American Cultures, in conjunction with the Asian American Studies Center, invites applications for support of research on Asian Americans for 2013-2014.
Applications must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 6, 2013, at the Asian American Studies Center, 3230 Campbell Hall. Awards will be announced in April. Application forms and additional information are available On-Line at: http://www.iac.ucla.edu/docs/2013-2014/Visiting%20Scholars%20Application.pdf
Fellowship Period: October 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014.
Visiting Scholar and Researcher Fellowship Program
The UCLA Institute of American Cultures (IAC), in cooperation with UCLA’s four Ethnic Studies Research Centers (American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, Bunche Center for African American Studies, Chicano Studies Research Center) offers fellowships to visiting scholars and researchers to support research on African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Chicanas/os.
Visiting Scholar appointments are for persons who currently hold permanent academic appointments and Visiting Researcher are for newly degreed scholars. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and hold a Ph.D. from an accredited college or university at the time of appointment. UCLA faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students are not eligible to apply.
IAC Visiting Scholars/Researchers will receive up to a 9-month academic-year stipend of $32,000 to $35,000 (contingent upon rank, experience, and date of completion of their terminal degree) and will receive health benefits. For Visiting Scholars, these funds can be used to supplement sabbatical support for a total that does not exceed the candidate’s current institutional salary.
Visiting Scholars will be paid through their home institutions and will be expected to continue their health benefits through that source as well; Visiting Researchers will be paid directly by UCLA. All awardees can receive up to $4,000 in research support (through reimbursements of research expenses), $1,000 of which may be applied toward relocation expenses. In the event that an award is for less than the 9-month appointment, the stipend will be prorated in accordance with the actual length of the award.
Please see attachment for more information or contact AASC’s IAC Coordinator, Melany De La Cruz-Viesca, at melanyd@ucla.edu.
Call for Papers: 10th Biannual Northeast Conference on Indonesian Studies
Yale Indonesia Forum (YIF) and Cornell Indonesian Association (CIA) invite submissions for their 10th Northeastern Student Conference on Indonesia. This event will be held on March 29 – 30, 2013, with a workshop by invited scholars on the first day and a student conference at Henry R. Luce Hall, Yale University on the second day.
We welcome submissions from graduate and undergraduate students at any stage engaged in original research related to Indonesia. The theme of the conference is ‘Social Dynamics of Sustainable Development in Indonesia’ and participants are encouraged to discuss the impact of development, broadly interpreted, on societies, environment, language, ideologies, public policy and other aspects. Papers related to a wide variety of subjects related to this theme are encouraged.
Interested participants should submit abstracts to the following email address: northeastconference10@gmail.com. All abstracts should be limited to 250 words and sent in MS Word format. Please name your abstract using your first initial and last name (for example, jsmith.doc for John Smith’s abstract). The subject of the message should specify “Abstract†and the body should include the following information:
Author’s name(s), affiliation(s) and a primary email address
Title of paper
Paper topic and at least 2 keywords
Submission Deadline: February 22nd, 2013
The Yale Indonesia Graduate Committee will review the abstracts, select presenters, and organize sessions by theme. Selected authors will present their work as part of a panel at the conference and paper abstracts will be included in the Conference Program. Notification of Acceptance: February 29th, 2013. Confirmation of Attendance: March 4th, 2013.
We regret that no travel subventions are available for participants in the conference and encourage applicants to seek travel funding from their home institutions. YIF will provide presenters with one night’s accommodation in New Haven. Please contact the organizers at northeastconference10@gmail.com with any questions.
Sponsored by the
Council on Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University
Conference Co-Coordinators:
Rauf Prasodjo, Corey Pattison and Faizah Zakaria, Yale University
The City University of New York is seeking job applicants for the CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professorship for the 2013-2014 academic year. The City University of New York is hiring a Visiting Professor at the senior faculty level of full or associate professor for the Dr. Thomas Tam Visiting Professorship in Asian-American Studies. Applications are due February 28, 2013.
The Dr. Thomas Tam Visiting Professor will be based at one of the four City University of New York campuses participating in the search, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, Queens College or the Graduate Center. He or she will teach one class a semester at that campus and will engage with students and faculty members during the appointment. The Dr. Thomas Tam Visiting Professor will participate in public events designed to raise the visibility of scholarship in Asian American studies. This will include working closely with CUNY’s Asian American/Asian Research Institute (AAARI), a University-wide institute that promotes undergraduate and graduate education in Asian-American studies and educates civic, business, academic leaders, and the general public, on issues of concern to the Asian American community.
This distinctive position presents an opportunity for a leading scholar to work in New York City’s diverse and dynamic environment while also working with AAARI and CUNY faculty to develop and enrich the CUNY research agenda in Asian American studies. The search committee contains representatives of the four CUNY colleges involved in the search, with appointment to a particular college dependent on the candidate’s fit with that college’s goals and academic priorities.
Qualifications: Ph.D. degree in area(s) of experience or equivalent. Also required are the ability to teach successfully, demonstrated scholarship or achievement, and ability to cooperate with others for the good of the institution. Substantial research experience, expertise and publications on the Asian American experience are required. Areas of focus may include: trends and evolution of Asian American communities, civic and political engagement, entrepreneurship and economic development, religious and ethnic identity, gender and sexuality, intergenerational relations, critical race theory, diaspora and transnational experiences and communities and others.
Fellowship: Diversity and Education, UConn
Diversity Dissertation and Post MFA In-Residence Fellowship
The University of Connecticut is pleased to announce a call for applications for the first Pre-doctoral In-Residence Fellowship to advance diversity in higher education. The program will support scholars from other universities while they complete their dissertation or post-MFA study for the term of an academic year. Fellows will have access to outstanding resources, faculty expertise, mentoring and other professional development opportunities.
The Asian American Studies Institute, Institute for African American Studies, Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean and Latin American Studies, and the Women, Gender and Sexualities Program will each host one fellow in-residence per year, for a total of four fellowships awarded annually. The faculty in the host institutes currently hold joint-appointments in three different schools at the University: The Neag School of Education, School of Fine Arts, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. All fellows will be appointed jointly between an institute and one of these Schools and College.
The program will provide a stipend of $27,000, medical and dental benefits, office space, library privileges, and computer access. A research/travel budget of $3,000 is also included. As part of the program terms, the fellows must be at the University of Connecticut for the duration of the fellowship and will be expected to teach one class and share their work in a public forum.
The four Fellowships will be awarded on the basis of academic achievement and merit, and must meet several eligibility requirements. Applicants must:
Be a US citizen or permanent resident
Be enrolled in a PhD program or be within one year post-MFA in the liberal arts and sciences, fine arts, or education at schools other than UConn
Be conducting research in an area that can contribute to any of the following: Asian American Studies; African American Studies; Latina/o, Caribbean and Latin American Studies; or Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Have passed their PhD qualifying examination and be in either the research or writing phase of an approved dissertation or in the case of post-MFA have a project to be completed within the term of a year
Have a demonstrated commitment to the advancement of diversity and to increasing opportunities for underrepresented or disadvantaged groups
All candidates should submit the following:
Cover letter
Full curriculum vitae
A two-page teaching statement
PhD project description outlining the scope of the project, its larger significance, methodology, and timetable for completion
Appropriate example of recent work not to exceed 20 pages
Identification of the academic unit to where the application is directed:
Asian American Studies Institute
Institute for African American Studies
Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean and Latin American Studies
Women, Gender and Sexualities Program
Three confidential letters of recommendation, one of which is from the academic advisor, sent directly in electronic form from the referees with the applicant’s name in the subject line
Post-MFA applicants should include an appropriate project description:
Choreographers/Dances: documentation of performance
Film and Video: links to works
Musicians: complete list of works or significant performances
Theatre Artists: sample of design portfolio
Visual Artists: 20 images
Writers: 2-3 short stories, 10-15 poems, or novel passages not to exceed 50 pages
Recipients of the In-Residence Fellowship will be appointed by the Vice Provost for Diversity upon the recommendation of a faculty selection committee in consultation with appropriate departments. All applications must be sent electronically no later than March 1, 2013 to: Courtney.wiley@uconn.edu under subject heading, “In-Residence Fellowship”
The National Center for Border Security and Immigration (BORDERS), headquartered at the University of Arizona, is pleased to announce a competitive research opportunity to address current challenges in immigration studies.
Each project will be funded at approximately $100,000. The performance period is one year and will begin on June 1, 2013. Proposals are due March 1, 2013.
This effort, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of University Programs (OUP), invites qualified researchers to propose projects that will provide DHS stakeholders, policy-makers and the public with contemporary and innovative research that addresses current research challenges in immigration studies.
Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), BORDERS encourages proposals for research that will inform the public as well as assist the government in effectively managing the nation’s immigration system. BORDERS is seeking proposals in the following five broad topic areas:
Impacts of Enforcement on Unauthorized Flows
Population Dynamics
Immigration Policy
Immigration Administration
Civic Integration and Citizenship
BORDERS is a consortium of 16 premier institutions headquartered at the University of Arizona whose mission is to provide scientific knowledge, develop technologies and techniques, and evaluate policies to meet the challenges of border security and immigration. For more information about the Center please visit.
The Comparative American Studies Program at Oberlin College invites applications for a full-time non-continuing faculty position in the College of Arts and Sciences. Appointment to this position will be for a term of one year, beginning in the Fall semester of 2013, and will carry the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor.
The incumbent will teach a total of five courses in Asian American History. For this position, preference will be given to candidates with training in history and related interdisciplinary fields with research and teaching interests in comparative approaches to race and ethnicity, immigration history, transnational social movements, gender and sexuality, and/or urban history. The Comparative American Studies Program is committed to interdisciplinary and theoretically informed intersectional pedagogy at the undergraduate level. Faculty are expected to integrate issues of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and citizenship within comparative and/or transnational frames throughout their teaching.
Among the qualifications required for the appointment is the Ph.D. degree (in hand or expected by the first semester of 2013). Candidates must demonstrate interest and potential excellence in undergraduate teaching. Successful teaching experience at the college level is desirable.
To be assured of consideration, a letter of application, including a curriculum vitae, graduate academic transcripts, course syllabi if available, title and brief descriptions of 2-3 courses the candidate could teach, and at least three recent letters of reference should be sent to: CAST AAST Search Committee, Comparative American Studies Program, Oberlin College, 10 N. Professor Street, King 141D, Oberlin, OH 44074 (Phone: 440-775-5290; fax 440-775-8644) by March 15, 2013. Application materials received after that date may be considered until the position is filled.
Women, Gender, and Families of Color (WGFC) invites submissions for upcoming issues.
WGFC is a new multidisciplinary journal that centers the study of Black, Latina/o, Indigenous, and Asian American women, gender, and families. Within this framework, the journal encourages theoretical and empirical research from history, the social and behavioral sciences, and humanities including comparative and transnational research, and analyses of domestic social, cultural, political, and economic policies and practices.
The journal has a rolling submission policy and welcomes manuscripts, proposals for guest-edited special issues, and book reviews at any time. Manuscripts accepted for review receive an editorial decision within an average of 45-60.
