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.

Casting Call for Reality Show: Small Business Owners

Family-Owned Businesses That Need to Get Back on Their Feet: New Cable Series Looking for You

Major Network launches nationwide search for struggling family-owned businesses in need of help.

January 9, 2012: A major production company announces a nationwide search for struggling, family-owned businesses that are fighting to survive. This new, 1-hour series will feature a team of two experts who will provide life-saving solutions to faltering family businesses across the country. From amusement parks to dry cleaners, from junk yards to bakeries, the team of experts will delve into what is not working and provide the business a life-saving opportunity, and a new chance at success.

Metal Flowers Media is currently searching for family owned businesses across the country that are fighting to stay alive in this turbulent economy. The company must be in serious trouble, with monumental problems that they can’t seem to overcome, and must be open to taking advice from a team of experienced, credentialed business experts. Candidates must be US citizens, and over the age of 18.

For more information, or to apply for the chance to be featured on the series, please email us at beatriz@metalflowersmedia.com for more information, or log on to facebook.com/metalflowersmedia

This is a wonderful opportunity for the right individuals! Please forward to anyone or anybody you think could benefit and to anyone interested reply ASAP as we are on a tight deadline. Time is of the essence! Also, please feel free to call/email if you have any questions or concerns.

Beatriz Flores
Casting Dept.
818 396 7565
beatriz@metalflowersmedia.com

Summer Workshop: Re-envisioning Asian American Art, NYU

Re-envisioning American Art History: Asian American Art, Research, and Teaching
Date: July 9-28, 2012
Application Deadline: March 1, 2012

Asian/Pacific/American Institute (A/P/A Institute) at NYU will be hosting the upcoming 2012 NEH Summer Institute entitled “Re-envisioning American Art History: Asian American Art, Research, and Teaching.” Participants will understand the pivotal developments and critical issues in Asian American art history and visual cultural studies and will be given access to specialized archives that will enhance their research and teaching in the humanities.

If you are a college teacher, museum educator, independent scholar, or graduate student, click here to learn more about the application process.

Internships: Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership

CAPAL Federal Internships (10+ Placements) and Scholarships (3 awards) for Public Service

The Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan educational and professional organization dedicated to building leadership and public policy knowledge within the Asian Pacific American (APA) community. Its mission is to promote Asian Pacific American interests and success in public service careers, to provide information and education on policy issues affecting the APA community, and to serve the APA community at large.

Internship Opportunities:
Each summer, CAPAL places over 10 summer interns in the federal government. These internship positions are open to ALL MAJORS, and are suited for individuals looking to gain real-world federal government experience. CAPAL has partnerships with federal agencies including Agricultural Research Services, Forest Service, and Rural Development.

Each CAPAL intern will be awarded a $2,000 stipend to support the successful completion of his/her internship. Up to $500 travel stipends are available. Depending on interests and placement, duties could vary from policy or scientific research, project coordination and management, business, law, communication, and more. Applicants are asked to specify their preferences on the application, and those selected will be placed based on their interests and skills. Agricultural knowledge is not required. These internships are suitable for all students interested in government and public policy.

Location: Washington, DC, California, Oregon, Washington, and additional locations nationwide.

Applications for internships are available online. Offers will be extended on a rolling basis. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early. The submission deadline is March 9, 2012.

Scholarship Opportunities:
CAPAL will also be awarding 3 scholarships to outstanding Asian Pacific American (APA) college undergraduate and graduate students who will be interning in the Washington DC area for the summer. The scholarships are intended to enable APA individuals with leadership potential to work full-time and learn about ways to influence public policy in their local communities. Recipients of the CAPAL scholarships are responsible for securing their own internships.

The SunTrust Scholarship (2)
$3000 stipend and $1000 housing/travel stipend
(preference to students with financial need)

The Asha Jaini Scholarship
$2000 stipend

Applications for scholarships are available online. Offers will be extended on a rolling basis. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early. The submission deadline is March 9, 2012.

Internship and Scholarship Requirements: Demonstrates commitment to public service, including service to the Asian Pacific American community; GPA of 3.0 or higher; US Citizen; Current undergraduate or graduate student.

For more information, please visit www.capal.org.

All documents must be submitted by March 9, 2012. The online application, along with submission of your resume, letters of recommendation, and academic transcript(s) are all required for your application to be considered. Email scholarships@capal.org with any questions you may have.

Conference Call for Papers: Immigrants and Civil Society, Finland

16th Nordic Migration Research Conference & 9th ETMU Days
13-15 August 2012
University of Turku, Finland

The focus of much research of immigrants in the Nordic countries has been on the economic circumstances and state policies regarding migration and integration. Far less attention has been devoted to the role of the institutions of civil society in facilitating or impeding the incorporation of newcomers into Nordic societies. The theme of this conference is intended to be a response to that imbalance in research priorities.

The conference organizers are inviting papers that address issues related to the incorporation of newcomers into receiving societies in the developed world, with special emphasis on the Nordic countries, and on issues related to fair means of inclusion. These topics are broad and can be approached from a variety of thematic and methodological perspectives. Furthermore, the conference also welcomes all proposals within the broader field of ethnic and migration studies. The conference language is English.

The preliminary conference program can be viewed at http://www.etmu.fi/etmudays/nmrc2012/program.html.

Keynote speakers:
* Professor Jeffrey Alexander, Yale University, USA
* Dr. Phillip Connor, Pew Research Institute, USA
* Professor Leo Lucassen, Leiden University, the Netherlands
* Professor Carl-Ulrik Schierup, Linköping University, Sweden
* Dr. Marja Tiilikainen, University of Helsinki, Finland
* Dr. Salla Tuori, Ã…bo Akademi University, Finland

Paper submission:
The workshops listed below have been accepted in the conference program. The organizers are now soliciting papers for these workshops. The abstracts describing the contents of each workshop can be found at http://www.etmu.fi/etmudays/nmrc2012/workshops.html.

1. Changing family formation practices among ethnic minorities in the Nordic countries
2. Childhood and migration in a Nordic context
3. Counting immigrant religions
4. Cultural diversity and education
5. Democracy, resistance, civil society – New platforms and strategies for democratic transformation
6. Differential inclusions in the Nordic societies? Feminist postcolonial and critical migration studies perspectives on immigration
7. Gender, migration and social change
8. Housing and residential segregation of immigrants
9. Immigrants’ access to mass media and civil society: Perspectives from the Nordic countries
10. Immigration and the duty of civility
11. Integration in the intersection of public school and institutions of civil society: A workshop about migrant children’s integration processes
12. International students and civil society
13. Intersections of gender, race and ethnicity: Categorisations and lived experiences
14. Migrants and ethnic minorities in Nordic labour markets
15. Migration, religion, social dynamics
16. Multiculturalism and civic culture
17. Newcomers’ communities in the history of the Nordic region
18. Nurturing human capital: The role of higher education institutions redefined
19. Refugees in the Nordic countries – policy and practice
20. The role of immigrant organizations in the integration process: Historical perspectives
21. Transnationalism and diasporas in a Nordic context
22. What attitudes to scholars from abroad in Nordic Higher Education?

Please submit your paper abstract using the online submission form. Please note than in the submission form you can either select one of the above-mentioned workshops or suggest your own workshop idea. In case no workshop is selected or
suggested, the organizers will group presentations that fit together thematically.

Abstract guidelines:

• Save the abstract file in RTF or DOC format, using your last name as the file name
• Do not use accented characters like ä, Ã¥ or ö, etc. in the filename; replace them with a, o, or equivalent
• Abstracts should be written and presented in English
• The maximum number of words is 150-200 (body text) plus title and affiliations
• The maximum size of the uploaded abstract is 1400 kilobytes
• In case you have difficulties deciding on the workshop, please choose the option “other” on the workshop session list

The abstracts will be published in the Conference Programme and Abstracts Book.

Deadlines:
The closing date for paper proposals is 15 April 2012. Acceptances of workshop proposals will be announced on 7 May 2012.

Contact:
For more information, please contact Dr. Johanna Leinonen at johlei[at]utu.fi. For any questions regarding registration, payments, or accommodation, please contact the Congress Office at congress[at]utu.fi.

Conference organizers and partners:
ALPO – Developing Integration in Finland (European Social Fund – Ministry of the Interior)
European Migration Network (Finland)
FiDiPro Project Multiculturalism as a New Pathway to Incorporation (University of Turku)
Institute of Migration (Turku)
Network for Research on Multiculturalism and Societal Interaction (MCNet, University of Turku)
Nordic Migration Research (NMR)
Post-Secular Culture and a Changing Religious Landscape (PCCR, Ã…bo Akademi)
Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration (ETMU)

Conference: Immigration and Poverty, U.C. Davis

Immigration and  Poverty: Economic and Social Connections, Policy Approaches
May 17-18, 2012
University of California, Davis
Sponsored by the UC Davis Economy, Justice, and Society Program and the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research

The mobility of people across national boundaries is an exceptional economic force and catalyst for social and cultural change, but it is also a source of significant policy challenges. This interdisciplinary conference brings together scholars studying the connection between migration and the economic development of individuals, markets, and states in both sending and receiving countries.

The first day of the conference will feature cutting-edge research by economists, sociologists, and demographers. The research will address three themes: “International Migration and Global Poverty,” “Immigration, Jobs and Wages,” and “Undocumented Immigrants and Their Assimilation.” The second day of the conference will examine “Immigration Policy: Current Limits and Potential for Reform” with a moderated discussion among immigration experts from the fields of law, economics, and sociology.

Conference admission is free with preregistration. Interested students, faculty, researchers, policy makers, and journalists are invited to attend. For more details and online conference registration, visit the conference website.

Conference: Birthright Citizenship, Univ. of MD

The Center for the History of the New America Announces its Inaugural Conference

Born in the USA: The Politics of Birthright Citizenship in Historical Perspective

March 29 & 30, 2012
University of Maryland at College Park

Co-Sponsors:
Institute for Constitutional History, University of Maryland Office of Equity and Diversity, University of Maryland Office of Undergraduate Studies, & The University of Maryland Law School

Next March, an interdisciplinary group of prominent academics, lawyers, jurists, journalists, and political figures will assemble in College Park for the Center for a New America’s first major conference. Their goal: to place in historical perspective the current debate as to whether the United States ought to reconsider birthright citizenship, which grants automatic citizenship to most persons born on the soil of the United States.

Birthright citizenship is part of the Constitution, having been put there by the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868. It has given the United States one of the most liberal citizenship regimes in the world, and it has helped to build America’s reputation as a land of immigrants, where anyone can come to seek opportunity, liberty, and equality in a regime of laws that does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, or national origins.

Some who want to eliminate birthright citizenship argue that it has acted as a perverse incentive for immigrants to seek illegal entry to the United States. It permits illegal immigrants to think that they can find a route to permanent residence and security in the United States by giving birth to children on American soil. Their children, who become American citizens upon birth, the argument goes, will “anchor” the illegal parents to America, thus rewarding behavior that ought to be punished.

The state of Arizona is at the forefront of this campaign against birthright citizenship, as it is for other aspects of the campaign against illegal immigrants. In the short term, anti-illegal immigrant forces in the state hope to trigger a legal challenge to a nineteenth-century Supreme Court ruling that declared that a child born to non-citizens on American soil is in fact an American citizen. In the long term these forces hope to stimulate a national campaign to amend the Fourteenth Amendment.

As with many issues regarding immigration, the debate sometimes proceeds with a lot of passion and without a strong knowledge of history. Here are some questions that would benefit from a robust exploration: First, how aware were the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment about the immigration question? To the extent to which they were, what were their thoughts about immigration and birthright citizenship? What do we know of the original intent of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship clause? Second, why did the Supreme Court in 1898 uphold birthright citizenship for the children of non-citizens? And why in some cases were Native Americans treated differently with regard to birthright citizenship?

Third, how well or how poorly did birthright citizenship work for America, in regards both to legal and illegal immigration, over the course of American history after 1868? On balance, has birthright citizenship been a source of cohesion or discord, of Americanization or cultural balkanization, in American life? Fourth, from the contemporary perspective, what evidence can be marshaled to show that illegal immigrants today are motivated to come by the promise of birthright citizenship for their children? And, finally, what would be the consequences to the Constitution, to personal liberties, and to immigration of a successful effort to remove birthright citizenship from the Fourteenth Amendment?

2011 Pulitzer Prize Winner Eric Foner of Columbia University will open the conference with a keynote address. Other confirmed participants include former Solicitor General of the United States Walter Dellinger; Fourteenth Amendment experts Peter Schuck (Yale Law School), Garrett Epps (University of Baltimore Law School), and Mark Graber (University of Maryland Law School); noted historians Gary Gerstle (Vanderbilt University), David Gutierrez (UCSD), Linda Kerber (University of Iowa), Mae Ngai (Columbia University), and William Novak (University of Michigan School of Law); New York Times journalists Marc Lacey and Nina Bernstein; sociologist Alejandro Portes (Princeton University); and legal scholars Linda Bosniak (Rutgers Law School), Christina Burnett (Columbia Law School), Ayelet Shachar (University of Toronto Law School), and Rebecca Tsosie (Arizona St. Law School). More participants will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Call for Authors: Multicultural America Encyclopedia

We are inviting academic editorial contributors to Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia, a new 4-volume reference to be published in 2013 by SAGE Publications. Click here to download a zip file that contains the complete article list (Excel file), submission guidelines, entry guides, and sample article. The deadline for submissions is August 1, 2012. We hope you will consider participating in this exciting new project.

Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia presents state-of-the-art research, ready-to-use facts, and multimedia pedagogy. The approximately 950 signed entries (with cross-references and further readings) will cover issues in historical and contemporary ethnic and multicultural studies.

The print 4 volumes and the online edition with 100 videos will include information relevant to the following academic disciplinary contexts: the demographic and cultural balance of the United States today and tomorrow; arts and media; business and economics; criminal justice; education; family studies; health; immigration; media; military; politics; science and technology; sports; and religion. From A-to-Z, this work covers the spectrum of defining and illuminating multiculturalism. The goals of this encyclopedia are to help readers gain a better understanding of:

• The historical development of multicultural America
• The contemporary American multicultural mosaic
• The possible future trajectories of American multiculturalism

In writing, contributors should consider their entries’ contribution to these three goals. Where appropriate, entries should include data from and references to the 2010 United States census.

This comprehensive project will be marketed to academic and public libraries as a print and digital product available to students via the library’s electronic services. The General Editor, who will be reviewing each submission to the project, is Dr. Carlos E. Cortes, Professor Emeritus of History, University of California, Riverside.

If you are interested in contributing to this cutting-edge reference, it is a unique opportunity to contribute to the contemporary literature, redefining sociological issues in today’s terms. SAGE Publications offers an honorarium ranging from SAGE book credits for smaller articles up to a free set of the printed product for contributions totaling 10,000 words or more.

If you would like to contribute to building a truly outstanding reference with Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia, please send me your selections from the list of articles and I will confirm availability.

Thanks very much,
Lisbeth Rogers
Author Manager
multicultural@golsonmedia.com

Call for Submissions: Anti-Racist Classroom Teaching Activities

The editor of a forthcoming book, “Teaching Anti-Racism in Contemporary America,” seeks submissions that describe and analyze classroom activities focused on anti-racist pedagogy for inclusion in the text.

The book includes contributions and essays from a number of scholars, including Joe Feagin, Kathleen Blee, Noel Cazenave, David Pellow, Rose Brewer, and many others. Classroom activity submissions should be of high caliber and engage students to think critically about racial politics in the 21st Century. Questions and contributions should be sent to the editor, Kristin Haltinner, at halt0033@umn.edu.

Fellowship: Leadership Training< NY

New York Governor Cuomo invites talented professionals interested in public service to apply to the Empire State Fellows Program. We are writing to ask that you distribute this opportunity widely within your
networks.

The Empire State Fellows Program is a full-time leadership training program that will prepare the next generation of talented professionals for careers as New York State policy-makers. The first class of Empire State Fellows will serve from September 2012 to September 2014. Each Empire State Fellow will receive compensation commensurate with experience plus benefits. At the end of the fellowship, a performance review process will identify fellows that will be given the opportunity to continue to serve as leaders in New York State government after completing the program.

New York Governor Cuomo will appoint each Empire Fellow to work directly with a Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, or other high-level policy maker. Work assignments will offer Fellows unparalleled experience collaborating with senior officials and participating in the policy-making process. While taking part in the work of government, Empire Fellows will participate in educational and professional development programs that will prepare them to confront the increasingly complex policy challenges facing New York State.

Applications for the Empire State Fellows Program must be received no later than June 1, 2012. Additional information about the Empire State Fellows Program is available on our website at www.newnyleaders.com.

Call for Supporters: Asian American Movie

My name is Joyce and I’m an Asian-American writer, actress and filmmaker. I’m getting in touch with you today to tell you about my newest feature film.

It’s called The Real Mikado and you can check out the campaign here: http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Real-Mikado-A-Feature-Film

The film is about an out of work Asian-American actress in New York who runs out of money and moves back in with her parents in the suburbs of Detroit. The town is facing a budget crisis and wants to shut down the community theater. She agrees to direct a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera The Mikado to try and save it. It’s a fun but poignant coming-of-age comedy.

Right now, I’m working on securing funding via the IndieGoGo platform. I would be so grateful if you could consider writing a post about the film, sharing it with your followers, or even donating. I noticed you write often about Asian-American identity and I think we can all agree it’s about time for a film featuring an Asian-American character who isn’t just an ethnic side kick or massage parlor worker.

Any help you can give to this film would be greatly appreciated. I know how busy you are, so thank you for taking the time to read this and for checking out the project.

As part of this blog’s mission of making academic research and data more easily accessible, understandable, and applicable to a wider audience and to practical, everyday social issues, I highlight new sociological books about Asian Americans and other racial/ethnic groups as I hear about them. A book’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its complete contents.

As we prepare to close May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the following recently released books describe a wide and interesting range of experiences, contributions, and legacies that are part of Asian American heritage, and how this heritage fits into the larger American mainstream.

Asian Americans in the Twenty-First Century: Oral Histories of First- to Fourth-Generation Americans from China, Japan, India, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Laos, by Joann Lee (New Press)

The collective term “Asian American” comprises more than twenty distinct nationalities and ethnic groups, and today there are more than 12 million Asian Pacific Americans living in the United States. In this all-new collection of fascinating interviews with students, lawyers, engineers, politicians, stay-at-home moms, and activists, Joann Faung Jean Lee again draws upon her great skill and sensitivity as a journalist to reveal a rich mosaic of Asian American identities.

We hear a range of voices: Dale Minami recounts his historic involvement in a landmark legal case that changed the way America understands the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II; Ruby Chow remembers how she used her position as a beloved restaurateur to launch a successful campaign for county councilwoman in Seattle, Washington; and Daniel Jung speaks of the complexities of African American and Korean relations in Los Angeles, where his father owned a liquor store when Daniel was a teenager in the 1990s.

Candid and compelling, the interviews reveal intimate and often conflicting thoughts about Asian American identities, immigration, family, relationships, and educational and professional achievement.

Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today, edited by Edith Wen-Chu Chen and Grace J. Yoo (Greenwood Press)

Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today is the first major reference work focused on the full expanse of contemporary Asian American experiences in the United States. Drawing on over two decades of research, it takes an unprecedented look at the major issues confronting the Asian American community as a whole, and the specific ethnic identities within that community — from established groups such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans to newer groups such as Cambodian and Hmong Americans.

Across two volumes, Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today offers 110 entries on the current state of affairs, controversies, successes, and outlooks for future for Asian Americans. The set is divided into 11 thematic sections including diversity and demographics; education; health; identity; immigrants, refugees, and citizenship; law; media; politics; war; work and economy; youth, family, and the aged. Contributors include leading experts in the fields of Asian American studies, education, public health, political science, law, economics, and psychology.

The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles, by Scott Kurashige (Princeton University Press)

Los Angeles has attracted intense attention as a “world city” characterized by multiculturalism and globalization. Yet, little is known about the historical transformation of a place whose leaders proudly proclaimed themselves white supremacists less than a century ago. In The Shifting Grounds of Race, Scott Kurashige highlights the role African Americans and Japanese Americans played in the social and political struggles that remade twentieth-century Los Angeles.

Linking paradigmatic events like Japanese American internment and the Black civil rights movement, Kurashige transcends the usual “black/white” dichotomy to explore the multiethnic dimensions of segregation and integration. Racism and sprawl shaped the dominant image of Los Angeles as a “white city.” But they simultaneously fostered a shared oppositional consciousness among Black and Japanese Americans living as neighbors within diverse urban communities.

Kurashige demonstrates why African Americans and Japanese Americans joined forces in the battle against discrimination and why the trajectories of the two groups diverged. Connecting local developments to national and international concerns, he reveals how critical shifts in postwar politics were shaped by a multiracial discourse that promoted the acceptance of Japanese Americans as a “model minority” while binding African Americans to the social ills underlying the 1965 Watts Rebellion. Multicultural Los Angeles ultimately encompassed both the new prosperity arising from transpacific commerce and the enduring problem of race and class divisions.

This extraordinarily ambitious book adds new depth and complexity to our understanding of the “urban crisis” and offers a window into America’s multiethnic future.

Partly Colored: Asian Americans and Racial Anomaly in the Segregated South, by Leslie Bow (New York University Press)

Arkansas, 1943. The Deep South during the heart of Jim Crow-era segregation. A Japanese-American person boards a bus, and immediately is faced with a dilemma. Not white. Not black. Where to sit?

By elucidating the experience of interstitial ethnic groups such as Mexican, Asian, and Native Americans—groups that are held to be neither black nor white — Leslie Bow explores how the color line accommodated — or refused to accommodate — “other” ethnicities within a binary racial system. Analyzing pre- and post-1954 American literature, film, autobiography, government documents, ethnography, photographs, and popular culture, Bow investigates the ways in which racially “in-between” people and communities were brought to heel within the South’s prevailing cultural logic, while locating the interstitial as a site of cultural anxiety and negotiation.

Spanning the pre- to the post- segregation eras, Partly Colored traces the compelling history of “third race” individuals in the U.S. South, and in the process forces us to contend with the multiracial panorama that constitutes American culture and history.

Cultural Citizenship and Immigrant Community Identity: Constructing a Multi-Ethnic Asian American Community, by Hye-Kyung Kang (LFB Scholarly Publishing)

Kang explores cultural citizenship and immigrant community identity development in the International District (ID) of Seattle, WA. She investigates the particular social, political, and historical contexts within which a “multi-ethnic Asian American community” identity arose.

She finds that the ID as a subject is produced and sustained not through a singular identity but through multiple and contingent discourses of history, contribution, and change. Similarly, it is constructed through a constant processes of engagement, contestation and negotiation between the community and the various larger social and political structures of society, as well as among community members. The results suggest that it may be possible for immigrant subjects to alter the discourses that constitute them by generating counter-discourses.

Asian American Chronology: Chronologies of the American Mosaic, by Xiaojian Zhao (Greenwood Press)

Understanding the history of Asians in America is key to understanding the development of America itself. Asian American Chronology: Chronologies of the American Mosaic presents the most influential events in Asian American history as well as key moments that have remained under the historical radar. This in-depth record covers events from the 18th century to the present day, including the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Entries, organized chronologically by category, allow readers to trace the development of Asian peoples and culture in the United States over time, including the role of Chinese labor in building railroads, the importation of Filipino slaves, labor strikes and civil rights issues, Japanese-American internment, women’s roles, literature, music, politics, and increased immigration in the mid-20th century.

In addition to these broad topics, the book also treats individual events from the Rock Springs Massacre to the Gold Rush to the current prevalence of Japanese players in Major League Baseball.

I received this email from an academic colleague asking for help in recruiting contributors for an encyclopedia on Asian American folklore:

I invite you to contribute to a project that I’m co-editing: the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore (Greenwood Press, anticipated publication date sometime in 2010).

This is the first encyclopedia project of its kind and is inclusive of all the different cultural communities, including those that are often less represented in Asian American scholarship. We especially need contributors for the:

Burmese American, Chinese American, Hmong American, Indian American, Indonesian American, Japanese American, Khmer American, Korean American, Laotian American, Malaysian American, Mongolian American, Nepali American, Pacific Islanders American, Pakistani American, Punjabi American, Sri Lankan American, Thai American, Tibetan American, Vietnamese American, and other pan-Asian American sections, etc.

This project employs the broadest definition and discourse of folklore, and by extension contends that Asian American folklore, is, generally speaking, emerging. Asian American folklore consists of more than Asian mythologies that are narrated in Asian American families and communities; it is an Asian American way of life.

Asian American folklore encompasses the narrative history of Asians in America; it is the totality of Asian material culture, religious traditions, performances, celebrations, social relations, and so on, used to produce individual and collective Asian American identities. The remaining available headwords are broader than the title of this project suggest.

Click here for a list of remaining headwords that are still unassigned.

Best,
Jonathan H. X. Lee, Ph.D.
UCSB and California Lutheran University