EVENTS
Welcome to Austin! the live music capital of the world, home to the Austin
City Limits and South-by-Southwest music festivals, Willie Nelson, Lance
Armstrong, and the Whole Foods flagship store. Our conference convenes at
the Omni Downtown Austin, a few blocks from the bar and music venues of
Sixth Street and the Lady Bird Johnson Hike & Bike trail rimming Lake
Travis. It is in this venue that the Association for Asian American Studies
will come together for our annual meeting and reflect on our past as well as
the future of our field.
Below, you will find special events that will help you experience Austin.
These events are open to those who register to the conference as well as
their guests, partners, and family members.
Registration for these events can be submitted along with the conference
registration form online at
http://aaastudies.org/2010/registration/index.php.
Don't forget registration deadlines for the conference. Early bird registration ends ON March 1, 2010.
ALL PAPER PRESENTERS AND PANELISTS MUST REGISTER BY THEN IN ORDER TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE CONFERENCE.
Tour of East Austin
It's true enough that Austin is a progressive city; some describe it as a
"little blue oasis in a big red state." And yet when it comes to matters of
urban displacement and segregation its history is as fraught and complex as
any other. This is a guided tour of the Eastside -- home to Austin's largest
concentration of Mexican American and African American residents. The
Eastside offers lessons on community-resilience and the creation of
alternative institutions despite legacies of segregation and displacement.
This tour will cover many of the celebrated sites of the Eastside: churches,
community and cultural centers, parks and the ethnic commercial strips. The
tour will also include a presentation of the changing racial composition and
geography of Austin in light of new immigration, rapid urban development and
gentrification.
The tour will last 90 minutes and cost about $8 for transportation.
Scheduled for Friday afternoon, April 9, 2010.
Zilker Botanical Garden
Zilker Botanical Garden
2220 Barton Springs Rd
Austin, TX 78746
Located on 30 acres, the Zilker Botanical Garden is known as the "jewel in
the heart of Austin." With rose, herb, and Japanese gardens interspersed
among waterfalls, streams, and Koi ponds, the Zilker Botanical Garden
provides visitors a natural and nature-filled refuge. In particular, the
Taniguchi Japanese Garden, which occupies three acres, features two ponds
and a Togetsu-kyo bridge ("Bridge to Walk Over the Moon"). The garden is
named after retired Stockton, California farmer Isamu Taniguchi who spent 18
months designing and transforming the rugged landscape. The garden opened to
the public in 1969. This guided tour will take approximately 2 hours and is
estimated to cost $6 per person, transportation by shared taxi included.
Scheduled for 1:30-3:30 Thursday, April 8, 2010.
http://www.zilkergarden.org/gardens/oriental.html
Harry Ransom Center / The University of Texas at Austin
The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin holds extensive
collections of rare books, manuscripts, photography, film, art, and the
performing arts. Focused on advancing the study of arts and humanities
through the acquisition and preservation of original cultural materials, the
Harry Ransom Center houses the Gutenberg Bible, the first photograph, and a
rich archive of first-edition manuscripts. The Center's film holdings are
the focus of an exhibition titled, "Making Movies" (February 2 - August 1,
2010), which features iconic Hollywood star photographs, Gone with the Wind
costumes and storyboards (including Scarlett's "curtain dress"), Gloria
Swanson's annotated script for Sunset Boulevard, and Robert De Niro's
costumes from past films. The Center's film collection contains over 10,000
radio, television, and radio scripts, 15,000 posters and lobby cards, and
over one million photographs. This guided tour will take
approximately 2 hours and requires only transport costs: $2 by bus or $3 by
shared taxi.
Scheduled for 1:30-3:30 Friday, April 9, 2010.
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
LBJ Library and Museum
2313 Red River Street
Austin, TX 78705
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum houses forty five million pages
of historical documents (inclusive of the former president's entire public
career). One of thirteen presidential libraries administered by the National
Archives and Records Administration, the LBJ Library and Museum includes
coins, stamps, Oval Office furniture, personal presidential items (owned by
the former president and former First Lady), and a collection of four
thousand editorial cartoons from all facets of LBJ's presidency and
political career. Additionally, the LBJ Library and Museum showcases over
ten thousand items of political memorabilia from George Washington's
inauguration to the present day.
Admission is free. Self-guided tours are about 90 minutes. Shared taxis are
about $6.60 per person and buses are also convenient.
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/
Whole Foods Cooking Demo and Tour
Austin is home to the Whole Foods flagship store, centrally located at the
intersection of Sixth St. and Lamar. Enjoy a one-hour, three-course cooking
demonstration of Tex-Mex cuisine at their cooking academy followed by a
self-guided tour of this organic products paradise which includes a
chocolate fountain, bars dedicated to cheese, beer, barbeque, and raw food
dishes.
Estimated time for this demo and tour is 3 hours. Estimated costs are $27
which includes a three-course meal and transportation by shared taxi. This
tour may be cancelled if NOT ENOUGH INDIVIDUALS ARE enrolled.
Scheduled for 11-2 Saturday April 10, 2010.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/lamar/
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/lamar-culinarycenter/
