These TWO calls for papers (please scroll down) are under the rubric of the Discussion Group on Literatures of the U.S. in Languages other than English. It is our hope to use these panels to redefine the field and open up dialogue between the more traditional aspects of this field (heritage texts) and the newer productions of diasporic and globalized groups.

The MLA Discussion Group on Literatures of the U.S. in Languages Other Than English announces the theme of its annual meeting, to be held at the 2009 Convention of the MLA in Philadelphia:

Immigrant or Exile?

When do immigrants position themselves as exiles? When do exiles become immigrants? Cultural production, broadly construed as
literature and other forms of creative media, “made in the U.S.A.” in languages other than English has often thematized the experience and affect of exile, uprootedness, and dislocation. The panel will examine whether, how, and why significant differences may exist in the poetics/aesthetics of works produced from the viewpoint of “exiles” or from that of “immigrants.” Furthermore, these two categories are hardly static, and the transition from exile to immigrant may occur for a variety of reasons ˆ or not at all. The designation as one or the other may form a consensus among a given community or, conversely, represent a stance taken by an individual writer or artist. Literature or other works of art can either legitimize that consensus or create dissonance. Obviously, the lines of tension that emerge are specific to particular groups, each with their own histories, aspirations, and relationship to their homeland and to the U.S. Given this extreme diversity, papers dealing with works from any linguistic community are welcome. Studies of contemporary works are encouraged, though the panel is open to proposals dealing with any time period.

Possible topics of proposals may include but are not limited to the following questions:

How do writers represent diaspora?

How does the experience of war condition the immigrant or the exile?

What accommodations do immigrants make to the U.S. culture that exiles do not?

What linguistic compromises do immigrants make in their native language that exiles do not?

How is nation building reflected in immigrant cultural production?

What conclusions can be drawn about the politics, circulation, and reception of exile/immigrant televisual or theatrical production?

How do the political interests of the exile differ from those of the immigrant?

How is the expression of nostalgia different for immigrants and exiles?

How do indigenous writers use the language of exile and diaspora?

How do writers address internal “immigrant” exile and alienation?

Abstracts (250 words or less) and CVs should be sent to Michael_C_Bruce@hotmail.com no later than March 15, 2009.

N.B.: The 2009 MLA Annual Convention will be held in Philadelphia from 27 to 30 December. The exact date and time of this session have not been determined.

The MLA Discussion Group on Literatures of the U.S. in Languages Other Than English announces a roundtable to be held at the 2009 Convention of the MLA in Philadelphia:

Where Are We Now?

While the status of non-English U.S. literatures within the academic establishment has evolved considerably within the past twenty years, many conceptual, disciplinary, and pedagogical challenges remain. This roundtable will reassess if, how, and with what frequency scholars, students, and publishers approach these literatures. Naturally, such a reevalution calls into question the validity of boundaries on various levels: disciplinary and canonical (the very definition of “American” and other national literatures) as well as geographical and political (the creation of the American nation and the place of non-English U.S. literatures situated in a global context). In order to spark discussion and debate, four 10-minute presentations will precede and frame an open conversation among panel members and attendees.

Possible topics of proposals may address but are not limited to the following questions:

How are non-English American literatures taught in your classroom or department?

To what degree are non-English literatures of the United States pedagogically marginalized and what trends can we identify?

What issues still face these corpuses in English Departments?

How are immigrant or heritage language texts taught in modern language departments?

To what extent are works in languages other than English viewed as belonging to other national literatures?

What is the role of translation and/or bilingual publication of non-English works in core courses? In specialty courses?

How is “American” literature defined in graduate programs and undergraduate instruction˜linguistically, nationalistically,
geographically?

How is the category of “literatures of the U.S. in languages other than English” redefined by the emphasis on diasporic, transnational,
and globalization studies?

How do publishers approach the use of languages other than English?

How are our institutions of higher learning preparing professors and teachers to meet the challenges of heritage classrooms versus
second-language classrooms?

Abstracts (250 words or less) and CVs should be sent to Michael_C_Bruce@hotmail.com no later than March 15, 2009.

*Please note: this is a special session and has not yet been approved for inclusion in the program.

N.B.: The 2009 MLA Annual Convention will be held in Philadelphia from 27 to 30 December. The exact date and time of this roundtable have not been determined.

DEADLINE REMINDER!!!!!

The deadline for submitting proposals for MSU’s 3rd Annual Asian Pacific American Studies Conference is fast approaching! Please submit your proposal/papers by January 15th to receive early consideration for the conference.

Global-is-Asian: Asian diaspora identities in the context of globalization.
April 17th- Evening kickoff event- April 18th- Conference
Keynote Speaker: Helen Zia
Website: https://www.msu.edu/~apaspec/conf09/index.html

This conference is co-sponsored by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Asian American Studies Consortium. To encourage participation by CIC-AASC members, the CIC will cover a limited number of travel stipends for faculty, staff, and graduate students from CIC institutions who are presenting at the conference. Payment is conditional on acceptance of the paper proposal and will be provided in the form of reimbursement following participation in the conference. Please contact Andrea Louie at louie@msu.edu if you are interested in this opportunity.

Community and identity formation have never occurred in a vacuum. However, processes of globalization increasingly facilitate connections, both real and imagined, with other parts of the world. This conference focuses on Asian populations in diaspora—that is, living outside their ancestral homelands. Though the definition of diaspora and its application to various populations has long been debated, in using the term “diaspora” we assert the importance of understanding Asian communities within a global context; as sharing key similarities but as far from homogeneous. We aim to investigate how global forces, both historical and contemporary, have reshaped diasporic forms and analytical categories for examining collective memory, political alliances, transpacific migrations and movements, social spaces and global networks. We hope to explore what Jigna Desai (2004) has called the “heterogeneous connections to both the homeland and to other diasporic locations through such forms as political commitment, imagination, memory, travel, and cultural production.”

The forms of cultural production –transnational youth cultures, art, cinema, literature, internet communities, new social movements– that emerge in the context of globalization hold exciting potential. We are interested in exploring the range of identities that are constructed by Asian diasporic communities, and how these forms are then re-shaped through interactions, on both local and global scales.
• How do transnational flows of media, popular culture, goods, and capital originating from Asian communities in other parts of the world affect the expression and negotiation of “local” Asian identities?
• How are race, gender, class, sexuality, and religious identities reshaped or reworked through the experience of being in diaspora, or by local conditions that shape that expression?
• What new forms of travel, dwelling, migration, and exile emerge in the contemporary context of globalization?
• How do transnational religious movements among Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and other religions play out within the context of diaspora?
• How do “Asian” groups that did not previously view themselves as sharing similarities broaden their ethnic boundaries in the context of specific racial, economic, and social policies in their countries of settlement?
• Indeed, how might the very definition of “Asian” or the assumed congruence of “race” and “culture” be redefined in the context of diaspora, as in the case of hapa, adoptee, peranakan, and others that reflect the hybridity of diaspora populations?
• How do global forces facilitate or hamper the imagining of homelands, or the creation of new ties altogether? Are homelands merely a construct to compensate for losses?
• What happens when communities who had imagined one another from afar meet though a global encounter (Chinese Americans visiting the motherland, Korean adoptees on homeland tours, Japanese Brazilians going to Japan for work)?

At the same time, we also hope to question the ways that an overemphasis on “global” or “diaspora” as academic buzzwords which, as Sau-ling Wong has noted, can result in the glossing over of local, regional and national levels of organization, and distract from nation-based identities (such as Asian American) that allow for coalition building and empowerment. These terms can become so broad and all encompassing as to lose their specificity of meaning, or merely become a means of expressing old concepts in new packaging.

We cannot ignore the continued power of nation states to define both national and local contexts that shape the constraints under which actors explore and express identities.
• In what ways do state constructions of legal or cultural citizenship define the parameters within which local communities operate?
• In the context of shifting global economies, it is also important to consider how Asian diaspora populations interact with others in their countries of residence. How do the politics of race and multiculturalism in Brazil, the UK, South Africa, the U.S. and elsewhere differentially shape the lives of Asian populations in those locations?
• How does the broader consumption of “Asian” culture through transnational Asian foods, goods, popular culture, movies, affect mainstream perceptions of Asians in a given location?
• How do neoliberal economic reforms accompanying globalization and the emergence of various Asian countries as global powers shape interactions between Asian immigrant entrepreneurs and local populations?

Please submit proposals to Joseph Villafuerte at global.is.asian09@gmail.com no later than January 15, 2009.

All proposals must include:
1. 250-300 word abstract
2. One-page CV, including full contact information
3. A list of any audio or visual equipment needed for the presentation.

http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/

Hyphen has recently acquired some funding and can now pay for features that fit with our issues’ themes. Read below for info on how to pitch for our next issue, the Family issue, due out in Spring.

Guidelines for writers

Hyphen is a magazine about Asian America for the culturally and politically savvy. Built around a clarity of image, word and social awareness, Hyphen takes form from the artists, thinkers and creators who are shaping a new multiethnic generation.

The best way to figure out what stories will appeal to us is to read our current magazine, as well as our back issues. Also take note of our style ­ we are edgy without being obnoxious, and we encourage writers to find their voice.

Like its readers, Hyphen is many things  cool librarian, shy musician, dorky hipster, cute techie. Like Asian America, its interests are varied  politics, art, health, music. Nonetheless, all Hyphen articles share certain traits. They are fact-driven and
informational and strive to stay ahead of the trends. They are aimed at well-informed, self-aware readers who are immersed in Asian American culture so the key is not to tell them what they already know but to take it to the next level. This means delving deep into issues, dissecting and analyzing them while also offering perspectives that may not have been previously explored.

Proposals for articles that would interest our readers should provoke  dialogue, and enrich our readers’ learning experiences. Articles must  be jargon-free and attributable to unassailable sources. We frown  upon clichés and embrace original thinking. We prefer articles rich in color and driven by narrative scenes.

Keep in mind that Hyphen magazine readers range in age from early 20s to mid-30s, but they share an intellectual curiosity that was fused and fueled by their experiences as Asian Americans. This restless curiosity fundamentally shapes our consideration of articles for Hyphen.

The theme for the spring 2009 issue of Hyphen is “Family.” We are soliciting proposals for feature length stories (up to 2,000 words) and stories for other departments of the magazine that fit this theme. (See www.hyphenmagazine.com and click on “get involved” and “submission guidelines” for a description of each department.)

As a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization, Hyphen has limited resources, but we have secured funding to pay $500 for in-depth,  feature-length stories that can carry the theme for each issue. Unfortunately we cannot yet offer compensation for articles in other departments.

To submit an article query, send us a two-page proposal by email (preferred) or standard mail. The proposal should include the following:
1 An overview of the central message of the article you propose. Preferably three or four paragraphs preferably anecdotal that introduce us to your point of view.
2 Declare what is new, innovative, useful, counterintuitive, or controversial about the topic.
3 What are the implications both in the near and long term for Asian Americans and others?
4 Why are you proposing the article? How did you happen upon the topic?
5 How did you go about researching the topic? What further research  must you do? Describe your sources or other connections.
6 How long do you propose the article will be?
7 What makes you uniquely qualified to write this article?

Send queries to editorial@hyphenmagazine.com or Hyphen magazine, 17
Walter U. Lum Place, San Francisco, CA 94108.

Callfor Contributors to the Encyclopedia
of Asian American Folklore (Publisher: Greenwood, 2010) (Executive Editors: Dr.
Jonathan H. X. Lee and Dr. Kathleen Nadeau);
interested contributors are invited to email Jonathan
Lee at gojonjongo@gmail.com for a copy of the prospectus/Call and headword list
of available topics, etc.

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, 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.

Write to Jonathan Lee at <mailto:gojonjongo%40gmail.com>gojonjongo@gmail.com for official call and/or more information.

Remaining Available Headwords

Headwords Words
Asian American Folklore: Theories and Methods
Asian American Film Studies and Folklore 2000
Asian American History and Folklore 2000
Asian American Visual Culture and Folklore 2000
Pacific Islander American Studies and Folklore 2000
Burmese America
Burmese America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Burmese America 500
Arts and Crafts in Burmese America 500
Burmese American Foods and Foodways 500
Burmese American Heroes and Heroines 500
Burmese American Identity 500
Burmese American Literature and Folklore 500
Burmese American Names and Naming 500
Burmese American Narrative Folktale 500
Burmese American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Burmese American Superstition and Taboo 500
Burmese American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Burmese Folk Dance and Performance in America 500
Children and Folk Songs in Burmese America 500
Domestic Religious Practices in Burmese America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Burmese America 500
Festivals and Holidays in Burmese America 500
Mythological and Legendary Deities Burmese America 500
Nature and Animal in Burmese America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Burmese America 500
Religion in Burmese American Communities 1000
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Burmese America 500
Templesin Burmese America 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Burmese American 500
Cambodian America
Arts and Crafts in Cambodian America 500
Cambodian American Family and Community 500
Cambodian American Foods and Foodways 500
Cambodian American Heroes and Heroines 500
Cambodian American Home Decoration 500
Cambodian American Identity 500
Cambodian American Literature 500
Cambodian American Names and Naming 500
Cambodian American Narrative Folktale 500
Cambodian American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Cambodian American Superstition and Taboo 500
Children and Folk Song in Cambodian America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Cambodian America 500
Domestic Religious Practices in Cambodian America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Cambodian America 500
Festivals and Holidays in Cambodia America 500
Folk Dance and Performance in Cambodian America 500
Folk Stereotypes in Cambodian America 500
Nature and Animals in Cambodian America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Cambodian America 500
Religion in Cambodian American Communities 1000
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Cambodian America 500
Templesin Cambodian America 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Cambodian America 500
Chinese America
Chinese America: History, People, and Culture (inc. Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) 2000
AngelIsland 500
Arts and Crafts in Chinese America 500
Bok Kai Parade 500
Children and Folk Song in Chinese America 500
Chinese American Heroes and Heroines 500
Chinese American Hui and Tong (Family Associations and Secret Societies) 500
Chinese American Literature and Folklore 500
Donald Duk 500
Edith Maud Eaton (Sui Sin Far) 500
Folk Dances and Performances in Chinese America 500
Kitty Tsui 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Chinese America 500
Filipino America
Children and Folk Song in Filipino America 500
Hmong America
Hmong America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Hmong America 500
Arts and Crafts in Hmong America 500
Children and Folk in Hmong America 500
Domestic Religious Practices in Hmong America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Hmong America 500
Festivals and Holidays in Hmong America 500
Folk Dance and Performance in Hmong America 500
Hmong American Family and Community 500
Hmong American Foods and Foodways 500
Hmong American Heroes and Heroines 500
Hmong American Literature and Folklore
Hmong American Names and Naming 500
Hmong reverse appliqués 500
Nature and Animals in Hmong America 500
Indian America
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Indian America 500
Arts and Crafts in Indian America 500
Indian American Muslim Mosque 500
Indian American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Nature and Animal in Indian America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Indian America 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Indian America 500
Indonesian America
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Indonesian America 500
Arts and Crafts in Indonesian America 500
Children and Folk Song in Indonesian America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Indonesian America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Indonesian America 500
Folk Dance and Performance in Indonesian America 500
Indonesian American Family and Community 500
Indonesian American Heroes and Heroines 500
Indonesian American Home Decoration 500
Indonesian American Identity 500
Indonesian American Literature and Folklore 500
Indonesian American Names and Naming 500
Indonesian American Narrative Folktale 500
Indonesian American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Indonesian American Superstition and Taboo 500
Javanese Puppets 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Indonesian America 500
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Indonesian America 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Indonesian American 500
Japanese America
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Japanese America 500
Folk Dance and Performance in Japanese America 500
Hisaye Yamamoto 500
Japanese American Heroes and Heroines 500
Japanese American Names and Naming 500
Japanese American Narrative Folktale 500
Japanese American Superstition and Taboo 500
John Okada 500
Nature and Animal in Japanese America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Japanese America 500
Toshi Mori 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Japanese American 500
Korean America
Arts and Crafts in Korean America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Korean America 500
Korean American Heroes and Heroines 500
Korean American Home Decoration 500
Korean American Names and Naming 500
Korean American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Korean American Superstition and Taboo 500
Korean American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Korean martial arts in America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Korean America 500
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Korean America 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Korean America 500
Laotian America
Laotian America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Laotian America 500
Arts and Crafts in Laotian America 500
Children and Folk Song in Laotian America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Laotian America 500
Domestic Religious Practices in Laotian America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Laotian America 500
Festivals and Holidays Laotian America 500
Folk Dance and Performance in Laotian America 500
Khmu baskets (Northern Laos) 500
Laotian American Family and Community 500
Laotian American Foods and Foodways 500
Laotian American Heroes and Heroines 500
Laotian American Home Decoration 500
Laotian American Identity 500
Laotian American Literature and Folklore 500
Laotian American Names and Naming 500
Laotian American Narrative Folktale 500
Laotian American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Laotian American Superstition and Taboo 500
Laotian American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Laotian America 500
Religion in Laotian American Communities 1000
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Laotian America 500
Malaysian America
Malaysian America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Malaysian America 500
Arts and Crafts in Malaysian America 500
Children and Folk in Malaysian America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Malaysian America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Malaysian America 500
Festivals and Holidays Malaysian America 500
Folk Dance in Malaysian America 500
Malaysian American Family and Community 500
Malaysian American Foods and Foodways 500
Malaysian American Heroes and Heroines 500
Malaysian American Home Decoration 500
Malaysian American Narrative Folktale 500
Malaysian American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Malaysian American Superstition and Taboo 500
Malaysian American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Malaysian America 500
Religion in Malaysian American Communities 1000
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Malaysian America 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Malaysian America 500
Mongolian America
Mongolian America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Mongolian America 500
Arts and Crafts in Mongolian America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Mongolian American 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Mongolian America 500
Mongolian American Foods and Foodways 500
Mongolian American Heroes and Heroines 500
Mongolian American Identity 500
Mongolian American Literature and Folklore 500
Mongolian American Narrative Folktale 500
Mongolian American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Mongolian American Superstition and Taboo 500
Mongolian American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Mongolian America 500
Religion Mongolian American Communities 1000
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Mongolian America 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Mongolian America 500
Nepali America
Nepali America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Nepali America 500
Arts and Crafts Nepali America 500
Children and Folk Song in Nepali America 500
Clothe and Jewelry Nepali America 500
Dying and Death Rituals Nepali America 500
Folk Dance and Performance in Nepali America 500
Nepali American Family and Community 500
Nepali American Heroes and Heroines 500
Nepali American Home Decoration 500
Nepali American Identity 500
Nepali American Literature and Folklore 500
Nepali American Names and Naming 500
Nepali American Narrative Folktale 500
Nepali American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Nepali American Superstition and Taboo 500
Nepali American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Nepali America 500
Religion in Nepali American Communities 1000
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Nepali America 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Nepali America 500
Pakistani America
Pacific Islanders America
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Pacific Islanders America 500
Arts and Crafts in Pacific Islanders America 500
Children and Folk Song in Pacific Islanders America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Pacific Islanders America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Pacific Islanders America 500
Festivals and Holidays in Pacific Islanders America 500
Fijiand Fijian 500
Folk Dance in Pacific Islanders America 500
Hawai’iand Hawaiian 500
Nature and Animal in Pacific Islanders America 500
Pacific Islanders American Family and Community 500
Pacific Islanders American Foods and Foodways 500
Pacific Islanders American Heroes and Heroines 500
Pacific Islanders American Home Decoration 500
Pacific Islanders American Identity 500
Pacific Islanders American Literature and Folklore 500
Pacific Islanders American Names and Naming 500
Pacific Islanders American Narrative Folktale 500
Pacific Islanders American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Pacific Islanders American Superstition and Taboo 500
Pacific Islanders American Tattooing 500
Pacific Islanders American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Pacific Islanders America 500
Religion in Pacific Islanders American Communities 1000
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Pacific Islanders America 500
Sacred Space in Pacific Islanders America 500
Surf and Surfing 500
Tahitiand Tahitian 500
Punjabi America
Arts and Crafts in Punjabi America 500
Folklore in Sikh America 500
Punjabi American Home Decoration 500
Punjabi American Narrative Folktale 500
Punjabi American Superstition and Taboo 500
Punjabi American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Punjabi America 500
Sri Lankan America
Arts and Crafts in Sri Lankan America 500
Children and Folk in Sri Lankan America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Sri Lankan America 500
Festivals and Holidays in Sri Lankan America 500
Folk Dance and Performance in Sri Lankan America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Sri Lankan America 500
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Sri Lankan America 500
Sri Lankan American Family and Community 500
Sri Lankan American Foods and Foodways 500
Sri Lankan American Heroes and Heroines 500
Sri Lankan American Home Decoration 500
Sri Lankan American Identity 500
Sri Lankan American Literature and Folklore 500
Sri Lankan American Names and Naming 500
Sri Lankan American Narrative Folktale 500
Sri Lankan American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Sri Lankan American Superstition and Taboo 500
Sri Lankan American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Sri Lankan America 500
Thai America
Thai America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Thai America 500
Arts and Crafts in Thai America 500
Children and Folk in Thai America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Thai America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Thai America 500
Festivals and Holidays in Thai America 500
Folk Dance and Performances in Thai America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Thai America 500
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Thai America 500
Thai American Foods and Foodways 500
Thai American Heroes and Heroines 500
Thai American Home Decoration 500
Thai American Identity 500
Thai American Literature and Folklore 500
Thai American Names and Naming 500
Thai American Narrative Folktale 500
Thai American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Thai American Superstition and Taboo 500
Thai American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Thai America 500
Tibetan America
Tibetan America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit in Tibetan America 500
Arts and Crafts in Tibetan America 500
Children and Folk Song in Tibetan America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Tibetan America 500
Dying and Death Rituals in Tibetan America 500
Festivals and Holidays in Tibetan America 500
Folk Dance and Performances in Tibetan America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Tibetan America 500
Religion in Tibetan American Communities 1000
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Tibetan America 500
Tibetan American Family and Community 500
Tibetan American Foods and Foodways 500
Tibetan American Heroes and Heroines 500
Tibetan American Home Decoration 500
Tibetan American Identity 500
Tibetan American Literature and Folklore 500
Tibetan American Names and Naming 500
Tibetan American Narrative Folktale 500
Tibetan American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Tibetan American Superstition and Taboo 500
Tibetan American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Tibetan America 500
Vietnamese America
Vietnamese America: History, People, and Culture 2000
Arts and Crafts Vietnamese America 500
Children and Folk Song in Vietnamese America 500
Clothe and Jewelry in Vietnamese America 500
Festivals and Holidays in Vietnamese America 500
Proverbs and Maxims in Vietnamese America 500
Rite of Passages (e.g. birth ceremonies, weddings, coming of age) in Vietnamese America 500
Tet New Year 500
Traditional Healing and Medicine in Vietnamese America 500
Vietnamese American Family and Community 500
Vietnamese American Foods and Foodways 500
Vietnamese American Heroes and Heroines 500
Vietnamese American Home Decoration 500
Vietnamese American Names and Naming 500
Vietnamese American Narrative Folktale 500
Vietnamese American Social Etiquette and Customs 500
Vietnamese American Superstition and Taboo 500
Vietnamese American Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner 500
Pan-Asian American
Lotus 500
Lotus Festival 500

Call for Papers

“A Long and Tumultuous Relationship”
East-West Interchanges in American Art

October 1-2, 2009
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

Paper submissions are invited for this symposium, which will address the complicated interactions between American and Asian artists and visual traditions from the eighteenth century to the present. Scholars are encouraged to send in proposals engaging all media of visual art, and including craft, architecture, and the moving image. Original, innovative scholarship is sought investigating all manner of artistic interchanges, including issues of patronage, art markets, and popular culture, and engaging a wide range of geographic sites where these exchanges took place.

The title for our symposium stems from the writings of Bert Winther-Tamaki, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who talks in his book Art in the Encounter of Nations about the need to avoid merely binary understandings of U.S.-Asian cultural exchanges and to steer clear of expectations that East and West have “core characteristics.” Earlier scholarship often has looked at the Asian influence on American art as a unidirectional and limited development, suggesting that Asian culture was unchanging and monolithic while characterizing American artists as dynamic and original in their ability to absorb and meld the best of diverse cultures. This symposium aims to consider instead what Winther-Tamaki calls the “contentious interdependency” born out of a “long and tumultuous relationship” between these cultures.

Scholarship is invited that complicates or reimagines the historical meanings of “East” and “West” as well as terms such as “orientalism” through the prism of multi-directional cultural exchange. The symposium will reflect an understanding that the “East” is made up of a wide variety of countries — not just Japan and China, whose influence on American art has been most discussed to date. In addition to high-art visual exchanges, interdisciplinary explorations of immigration, border cultures, and transnational flows in popular culture are welcome.

“A Long and Tumultuous Relationship”: East-West Interchanges in American Art is being organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in partnership with the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, and is supported by a generous grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

To submit a paper, please send a two-page, double-spaced abstract (300-500 words) and a short c.v. to East-West Symposium, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, Victor Building, MRC 970, Washington D.C. 20013-7012. Proposals may also be submitted via e-mail to SAAMSymposium@si.edu.

Proposals must be received by February 2, 2009. Confirmed speakers will be required to submit the text of their 20-minute symposium presentations by September 1, 2009. A final text of the essay with endnotes will be due by January 5, 2010, for possible publication in the symposium proceedings. The symposium will be available for viewing in a simultaneous and, later, an archived webcast.

Call for Papers
Global Islam in Everyday America
April 3, 2009
University of Pennsylvania

Hosted by the Asian American Studies Program, the Middle East Center, and the South Asia Center

Keynote Address: Yvonne Haddad, Professor of the History of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University

As Islam is increasingly associated with worldwide debates on terror, anti-West sentiment, and extremism, images of Islam and Islamic identity circulating in the media have become ubiquitous. Pictures of the veil, the turbaned terrorist, and the children schooled in madrasas are conflated to a singular representation of all Muslims. While Muslims face the challenges of negative imagery, researchers know relatively little about the lived experiences of Muslim Americans.

Global Islam in Everyday America is a one-day conference that explores Islam and Muslim identities in the U.S. by interrogating the multiple implications resonating from stereotypes of Islam and the ways in which the imagined versus the lived experience of American Muslims are implicated. We encourage papers that address the migration experiences, political participation and representation of Muslim Americans. We welcome scholars from a wide range of social science and humanities disciplines to submit their 750 word abstract that address these issues on Muslims of all racial and national backgrounds in the United States. Preference will be given to papers based on ethnographic research.

Possible topics may include but are not limited to the following:

Popular Culture and Islam Islam and Film

Muslims and Migration Gender and Islam

Social Practices Second Generation

Race and Islam Islam and Folklore

Please send your 750 word abstract along with your curriculum vitae to:

Dr. Fariha Khan
Associate Director, Asian American Studies Program
University of Pennsylvania
166 McNeil Bldg
3718 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104

fariha@sas.upenn.edu

Abstracts are due by November 7, 2008 and we will notify you of the status of your proposed presentation by December 1, 2008.

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ATTENTION
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Please note that proposal submission deadline for 2009 AAAS conference in Honolulu, HI is Friday, October 31, 2008. To upload your paper and finalize your 2009 AAAS conference submission please click on the link below.

http://donerightweb.com/aaas/callforpapers.php

2009 CALL FOR PAPERS

Challenging Inequalities: Nations, Races and Communities

2009 Association for Asian American Studies Conference
Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel
2500 Kuhio Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815-3696

The conference theme can be interpreted in two different ways. Political, economic and social inequalities among nations, races, and other communities are indeed challenging insofar as they have persisted to the present and continue to resist reduction. At the same time, the theme can also be understood as a call for scholars, students and community activists to develop ways to challenge inequalities in order to foster equality, justice and fairness among nations, races, and communities of various backgrounds, including ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, and nationality.

Honolulu, and more generally Hawai‘i, provides an appropriate site for the Association for Asian American Studies annual conference because 2009 marks the fiftieth anniversary of statehood for Hawai‘i. The islands became a state in 1959 because of the unequal power relations between the nations of Hawai‘i and the United States that resulted in the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893 and its annexation as a U.S. territory in 1898. The fiftieth anniversary of statehood is not likely to be officially celebrated in Hawai‘i out of respect for the concerns of the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) people who became U.S. colonial subjects after annexation. By contrast, some Asian American groups, such as Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans, have benefited substantially from statehood as evident from their dominant economic and political status in Hawai‘i. Our conference can serve as a forum to rethink the causes and differential consequences of the emerging American Empire in the Pacific and Asia in the late nineteenth century and its peremptory status in the affairs of Asian Americans and of Asian and Pacific Island peoples in the twentieth century, and to consider its possible decline in the current neoliberal age.

The historical injustices and violence of U.S. colonization of Hawai‘i and the contemporary marginalization of Kanaka Maoli in their homeland provide a political, economic and cultural context for rethinking other challenging inequalities that continue to plague us and compel us to develop appropriate means to contest them. Such inequalities, albeit constantly shifting, include those between the United States and Asian and Pacific nations, especially as a result of the economic, cultural and military globalization of the latter nations, including Hawai‘i, under the impetus of transnational capital. In response, nationalist movements, including the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, have emerged to resist such globalizing processes. What role can Asian Americanists play in our teaching, research, and community service in rethinking and challenging such global inequalities among nations and their peoples?

Inequalities among races include those between Asian Americans and other racial groups, including Pacific Islanders. In what is being referred to as his “A More Perfect Union” speech on March 18, 2008, Honolulu-born and raised Barack Obama described contemporary race relations as “a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.” How then can we as academics and activists contest persisting racial inequalities and hierarchies? How do we challenge “color-blind racism” and appropriations of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s in limited ways that deny the persistence of vast racial inequalities? How can we develop collective strategies and coalitions toward a society based on tolerant and egalitarian race relations?

Inequalities among communities include those among and within Asian American groups based on ethnicity, gender, class, and sexual orientation. Women and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities continue to face institutional hurdles that bar them from gaining equal treatment. Those inequalities certainly intersect with those based on nation and race (and with each other) and clearly indicate the social and cultural complexity of inequalities in society. How do such inequalities and their intersections challenge us to rethink our theoretical approaches and political strategies for resolving them?

Please join us in Honolulu in 2009 as we address the above and other significant questions and issues on challenging global, racial, ethnic, gender, class, and other inequalities. Complete panel submissions (with a minimum of three papers and a maximum of four) will be given priority, but individual paper submissions will also be considered. We invite submissions for workshops and roundtables as well.

Please note that all paper and panel applicants, including other paper presenters and discussants in a panel, must be members of the Association for Asian American Studies. If you are not an association member at the time of the submission deadline of October 31, 2008, you will have until January 1, 2009 to join by sending your payment and completed annual membership form to The John Hopkins University Press, the publisher of the association’s journal. The membership form is available on the AAAS website at http://www.aaastudies.org/forms/index.html. Note also that paper presenters and discussants must pay the conference registration fee prior to the conference in order to be included in the printed conference program.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: OCTOBER 31, 2008.

Call for Papers:  Amerasia Journal’s Special Issue for 2010 on
“Asian Australia & Asian America: Reconceptualizing Transnational Geographies”

Co-editors:
Jacqueline Lo, School of Humanities, The Australian National University

Tseen Khoo, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University

Dean Chan, School of Communications and Arts, Edith Cowan University

Amerasia Journal Editors:
Russell C. Leong, Editor, University of California, Los Angeles

Stephanie Santos, Assistant Editor, University of California, Los Angeles

This special issue of Amerasia Journal on Asian Australia situates sociocultural analysis of Asian diasporas within a broader transnational framework, deploying comparisons with the U.S. to illuminate the ways in which localized concepts of belonging and nation are intricately and inextricably influenced by global forces.

Asian diaspora studies in Australia and the U.S. share similarities in their developmental trajectory and representational politics. Nevertheless, while Asian American Studies is an important reference point both politically and theoretically for the development of Asian Australian Studies, there are significant distinctions based on different histories of settlement, race relations and immigration, as well as shifting agentive prerogatives and community politics that have inflected the modes of diasporic Asian studies at these locales. These considerations will be highlighted in this special issue, forming the basis for new comparative and contextual knowledge about diasporic and transnational Asian cultures.

The editors of this issue invite contributions to discussions about Asian transnationalism with particular attention to the relations between Asian Australia and Asian America.  We are keen to include a range of disciplinary perspectives including history, anthropology, sociology, community politics, education, cultural studies, literature, and popular culture analysis, as well as creative practices. The aim of the issue is to represent the depth and diversity of Asian Australian communities and cultures, and illuminate the many points of connection to, and divergence from, Asian American paradigms.

The questions we are seeking to address include but are not limited to the following:
o    How are conventional ways of understanding transnationalism being re-imagined in an Asian Australian context?
o    How do specific national histories of racialization impact on the ways in which diasporic Asians in Australia and the U.S. negotiate systems of power, knowledge, and representation?
o    To what extent does creative and cultural production in Asian Australia and Asian America exemplify differential modes of diasporic Asian agency and empowerment?
o    What are the possibilities for developing a transnational framework for comparative or inter-diasporic Asian studies?

Please send 2-page proposals by November 30. 2008 by e-mail to:
Russell Leong <rleong@ucla.edu>
Jacqueline Lo <jacqueline.lo@anu.edu.au>
Tseen Khoo <tseen.khoo@arts.monash.edu.au>
Dean Chan <d.chan@ecu.edu.au>

The editors will review proposals and contact authors about developing essays for publication consideration. All submitted essays will be reviewed by the two journal editors and two consulting guest editors, plus a blind reviewer. If your proposal is accepted, we will send you a stylesheet with format and length requirements.

The planned publication date of this special issue is August 2010.

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Mark your calendars!

The next Northwest Asian American Film Festival takes place February 26-March 1, 2009

*Call for Entries*

Northwest Asian American Film Festival is now accepting entries for films on subjects related to the Asian Pacific American experience. Along with screenings of curated and selected works from the Pacific Northwest and
North America, the four-day film festival will offer a variety of social events and programs relating to Asian American media.

*Submission Format: DVD or URL link (to YouTube, Google Video etc.)
*Genres: Short; Experimental; Documentary; Narrative
*Screening Format: 35mm; 16mm; mini DV; DVD
*Deadline: November 21, 2008

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION:
1) Complete and send the entry form to NWAAFF 2009* (form is available on
our web site www.nwaaff.org)
- By email to info@nwaaff.org
- By mail to 1463 E. Republican St. #106, Seattle, WA 98112

2) Send your film to NWAAFF 2009:*

-DVD sent by mail to NWAAFF, 1463 E. Republican St. #106, Seattle, WA 98112. Please indicate the film’s title and contact information on the tape/disc.
OR
-As a URL where your film can be viewed online (e.g. YouTube, Google Video, etc.).

Please do not include additional promotional materials.

DEADLINES: Mailed entries must be postmarked and electronic entries must be sent no later than NOVEMBER 21, 2008. Receipt of entries will be confirmed via email. Final selections will be announced in late December/early
January.

*ENTRY FEE:* There is no entry fee for this year’s festival.

Questions? Email info@nwaaff.org

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Northwest Asian American Film Festival 2009
1463 E. Republican St. #106
Seattle, WA 98112
Email: info@nwaaff.org
Web Site: www.nwaaff.org
MySpace: www.myspace.com/nwaaff
Join mailing list: subscribe@nwaaff.org

We’re seeking papers to be included in a panel proposal on the Korean Wave and Asian America (see description  below) for the Association for  Asian American Studies conference to be held in Honolulu on April  22-26, 2009.  If accepted, this panel will be among those sponsored by  the Korean American studies caucus.  Please e-mail title, brief paper  description, and one-page c.v. to both Robert Ji-Song Ku (jku@binghamton.edu) and Barbara Kim (bkim2@csulb.edu) by October 24.

Riding the Korean Wave: Hallyu and Asian America

Coined by Beijing journalists to explain the growing presence of South  Korean population and commodities in China, the “Korean Wave” (hanryu/ hallyu) of popular culture has swept through neighboring Asian  countries, including China, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, and the  Philippines, among many others. South Korea’s emergence as an  industrial center of popular culture began with television dramas in  the late 1990s and subsequently went on to include film and music. The  Korean Wave coincided with the rise of the affluent middle class in  Asia and helped redefine the South Korean image from a historically  “colonized other” and copycat of its more powerful Asian neighbors to  one of cosmopolitanism and “vitality of trendy entertainers and  cutting edge technology” (Y. Kim, 2007). The rise of the Korean Wave  has been described by one scholar as a “transnational cultural flow  that challenged Western cultural hegemony in Asia” (E. Cho, 2005).  Critics meanwhile caution it largely as a tabloid and mass media  concoction with minimal social and political significance (Yong-Sung,  2005).

In the U.S., Korean television dramas air on free stations in most  major cities and over cable and satellite in smaller markets. Video  recordings are widely available in ethnic markets throughout the  country and on countless Internet sites. They are dubbed and subtitled  in a variety of languages, including English, Vietnamese, Chinese,  Tagalog, and Khmer, and sold, rented, and downloaded by fans across  generations, races, and ethnicities. In 1989, Hawaii’s KBFD was the  first station to broadcast Korean dramas with English subtitles. In  2005, the Mandarin-dubbed final episode of “Dae Jang Geum” (“Jewel in  the Palace”) attracted a larger audience than ABCs “Extreme Makeover”  in the San Francisco area. Meanwhile, millions listen to Korean music  (K-Pop) on iPods, view music videos on YouTube, and Korean stars like  Bi (Rain) sell out concert halls in Las Vegas and New York City. South  Korean films are compared to French cinema of the 60s and are  regularly featured in film festivals and art house movie theaters.

Given the transnational and global dimensions of the Korean Wave, how  might Asian American studies contribute to the understanding of the  production, export, and consumption of Korean popular culture? This  panel proposes to examine this and other Korean Wave-focused  questions, including: Does the Korean Wave compel a redefinition of
Korean/Asian American culture and identity? Does it challenge Western  cultural hegemony?  How can we study and incorporate the Korean Wave  as a global or transnational cultural phenomenon? How does Korean  popular culture address inequalities based on ethnicity, gender,  class, and sexual orientation, and how do we critique them? How do we  read Korean dramas, music, and films as cultural texts and/or social/cultural transformations and possibilities that affect Asian American  communities?

* * *
Robert Ji-Song Ku
Visiting Associate Professor
Department of Asian and Asian American Studies
Binghamton University
607.777.4517