Asian Centennial Events
Academic Speaker Series & ExhibitsUniversity wide faculty enjoin the faculties of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies and Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies in presenting a global line-up of guest speakers and workshops covering a wide array of disciplines and specializations. Support The Asian Centennial with your contribution. Spring 2022February 10, 5PM, Washington 201, with a reception after the talk: "Greece and India, China & Rome: at the Crossroads of the Ancient World" by Dr. Georgia L Irby, Professor of Classical Studies. (Watch the Virtual Livestream.) Please join the department of Classical Studies as it celebrates the Asian Centennial at William and Mary with a talk on the Greek and Roman knowledge of and interactions with India, China, and Sri Lanka. Long-distance exchange was complex, from commercial links (along the Erythraean Sea and the Silk road) to philosophical cross-pollination and diplomatic embassies. Greek and Roman thinkers were fascinated by the peoples at the edges of their world, and they understood these distant peoples imperfectly, giving rise to utopias, dystopias, and fanciful hybrid-folk. February 25, 1230PM, Virtual. Tool of Every Empire, Paper and Stick by Priscilla Wathington. Wathington will read a selection of poems from their newly released chapbook, Paper and Stick (Tram Editions, 2021), which explores what type of language is possible when documents are set out like traps in the woods. Relying on a strategy of documentary poetics, the poems draw source material from standing or recently cancelled military orders, news articles, archival texts, former Israeli soldiers' published statements, and statements from Palestinian minors who had been placed under Israeli military detention. The poems' themes and aesthetic choices will be contextualized within the wider situation of Palestinian human rights, especially the abuses that Palestinian minors, who have been detained by the Israeli military, routinely undergo. Priscilla Wathington is a Palestinian American poet and editor who has worked with NGOs such as the Arab American Action Network, Defense for Children International – Palestine, and the Norwegian Refugee Council. The poems in her debut chapbook, Paper and Stick (Tram Editions, 2021), "sharply probe the way language both limns and shadows atrocities," writes Deema Shehabi. Wathington's poems have appeared in Gulf Coast, Michigan Quarterly Review, Salamander, The Normal School, Mizna, and elsewhere. She holds a Master’s in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and sits on the board of the Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI). (Organized by Professor Benedito Ferrao, Assistant Professor of English and Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies. Funded by AMES.) March 18, 2022, 3PM: "Contemporary Anglophone Literary Representations of South Asian Diasporic Experience in Germany: A Viable Space to Reflect on South Asian Germanness?" by Dr. Christine Vogt-William, University of Bayreuth, Germany. Dr. Vogt-William will discuss how South Asian German identities have been constructed as ‘Other Germans’. Guyanese German author Sharon Maas’ 2003 novel The Speech of Angels set in 1990s Stuttgart and Indian author Vikram Seth’s 2005 biography of his uncle Shanti Seth entitled Two Lives set in 1930s Berlin, provide literary sites to reflect on the elusive contours of Germanness itself and what it means for South Asians to claim this identity in the 21st century. This talk is a part of the APIA Centennial, AMES Talk Series, and the APIA-AMES Capstone Seminar. (Organized by Professor R. Benedito Ferrao, English and Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies.) March 25, 2022, 12-1PM, Zoom and In-person: "Envisioning The Future of Ethnic Studies at William & Mary: A Community Panel Conversation" with Professors Monika Gosin, Laura Guerrero, Krystyn Moon, Chinua Thelwell, and the artist Steve Prince. Moderated by Professors Deenesh Sohoni & Francis Aguas A community dialogue on the state and future of cultural and ethnic studies programs at William & Mary. (Organized by the Asian Centennial, Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies Banh Mi Lecture Series, Global Studies, and The Lemon Project.) March 31, 2022, 4-5PM, Ewell 151: A Zoom Conversation with Composer, Melissa Dunphy, Professor of composition at Rutgers. The Barksdale Treble Chorus and Botetourt Chamber Singer have previously prepared several of Professor Dunphy's choral works, and this year, in honor of W&M’s Asian Centennial, the BTC is working on a piece she composed based on the writings of Grace Lee Boggs, the Chinese American civil rights and labor rights leader and advocate who worked with Martin Luther King. The work, “New Dreams”, asks a series of questions about how we interact with our world and encourages individual responsibility for change and possibility. The Botetourt Chamber Singers will perform the piece during the workshop. (Organized by Professor Jamie Barlett of the Department of Music.) April 1, 2022, 4-515PM, Tucker 127A: "Bloodstained Buddhas: Warfare, Violence, and Religion in Medieval China" by Professor Geoffrey Goble, Oklahoma University In the second half of the eighth century, a new Buddhist teaching was introduced and propagated in China. Generally referred to in scholarship as Esoteric Buddhism, this iteration of Buddhism was swiftly adopted by the Chinese imperial government and disseminated throughout the empire. In this talk based on his book Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition (Columbia 2019), Geoffrey Goble introduces Chinese Esoteric Buddhism and reveals the surprising role that warfare and ritual technologies for murdering and afflicting enemies played in the creation and establishment of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism. (Organized by Professor Patton Burchett of the Department of Religious Studies.) April 4, 2022, 7-8PM, Zoom: An Evening with David Uy A first-generation Chinese-American, David Uy (’93, MBA ‘96), is executive director of the first and only Chinese American Museum in our nation's capital. In some ways, becoming executive director of a museum was an unexpected choice. Uy’s previous work had been in nonprofit management, marketing, and public relations. He even headed his own PR firm for about 12 years. But, in other ways, his journey to becoming the museum director is the culmination of his life’s work. Join us for a lively discussion of David’s life, including his time at William & Mary, and his vision for the future of the Chinese American Museum. April 12, 5PM, Andrews 101: “How Was Art Electrified? The Formation of the Global Brain in China” by Eugene Y. Wang, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Professor of Asian Art at Harvard UniversityProfessor Wang will deliver this year’s Art & Art History Distinguished Lecture, coinciding with the WM Asian Centennial celebration. 1897 was a year that largely goes under our radar screen. In hindsight, it turned out to be a year of uncanny coincidence. Stars were aligned. In that year, Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) published “On Electricity”; China had its first native-owned power station in Shanghai; and Tan Sitong (1865-1898), a starry-eyed young reformist, wrote extensively on electricity, ether, and global psychic connectivity. Tan was executed at the age of 33 by the Qing government the next year as the Hundred Days’ Reform he had participated in failed. However, the electricity-ether-globalism meme lived on. It resurfaced a century later, in the 2012 Shanghai Biennale, on the site of the power station that was founded in 1897. Coincidentally–or perhaps not–Tesla’s avatar also showed up in the form of the Tesla Tower on the Biennale curator’s map. Stars were once again re-aligned. In-between 1897 and 2012 is thus an untold story of the formation of the global brain, borne by a charged medium, an aggregate of electricity, ether, and global consciousness, that repeatedly electrified art, and vice versa. (Organized by Professor Xin Conan-Wu, Margaret Hamilton Associate Professor of Art History.) Fall 2021September 9, 2-320PM, “The Global White Snake: by Professor Liang Luo, Professor of Chinese Studies, University of Kentucky. Access the Zoom Link. A timely mediation and reflection on the continued struggle for minority rights and social justice. (Organized by Professor Emily Wilcox, MLL: Chinese.) September 17, Noon-1PM: APIA Faculty Banh Mi with Professor Andrea Wright, and Awarding of Jinlan Liu Faculty Research Award, Sadler Center Commonwealth Auditorium (Watch the YouTube Recording). Professor Andrea Wright of Anthropology and Asian & Middle Eastern Studies shares her latest research findings. (Organized by APIA and Professor Deenesh Sohoni, Sociology.) September 23, 5-615PM, Zoom: "They Want our Culture, Not our Struggle: Towards a Fuller Embrace of API and other BIPOC in Pop Culture Industries" with Dr. Ninochka McTaggart and Dr. Eileen O'Brien. Ninochta McTaggart and Eileen O’Brien will focus on 3 pop culture industries: music, Hollywood, and sports. They are authors of the article “Seeking Liberation, Facing Gendered Marginalization: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Hip Hop Culture,” and the book: White Privilege: The Persistence of Racial Hierarchy in a Culture of Denial. (Passcode: 062574) September 24, 5-630PM, Zoom: "Albanian National Context of Teachings of the Bektashi Sufi Order" by Dervish Huseyin Abiva. A Sufi dervish affiliated with the Albanian Bektashi community based in Michigan. Huseyin Abiva will talk to us about the teachings of the Bektashi Sufi order and its current place in the Albanian national context. Dervish Huseyin Abiva holds a degree in history from the University of Maryland, and he is a dervish serving the Bektashi Community of America. Dervish Huseyin has translated a number of important Bektashi works into English, including the Vilayetname of Haji Bektash Veli, and Baba Rexheb’s Islamic Mysticism and Bektashism.Passcode: 595522 (Organized by Professor Ayfer Karakaya-Stump, History) September 25, 1030AM, Zoom: “From Harry Potter to BTS: Greek myth in Youth Culture" by Dr. Vassiliki Panoussi, Chancellor Professor of Classical Studies and Chair. Presented as part of Parent's Weekend 2021. (Organized by the Department of Classical Studies.) September 29, 12-1PM, Zoom: "Performing Solidarities: Third World Alliance as Choreographic Practice." Dr. Emily Wilcox of the William & Mary Department of Modern Languages and Literatures will present her research on movement, Third World Unity, and decolonization. Please email [[jdcarlson]] for Zoom Link. (Organized by the Department of Anthropology.) September 30, 330PM, Zoom: “Reflections on What It Is Like To Be a Philosopher of Asian Descent” Q&A with Dr. Anand Vaidya, Professor of Philosophy at San Jose State University. (Organized by Professor Laura Guerrero, Philosophy.) Zoom Meeting ID: 995 9835 6880 Passcode: 279617 October 6, 7PM, Zoom: "Nationalism in Asia" a talk by Professor Maya J. Tudor, Oxford University. Dr. Tudor’s research investigates the origins of stable, democratic and effective states across the developing world, with a particular emphasis upon South Asia. She was educated at Stanford University (BA in Economics) and Princeton University (MPA in Development Studies and PhD in Politics and Public Policy). She has held fellowships at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Oxford University’s Centre for the Study of Inequality and Democracy, and Stanford University. (Organized by Professor Rani Mullen, Government.) October 8 Noon-1PM, TBD: "History, Causality & Resistance: Stopping Anti-Asian Hatred During COVID" with Dr. Russell Jeung Founder of stop AAPI hate and Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. Using incidents reported to Stop AAPI Hate, Professor Jeung discusses the nationwide trends in anti-Asian racism, their causes, and their historic roots. He then shares how the Asian American community is resisting this racism and what gains we have made. (Organized by APIA and Professor Deenesh Sohoni, Sociology.) The recording of Dr. Jeung's talk is available on this link. October 14, Washington 315, 330-5PM: Bellini Colloquium presents "Perspectives on the Linguistic Sign: Sound Symbolism in English and Arabic" by ProfessorJohn Eisele. Professor John Eisele is the author of the book Arabic Verbs in Time: Tense and Aspect in Cairene Arabic and of numerous essays published in Language, JAOS, al Arabiyyah, and Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics. A past recipient of Fulbright and NEH fellowships, his current research focuses on two areas: the representation of Arabs and the Middle East in the Hollywood tradition and the representation of the Arabic language as a cultural icon and as a linguistic object. His third area of expertise, Arabic language pedagogy, has recently been recognized by the award of a Department of Education International Research and Studies grant to support the development of a series of textbooks for the teaching of Arabic in all of its varieties . He teaches courses on Arabic language, literature in translation, and Arab film as an introduction to the Arab world. (Organized by the Department of Modern Languages and Literature.) October 15 Dr. Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Brown University. Diversity and Inclusion Symposium. Dr. Hu-Dehart will keynote the 6th Annual Diversity and Inclusion Symposium with the theme "Striving for Social Justice Through Belonging and Liberation." This symposium will be an event focused on advancing the conversation on diversity & inclusion within higher education. The day will feature three keynote speakers with round-table discussions. Registration opens on September 20th and will close on October 8th. (Organized by Dr. Chon Glover and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.) Register here for this Zoom event. October 19 Williamsburg Joins Fareed Zakaria Nationwide Event on U.S.- China Relations, 7-9PM. CNN host and best-selling author Fareed Zakaria will be the featured speaker for CHINA Town Hall 2021, a national conversation on how the U.S.-China relationship affects our cities, towns, and communities, on October 22, 4-5PM, Grand Opening Launch & Reception: Pu-Kao Chen Exhibit in W&M Library, curated by Sumie Yotsukura ’22 and Brian Zhao ’23 of the APM Research Project. This exhibit premieres Chen’s published essay detailing his thoughts and analysis of his experiences as a student at William & Mary. The exhibit is currently on display and will be open for the fall semester. (Organized by the Asian Centennial and advised by Professor Deenesh Sohoni, Sociology and APIA: Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies.) October 28, 5PM, Zoom: "Okinawa and the US Military Issues: Past, Present, and Future," by Mr. Satoshi Uechi, Director, Okinawa Prefectural Government Washington DC Office. Hybrid: This talk is accessible via Zoom as well as through in-person viewing in Washington 315. (Organized by Professor Tomoyuki Sasaki, MLL: Japanese. RSVP through Professor Sasaki's email. [[tsasaki]] ) October 29, 1030AM-1230PM, Zoom: "Armenian Identity in Turkey and Remembering the Ottoman Empire" by Garo Paylan. A Turkish-Armenian politician and human rights activist, Paylan, is currently a member of the Turkish Parliament for the Peoples’ Democratic Party. Garo Paylan will give us a talk about being Armenian in Turkey and remembering the Ottoman Empire as a Turkish-Armenian. October 29, 330PM, Zoom: “Philosophy and Power: East-West Encounter in the Formation of Modern East Asian Buddhist Philosophy" by Dr. Jin Park, Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, American University (Organized by Professor Laura Guerrero, Department of Philosophy.) Zoom Meeting ID: 999 9016 5040 Passcode: 948766 October 29, 430PM, Zoom: “Reflections on What It Is Like To Be a Philosopher of Asian Descent” with Dr. Jin Park, Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, American University. (Organized by Professor Laura Guerrero, Department of Philosophy.) Zoom Meeting ID: 999 9016 5040 Passcode: 948766 November 2, 5PM, Zoom: “How May I Help You? An Immigrant’s Journey from MBA to Minimum Wage” by Deepak Singh. Deepak discusses his move from northern India to Virginia, and reflect on class and racial hierarchies. (Organized by Professor Andrea Wright of AMES and Anthropology.) November 11, 930AM, Ewell 151: “Inside Arabic Music” by Johnny Farraj. Guest Artist and Scholar Johnny Farraj will be discussing his book. (Organized by Professor Anne Rasmussen, Music and AMES.) November 18, 5PM, Zoom: Jiayang Fan of the New Yorker will discuss with students her experiences writing about China outside of China. (Organized by Professor Andrea Wright, AMES and Anthropology.) November 30, 2-320PM, Zoom: “The Evolution of the Chinese Internet” by Dr. Shaohua Guo, Associate Professor of Chinese, Carleton College. Dr. Guo will speak on her book which traces the emergence and maturation of the bulletin board system, the microblog, and WeChat. (Organized by Professor Emily Wilcox, MLL: Chinese.) November 30, 11AM, Zoom: "Lecciones Para Un Niño Que Llega Tarde" ("Lessons for a Child Who Arrives Late") by Carlos Yoshimoto. Japanese Peruvian author Dr. Carlos Yushimito will be discussing his book of the same title. (Organized by Professor Michael Iyanaga, Music and Latin American Studies.) December 1, 2PM, Zoom Speaker to In-Person Audience in Washington 308: "Late Imperial Plays and their Reception in China" by Guojun Wang, Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at Vanderbilt and author of the recent CUP book “Staging Personhood: Costuming in Early Qing Drama." (Organized by Professor Paul Vierthaller, Chinese Studies.) |
Alumni EngagementLed by Ivana Marshall, Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement and Inclusion Initiatives, on behalf of the William & Mary Alumni Association, we continue to organize a diversity of alumni focused programming featuring the work of APIM alums. Past events have focused on professional connections through networking, storytelling, alumni-student engagement opportunities and APIM representation in the arts. Future events will include, but not be limited to, coalition building through the APIM community, alumni-student engagement opportunities, as well as the formation of an APIM alumni advisory board to sustain the engagement, leadership and philanthropy of the William & Mary APIM community. Support the APIM Alumni circle. Spring 2022March 3, 6-7PM ET, Virtual Event: Building Community in the Workplace. William & Mary Professionals Week (February 28 - March 4) event celebrates William & Mary's Asian Centennial and is brought to you by the Asian, Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern Alumni (APIM) Leadership Circle in partnership with the Crim Dell Association, Hulon Willis Association (HWA), and Latinx Alumni of William & Mary (Latinx) Leadership Circles. What does it mean to bring your whole and authentic self to work? How does diversity strengthen or challenge community in a workplace? Join us for introductory remarks by alumna Erika Moritsugu ’94, deputy assistant to President Biden and Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander senior liaison, followed by a discussion moderated by Erika with W&M alumni S. Douglas Bunch ’02, J.D. ’06, partner at Cohen Milstein and chairman of Global Playground, Nina Cavazos ’13, director of corporate relations at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, and Amandeep Sidhu ’00, partner at Winston & Strawn and co-founder of the Sikh Coalition. April 30, 11AM, Zable Stadium: Dedication of Arthur A. Matsu Arcade and Unveiling of the Commonwealth of Virginia Historical Marker on Arthur A. Matsu. William & Mary honors its first Asian American student and star quarterback Arthur A. Matsu '27 by the naming of the arcade at Zable Stadium which will be dedicated at the same time that the Commonwealth of Virginia Historical Marker celebrating Matsu's legacy will be unveiled. Fall 2021September 29, 6-7PM, Zoom: "Combating the Invisibility of Middle Eastern and North African Identities in American Healthcare with Dr. Elyas Bakhtiari."Join Dr. Elyas Bakhtiari, assistant professor of Sociology at William & Mary, for a presentation about how to incorporate Middle Eastern and North African Americans into health disparities research. Dr. Bakhtiari will discuss the implications of population categorization, defining races and ethnicities, how the September 1, 2001 attacks have impacted the ways that Middle Eastern and North African Americans are categorized, and the effects of institutionalized racism. Learn how invisibility affects social determinants of health and how visibility can save lives. Participants are encouraged to participate in the Q&A opportunity with Dr. Bakhtiari after the presentation! October 9, 1230-3PM, APIM Alumni Pre-Game Tailgate, Alumni House Lawn. Reconnect during a pre-game tailgate with the APIM, representing Asian-Pacific Islander-Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian alumni. We will gather outside of the newly renovated Alumni House for great food, good music and an all-around great time! Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Dec. 14, 5-6 p.m. ET, Online - US-China Relations in 2022 and Beyond. As President Biden’s first year in office coincides with the 50th anniversary of U.S. President Nixon announcing his visit to The People’s Republic of China, a global community of experts and policy thinkers set about to reimagine U.S.- China relations. W&M alumni experts in the US-China relations, Craig Broderick '81, Senior Director, Goldman Sachs, Stone Point, Board Member, Jacob Dreyer '08, Senior Editor, Palgrave, Shanghai (China) and Earl Carr '01, Chief Global Strategist, Pivotal Advisors & Editor "From Trump to Biden and Beyond" lead a panel discussion providing insights on global issues that will define America and China both now and well into the future. December 16, 7PM, D.C. Yule Log: In celebration of the Asian Centennial, this year's in-person D.C. Yule Log will feature the Centennial Co-Chairs - Professor Francis Tanglao Aguas and Dr. Deenesh Sohoni! As yule log tradition goes, cast your holly and woes into the fire and prepare for another great year! Join alumni, parents, family and friends for this holiday tradition as we hear a reading of the Tradition of the Yule Log and remarks from Professors Francis Tanglao Aguas and Deenesh Sohoni, who will speak about the Asian Centennial at W&M. The evening will be filled with drinks, hors d'oeuvres, desserts and merriment! |
Asian Centennial Ball: April 22, 20227-10PM, April 22, 2022 The Asian Pacific Middle Eastern/South West Asian (APM) student community will celebrate the Asian Centennial at William & Mary with the Asian Centennial Ball on April 22, 2022 from 7pm-10pm in the Sunken Garden. We will be highlighting talent from the Asian, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern communities through performances by Griffin Bhangra, Zodiacs, and more! A variety of dishes from premier APM cuisines will also be featured. Learn more about the significance of the Asian Centennial and celebrate 100 years since the admission of Chen Pu-Kao '23, the first Asian student here at William & Mary. Formal or traditional attire is encouraged. RSVP is required. RSVP at this link: https://forms.gle/x6jkiugteAauwi4AA. This event is free! |
Asian Centennial Day: April 30, 2022Our commemoration of one hundred years of Asian students at William & Mary culminates in our hallmark Asian Centennial Day, on April 30 for which we have organized a full day of programming. We invite everyone to make a weekend of Asian Centennial Day to partake of the festive celebration. Art Matsu Dedications: Unveiling the Arthur A. Matsu Arcade and Commonwealth of Virginia Historical Marker Honoring Art Matsu's Legacy Masquerade at the Muscarelle: The Asian Centennial Gala Fundraiser featuring the Unveiling of Asian Centennial Commissioned Art by Roberto Jamora and the Awarding of the Inaugural Winners of the Asian Centennial Alumni Awards $100.00 in person $50.00 virtual general admission |
Asian, Pacific & Middle Eastern Film SeriesCurated by Professor Francis Tanglao Aguas, the APM Film Festival features award winning films exploring the rich experiences of the diverse Asian, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian communities. Most screenings are in Boswell 220 at 2-4PM, unless noted. support the arts @ The asian centennial Fall 2021September 16: THE GOLDEN HARVEST by Dr. Alia Yunis, NYU Abu Dhabi. (Listen to the Audio Version.) Tracing the story of the olive, the filmmaker, novelist, and scholar Alia Yunis explores the story of Palestine and other olive related transnational scenarios. The Golden Harvest (2019), made its debut at Thessaloniki International Film Festival, won Best of the Fest at its US debut at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, and has gone on to play in several other festivals. Alia spent many years in Los Angeles as a screenwriter and script analyst for companies such as Village Roadshow Pictures and Miramax. Alia is a PEN Emerging Voices Fellow and the recipient of a comedy-writing award from Warner Bros. Her novel, The Night Counter (Random House 2010), was critically acclaimed by the Washington Post, the Boston Entertainment Weekly, and several other publications, and it is read in classes in several schools and universities. Her fiction and non-fiction writings have appeared in numerous books, magazines, and anthologies and have been translated into six languages. September 23: ISLAND SOLDIER by Nathan Fitch, with an Artist Talk and Q&A. Fitch explores the stories of the young men of Micronesia who have long been a resource of labor for the US Armed Forces but have been unable to reap the rewards of their sacrifice. (This film is screening immediately online via W&M Kanopy.) October 21: OUR TIMES by Rakhshān Banietemad. This documentary by Iran’s esteemed filmmaker follows a group of young men and women as they campaign for the reform-minded Khatami. Rakhshan Banietemad (1954, Tehran, Iran) was one of the first women to make films after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. She is now the foremost woman director in her country, enjoying both national and international renown. Banietemad extends the boundaries of officially permitted imagination. Her work appeals to women in her own country and beyond, subtly researching and presenting womanhood and moving people’s hearts and minds. While never alienating the mainstream audience, her films have a distincly female perspective, a strong sympathy with the feminist cause and a preoccupation with female sensibility and the role of women in love and society. But Bani-Etemad does not want to be called a feminist, since she fears being confined by ideology. She is an artist first, and she needs the freedom to explore and explain positions that may not be placed high on the feminist agenda. The result is a true change of attitude through art. October 22, 5PM, Blow 201: BUDJANG Film Screening and Q&A with Director Rhadem Musawah. Rhadem Musawa is a Filipino Moro Indigenous filmmaker and human rights activist. His latest film, BUDJANG, highlights the LGBTQ community in his home state of Mindanao. The 30 minute film is followed by a Zoom Q&A with Musawa. There will be a reception with food to-go. Please register through this link; the first 35 registrants will be able to attend in person, with the following registrants receiving a Zoom link. (Co-presented with The W&M Rainbow Coalition, AMES: Asian & Middle Eastern Studies-Global Studies, Government, 1693 Scholars, Global Research Initiative, International Justice Lab, and the Center for Student Diversity) October 26: UNDER THE SKIN OF THE CITY by Rakhshān Banietemad with virtual attendance from Iran’s most famed female filmmaker Rakhshān Banietemad and scholar Professor Maryam Ghorbankarimi of Lancaster University. Professor Tanglao Aguas will moderate a public Q&A with the distinguished guests. Watch the Artist Talk with Rakhshan Banietemad. November 4: THE AUNTIE SEWING SQUAD & LOVE BOAT TAIWAN, two films by Valerie Soe, Professor of Film at San Francisco State University with a virtual Q&A and Artist Chat with the filmmaker. The Sewing Squad shines a light on a group of women of color who came together in response to the COVID. LOVE BOAT: TAIWAN examines the summer program sponsored by Taiwan. This is a ZOOM event through this registration link. November 16, 3-4PM: GOODBYE MOTHER director Trinh Dinh Le Minh in an Artist Talk with Professor Francis Tanglao Aguas. (Watch the Online Screening via ROKU). Van, the heir of a Vietnamese clan, returns home for the move of his father's tomb. The family is surprised to find him going with a Vietnamese American named Ian. No one knows Ian is Van's boyfriend and they plan to come out to Van's widowed mother. The Artist Talk and Q&A with filmmaker Trinh Dinh Le Minh is a ZOOM event through this registration link. |
Commencement 2022: Khatalampay Asian Pacific Middle Eastern/South West Asian Commencement Ceremony6:30 PM EST, Thursday, May 19th Founded by students from the Asian American Student Initiative in 2020 with the cooperation of the Center for Student Diversity and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies program, the Khatalampay Ceremony aims to celebrate the achievements of graduating seniors from the Asian, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern/South West Asian communities, their allies and supporters. The Class of 2022 are the inaugural recipients of the Khatalampay commencement stole designed by Asian Centennial Distinguished Fine Arts Fellow Roberto Jamora in cooperation with alumni, students, and faculty from W&M's APM community. Professor Francis Tanglao Aguas coined the term Khatalampay with Professor Stephen Sheehi to represent the diversity of traditions and cultures in the APM community, merging scarf traditions from Asia: Kanduva (South Asia), Katta (Tibet), Hatta (Palestine), and Alampay/Selampay (South East Asia). (Organized by Shené V. Owens, Associate Director of the Center for Student Diversity.) |
Fine ArtsA close collaboration with Steve Prince, Director for Community Engagement at the Muscarelle Museum of Art, and Asian Centennial Fine Arts Fellow Roberto Jamora, the goal of the Centennial Art Fellowship project is to expand the coverage and inclusion of art from Asian, Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern artists. Holistically, it seeks to diversify art creation and exhibition not only at W&M but also in the historical triangle area and the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. Support the arts @ The Asian Centennial. Spring 2022April 8, 2022, Boswell 140C: Painting "Volumes:" A Banh Mi Art Talk by Roberto Jamora. Inspired by the history of student leadership and activism in the Asian/American, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian communities at William & Mary, Roberto Jamora premieres his latest print art work. May 4, 2022, Boswell 20: The Story of the Khatalampay Commencement Stole: An Art Talk by Professor Roberto Jamora. Fusing three terms for scarf or stole (Katta, Hatta, Alampay), this fabric represents the various communities and cultures of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian descent at W&M. Building on the foundational design created by the Classes of 2020 and 2021, Roberto Jamora collaborated and consulted with alumni, students, and faculty to create the Khatalampay design that will be donned for the future alumni of Asian Pacific Islander Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian descent. Fall 2021September 28, 6PM: Artist Talk with Professor Roberto Jamora, Muscarelle Museum, Sheridan Gallery. Innaugural Asian Centennial Distinguished Fine Arts Fellow, the Filipino American artist Roberto Jamora presents his vision for expressing the W&M APM experience and history. (Co-sponsored by the Asian Centennial and the Muscarelle Museum.) November 12, Noon, Sadler Center Commonwealth Auditorium: "Asian America Is In the Art" with Professor Roberto Jamora. Asian Centennial Distinguished Fine Arts Fellow Roberto Jamora previews his vision for expressing in visual art the APM experience and history at W&M. (Organized by the Asian Centennial.) This is a hybrid event that can also be accessed via ZOOM through this registration link. November 30, 6PM: Roberto Jamora's Asian Centennial Print Unveiling. Take a journey with Roberto Jamora while he creates a commemorative print for the Asian Centennial. This work will encapsulate his artistic vision regarding the Asian Pacific Middle Eastern experience at William & Mary. The resulting print will become a part of the Muscarelle Museum of Art’s collection and copies will be available for purchase. |
Literary & Performing ArtsFrom Horton Award winner Lloyd Suh's The Chinese Lady exploring Afong Moy's story in 1834 to the choreography of Leah Glenn to the music of the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble and the dance of Çudamani: Gamelan and Dance of Bali, we plan on curating diverse offerings of music, theatre and dance that expresses the history, experiences and aspirations of the APM community. Support the arts @ The Asian Centennial. Spring 2022April 3, 2022, 2PM, Williamsburg Regional Library: "The Chinese Lady" by Lloyd Suh. Starring Rinabeth Apostol. Professor Francis Tanglao Aguas directs Rinabeth Apostol in Lloyd Suh's multi-award winning play on the life story of Afong Moy, who at 14 years old was brought to the US from Guanzhou Province in 1834. Allegedly the first Chinese woman to set foot on US soil, she has been put on display for the American public as "The Chinese Lady." For the next half-century, she performs for curious white people, showing them how she eats, what she wears, and the highlight of the event, she walks with bound feet. As the decades wear on, her celebrated sideshow comes to define and challenge her very sense of identity. Inspired by the true story of Afong Moy's life. THE CHINESE LADY is a dark, poetic, yet whimsical portrait of America through the eyes of the exotified reclaiming their agency. (Co-Produced by W&M Theatre, The Asian Centennial, and Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies.) April 8, 2022, 2PM, Williamsburg Regional Library Theater: "An Evening of Film, Music & Dance." The Ampersand International Arts Festival presents An Evening of Film, Dance, and Music with the W&M Middle Eastern Music Ensemble featuring Nicole LeCorgne, and the Leah Glenn Modern IV Barefoot Dancers. Preceded by Sirens, a 2022 Sundance Festival documentary film about the first all-women thrash metal band in Lebanon directed by Rita Baghdadi. https://www.sirensdocumentary.com/Film at 6 p.m. April 15-16, 2022, 3-4PM, Williamsburg Regional Library Theater: "Your Best (Asian) American Girl" a cabaret by Sumie Yotsukura '22. William & Mary's actress-singer-scholar Sumié Yotsukura makes her cabaret debut with "Your Best (Asian) American Girl," an intimate hour of song telling her love story with "the quintessentially American art form" of musical theatre. With songs from The King & I, Miss Saigon, Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812, Ragtime, and more, Sumié charts the journey of a girl who fell hard for American musical theatre at a young age, only to realize much later that her "perfect match" may not have been made with a girl like her in mind. Sumié Yotsukura is an actor, singer, dancer, & director originally from Olney, MD. She will graduate in May from William & Mary with a B.A. in Theatre and Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies. This cabaret is a part of her senior honors thesis. She has starred in professional and educational productions both here in Williamsburg and in the D.C. area. Recent credits include: William & Mary: Romeo & Juliet (Friar Laurence), Ordinary Days: A Podcast (Claire), Sense & Sensibility (Marianne), A Chorus Line (Diana), The Drowsy Chaperone (Janet), Smokey Joe’s Café (Pattie), The Whitechapel Arias (Kate, world premiere), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Marcy); DC AREA: Free Range Humans: Triangle (Sarah/Jenni); Pomegranate Room: immediatelies & immortalities (Voice/Cupid); Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre: Sweet Charity (Nickie), Spamalot (Mrs. Galahad/Ensemble), West Side Story (Consuela). She also made her mainstage directorial debut this past January with Sinfonicron Light Opera Company's Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot. Fall 2021ÇUDAMANI Gamelan and Dance of Bali, Indonesia UCLA Professor Judy Mitoma toured this troupe of Balinese musicians and dancers who were in residency at William & Mary on September 23, 2021. Worlds of Music Presentation: 930AM in Ewell 151. Workshop: 12-3PM in Ewell 151. Gala Performance: Williamsburg Regional Library, 730PM. (Organized by Professor Anne Rasmussen, Music and AMES.) October 8, 9PM, Sadler Commonwealth: 2021 Homecoming Comedian: Jenny Yang Comedian Jenny Yang is a former labor organizer turned stand up comedian, writer and actor. In 2020 she was selected as one of Variety’s “10 Comics To Watch” and Vulture’s “Comedians You Should Know.” Jenny recently wrapped as a co-producer / writer for HBO Max’s “Gordita Chronicles” and previously for Fox’s “Last Man Standing” and E!’s late-night talk show “Busy Tonight” with Busy Philipps. She is the creator and host of “Comedy Crossing” a hit standup comedy show held inside the Animal Crossing video game and watched live via Zoom. Since June 2020, the show has raised nearly $40,000 for #BlackLivesMatter-related causes. Taiwan-born and Southern California-raised, Jenny was honored by President Obama as a “White House Champion of Change” for her leadership in “Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling" in 2016. Doors will open at 8:00 P.M. and the show will start at 9:00 P.M. in Commonwealth Auditorium, which is located inside the Sadler Center. Admission is free with William & Mary Student ID and $10 for the General Public (limited seating available)! (Organized by AMP, the primary campus-wide programming body at William & Mary. It strives to provide diverse, high-quality entertainment at a low cost to the university community, while also serving both as a resource and a co-programmer for other organizations. October 12 & 13, 730PM: "little brown gIRL" by Rinabeth Apostol, Kimball Theatre. A special cabaret by the inaugural Asian Distinguished Theatre Fellow about the Filipino American experience. (Funded by the W&M Theatre Class of 1939 Visiting Artist Residency and The Arts & Sciences Faculty Grant Award, directed by Professor Francis Tanglao Aguas.) October 30, 2PM, Multi-platform Streaming Show: Javaad Alipoor Theater Company: This UK based Iranian British theatre troupe takes uses multi-platforms exploring intersection of politics & technology. (Funding: Class of 1939 Visiting Artist Residency, W&M Theatre, organized by Professor Mark Lerman, Theatre.) Get tickets to this multi-platform streaming show. November 3, 7PM: Writing & Identity: A Craft Conversation with Jung Hae Chae, Tucker Hall 127A. Jung Hae Chae is a poet and essayist working in South Orange, New Jersey. Her work has appeared in AGNI, Calyx Journal, Crab Orchard Review, Third Coast, and elsewhere. Her honors include the Ploughshares Emerging Writers Prize in Nonfiction, the Crazyhorse Prize in Nonfiction, and the Pushcart Prize. (Organized by the Creative Writing Program Faculty.) JAVAAD ALIPOOR THEATER COMPANY, Zoom & Multi-platform stream, November 5 & 6: This UK based Iranian British theatre troupe takes uses multi-platforms exploring intersection of politics & technology. (Funded by the Class of 1939 Visiting Artist Residency, W&M Theatre, and organized by Professor Mark Lerman, Theatre.)
November 9, 1230PM, Zoom: Kiya Kaito of Grupo Min - Brazilian Grupo Min is a musical and cultural group that performs and educates people all over Brazil about a Japanese folk music known as minyo. Kiya will be presenting a lecture/demonstration. (Zoom link: https://cwm.zoom.us/j/98814038597?pwd=dEFmYnQvQ2RINGxJaWFpbHJaRXhDQT09 November 10, 7PM, Crowdcast: The Patrick Hayes Writers Series Presents Ye Chun. ( Password: YECHUN) Ye Chun is a bilingual Chinese American writer and literary translator. Her debut collection of stories, Hao, came out from Catapult in 2021. She has also published two books of poetry, Travel Over Water and Lantern Puzzle, a novel in Chinese,Peach Tree in the Sea, and four volumes of translations. A recipient of an NEA Literature Fellowship, a Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, and three Pushcart Prizes, she teaches at Providence College and lives in Providence, Rhode Island. (Organized by the Faculty of Creative Writing.) November 12, 730PM, Ewell Recital Hall: The W&M Middle Eastern Music Ensemble Concert, feat. Johnny Farraj. Under Prof. Anne Rasmussen, the W&M Middle Eastern Music Ensemble performs with guest artist, Johnny Farraj. (Organized by Professor Anne Rasmessen, Music and AMES.) November 16, 7PM: Michael X. Wang, Patrick Hayes Writer Series via Crowdcast. Michael X. Wang’s work has appeared in New England Review, Greensboro Review, Day One, and Juked, and won an AWP Intro Award. Further News of Defeat, his series of stories set in China and among the Chinese diaspora, recently won the 2021 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection. (Organized by the Creating Writing Program Faculty.) November 20, 730PM, Ewell Recital Hall: The Music of India Ensemble with Monir Hossain, Special Guest Tabla Player, directed by Professor Max Katz. Free and Open to the Public. Generously Supported by Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES). For more information contact Professor Max Katz. November 30, 11AM, Zoom: "Lecciones Para Un Niño Que Llega Tarde" ("Lessons for a Child Who Arrives Late") by Carlos Yoshimoto. Japanese Peruvian author Dr. Carlos Yushimito will be discussing his book of the same title. (Organized by Professor Michael Iyanaga, Music and Latin American Studies. For Colored Girls Who Inspired the World: Performances Honoring the Impact of Black Women. Originally broadcast live on March 27, 2021, this program is a collaboration with The Lemon Project. Directed by Francis Tanglao Aguas. |
Pulitzer Prize Winner Viet Thanh Nguyen: April 20, 2022Pulitzer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen will visit William & Mary on April 20, 2022 to receive the Hatsuye Yamasaki '37 Prize for Visionary Leadership and will deliver the 2022 McSwain-Walker Lecture. His talk, “Refugees, Language, and the Meaning of ‘America,’" will be held Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at 5pm in Commonwealth Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public, but because seating is limited, members of the W&M community are invited to register for a ticket lottery, open from March 28, 2022 until April 7, 2022. Those not selected in the lottery will go on a waiting list for tickets. The lecture will also be available on Zoom, but pre-registration is required. Register for the Ticket Lottery Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and numerous other awards. His most recent publication is the sequel to The Sympathizer, The Committed. His other books are a short story collection, The Refugees; Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction); and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He has also published Chicken of the Sea, a children’s book written in collaboration with his six-year-old son, Ellison. He is a university professor: the Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and a Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, he is also the editor of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives. The Hatsuye Yamasaki ‘37 Prize for Visionary Leadership honors W&M’s first female student of Asian descent (and woman of color) who was a stalwart campus leader during their enrollment in 1933-37. It recognizes exemplary leadership on behalf of the Asian Pacific Islander and South West Asian communities. Viet Thanh Nguyen's visit has been organized by the Reves Center for International Studies, in cooperation with the Asian Centennial. |
