Tag: aaari

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Bollywood and Beyond: Visual Appeal in Costumes in Indian Films

Please join the Asian American / Asian Research Institute for a talk on, Bollywood and Beyond: Visual Appeal in Costumes in Indian Films, by Deepsikha Chatterjee, on Friday, November 7, 2014, from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Deepsikha Chatterjee will present on her 2010 project with Cheri Vasek (University of Hawai’i, Manoa), through a grant from the United States Institute of Theatre Technology, to travel to India and study the process of Indian film production with focus on the work of costume designers. With the most number of films produced per annum in India, partly because of many regional language production centers, Indian films appeal to the one billion plus Indian people, South Asian populations, the Indian diaspora across the world, as well as many global viewers. International distributors have now taken an interest in these films with many being screened in the diverse New York City area and across United States.  

During this research, interviews were conducted with directors, actors, producers, assistant directors, costume designers, stylists, dress men, costume tailors, embroidery experts, dyers, shoe and armor makers, milliners and at film studios and rental houses at the various regional centers viz. Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata to understand the working of this complex industry. These visits and discussions were also documented in photos that have now been curated and displayed at an exhibit at the East West Gallery Honolulu, Hawai’i. 

Deepsikha Chatterjee is a lecturer in the Theater department at Hunter College/CUNY. Originally from India, Prof. Chatterjee finished her undergraduate degree in Fashion Design from National Institute of Fashion Technology in Chennai and a BS in Psychology from University of Madras. After working in the global clothing manufacturing industry in India she moved to the US to pursue a  MFA in costume design from Florida State University. Over the years she has worked at many professional theatres including Glimmerglass Opera, Utah Shakespearean Festival and Santa Fe Opera among others. In 2013, she received a PSC CUNY grant to study masks of Chau dance from eastern India. Parts of this research has been mounted as an exhibit at the East West Center at University of Hawaii.

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/14-11-07Chatterjee.htm. Can’t make it? View or listen to the video and audio podcast the following week on our website.   

For details on all of AAARI’s upcoming events and to view videos of past activities, please visit www.aarari.info.  

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New Modern Chinese Women and Gender Politics: The Centennial of the End of the Qing Dynasty, by Ya-chen Chan, on Friday, May 9, 2014

Please join the Asian American / Asian Research Institute for a talk on, New Modern Chinese Women and Gender Politics: The Centennial of the End of the Qing Dynasty, by Ya-chen Chan, on Friday, May 9, 2014, from 6PM to 8PM, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Dr. Ya-chen Chen will discuss her new book, New Modern Chinese Women and Gender Politics: The Centennial of the End of the Qing Dynasty. The past century witnessed dramatic changes in the lives of modern Chinese women and gender politics. The book traces the radical changes in gender politics in China, and the way in which the lives, roles and status of Chinese women have been transformed over the last one hundred years. In doing so, it highlights three distinctive areas of development for modern Chinese women and gender politics: first, women’s equal rights, freedom, careers, and images about their modernized femininity; second, Chinese women’s overseas experiences and accomplishments; and third, advances in Chinese gender politics of non-heterosexuality and same-sex concerns.

Ya-chen Chen is an Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages and Literature and Director of Chinese Language Program at Clark University. Dr. Chen is currently a visiting scholar at Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute. While at Columbia University, Dr. Chen is conducting research on “Queering Chinese Women: LBT Research, Literature, and Cinema in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China.” Dr. Chen was formally a faculty member and Director of Asian Studies at City College of New York – City University of New York. Her academic books include Women and Gender in Contemporary Chinese Societies: Beyond Han Patriarchy; Women in Chinese Martial Arts Films of the New Millennium; Higher Education in East Asia: Neoliberalism and the Professoriate; Women in Taiwan: Sociocultural Perspectives; and Farewell My Concubine: Same-Sex Readings and Cross-Cultural Dialogues.

To RSVP for this talk, please visit http://aaari.info/14-05-09Chen.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby.

For those unable to attend, watch the live webcast of the talk on our website homepage, beginning at 6:15PM EST, or catch the post-live video and audio podcast online the following week. For updates and to view videos from past events, please visit www.aaari.info.

See you on Friday!

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From AAARI/CUNY: Talk on Global Slavery: 19th Century Coolie Labor

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Please join the Asian American / Asian Research Institute for a talk on Global Slavery, by Lisa T. Yun, on Friday, May 2, 2014, from 6PM to 8PM, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

What does the history of 19th century Chinese coolie migration offer to present day debates on labor exploitation? Dr. Lisa Yun will examine the 19th century Chinese coolie migration to the Americas, focusing on its relevance and connection to contemporary debates regarding the nature of transnational indenture, slavery, and trafficking today. One contemporary example is the harsh indenture of South Asians in Qatar (with 90% of the nation’s population being South Asian imported labor) and their role in building infrastructure. 

Lisa T. Yun is an Associate Professor of English at Binghamton University – State University of New York. Dr. Yun received her PhD. from the University of Texas, and B.A. from Yale University. She is a co-founder of the Asian American Studies department at Binghamton University, and formerly served as Associate Director and Acting Director.  

Dr. Yun’s areas of interest include Asian Diasporas of the Americas, Asian American Literature and Culture, Freedom and Slavery, Black and Asian Comparative Studies, Colonial/Postcolonial literature, Creative Writing. Her current projects are on The Black Pacific and Asian Atlantic, and Coolie and Slave: Intersections of Histories and Literatures.

To RSVP for this talk, please visit http://aaari.info/14-05-02Yun.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby. 

For those unable to attend, watch the live webcast of the talk on our website homepage, beginning at 6:15PM EST, or catch the post-live video and audio podcast online the following week. For updates and to view videos from past events, please visit www.aaari.info.

See you on Friday!

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From AAARI/CUNY: A Matter of Rats, by Amitava Kumar, on Friday, April 25, 2014

Please join the Asian American / Asian Research Institute for a book talk, A Matter of Rats, by Amitava Kumar, on Friday, April 25, 2014, from 6PM to 8PM, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Amitava Kumar will read from his new non-fiction work, A Matter of Rats (Duke University Press, Spring 2013).

It is not only the past that lies in ruins in Patna, it is also the present. But that is not the only truth about the city that Amitava Kumar explores in this vivid, entertaining account of his home town. We accompany him on journeys and memories through many Patnas, the myriad cities locked within the city-the shabby reality of the present-day capital of Bihar; Pataliputra, the storied city of emperors; the dreamlike embodiment of the city in the minds and hearts of those who have escaped contemporary Patna’s confines. Full of fascinating observations and impressions, A Matter of Rats reveals a challenging and enduring city that exerts a lasting pull on all those who drift into its orbit.

Part memoir, part travelogue, Kumar’s ruminations on one of the world’s oldest cities, the capital of India’s poorest province, is also a meditation on how to write about place.

Amitava Kumar is a novelist, poet, journalist, filmmaker, and Helen D. Lockwood Professor of English at Vassar College. He is the author of A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomband Nobody Does the Right Thing: A Novel, both also published by Duke University Press; Husband of a Fanatic: A Personal Journey through India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate, a New York Times “Editors’ Choice” selection; Bombay-London-New York, a New Statesman (UK) “Book of the Year” selection; and Passport Photos. 

To RSVP for this talk, please visit http://aaari.info/14-04-25Kumar.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby. 

For those unable to attend, watch the live webcast of the talk on our website homepage, beginning at 6:15PM EST, or catch the post-live video and audio podcast online the following week. For updates and to view videos from past events, please visit www.aaari.info.

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From AAARI/CUNY: Rethinking New York City’s Asian American Communities

Join the Asian American/Asian Research Institute for their annual conference, Rethinking New York City’s Asian American Communities, on Monday, May 5, 2014, from 8:30am to 5pm, at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, Concourse Level, Manhattan. This event is free and open to the general public, light breakfast and lunch provided.

Over the last 2 decades, the Asian American population in New York City has exploded with 110% growth, and is more diverse than ever, hailing not only from East Asia but from South and Southeast Asia, as well as from secondary migrations such as the Indo-Guyanese. Nearly 78% of NYC’s Asian Americans are foreign born.

This conference seeks to answer the questions of who they are, where they have chosen to locate and how their communities have grown, how to preserve the culture and historical heritage of these communities for the older communities, to prepare new communities who will want to preserve their history in the US, and to connect scholars and community to identify trends and issues of concern for these communities.

Sessions

  • The Newest Asian New Yorkers
  • New York’s Indo-Caribbean Diaspora: Update
  • Preserving our Historical and Cultural Heritage
  • Community Research: Mapping & Networking
To RSVP for the conference and to view the latest program, please visit www.aaari.info/2014communities.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the CUNY Graduate Center. 
For details on all of AAARI’s upcoming events, please visitwww.aaari.info. See you at the AAARI conference on May 5th! 
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AAARI/CUNY invites you to Evening Lecture Series Talk, The Power of Listening: Hearing Voiceless Voices

The Asian American / Asian Research Institute invites you to an Evening Lecture Series talk, The Power of Listening: Hearing Voiceless Voices, by Rev. Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, on Friday, March 14, 2014, from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public. 

Rev. Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki believes that Asian values such as “listening” are as valuable as the western values of “talking."  "Express yourself” seems to be the way of Western society, but this tends to create a more selfish society with little respect for others, and inattention towards people who don’t express themselves strongly. Rev. Nakagaki will discuss the need to develop more mutual-understanding and mutual-respect among different cultures, religions and ethnicity, through listening and learning from others. Listening is the way to respect and learn from others. This nurtures kindness and compassion towards others who are also members of society. 

Rev. Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, D. Min. is a Buddhist priest, ordained in the 750-year-old Jodoshinshu tradition of Japanese Buddhism. He is President of the Buddhist Council of New York, a Vice President of The Interfaith Center of New York, Clergy-on-Call for Columbia University, Community Clergy Liason for the NYC Police Dept., and Religious Advisor to the Japanese-American Lions Club. 

Since 1994, Rev. Nakagaki has organized an Interfaith Peace event to commemorate the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. He organized the annual 9-11 WTC Memorial Floating Lanterns Ceremony from 2002-2011. Rev. Nakagaki is also the author of two books in Japanese: “No Worry, No Hurry, Eat Curry: New York Bozu Indo o Aruku” (A Buddhist Monk Walks in India, published by Gendai Shokan, 2003) and “Manhattan Bozu Tsurezure Nikki” (Diary of Manhattan Monk, published by Gendai Shokan, June 2010).

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/14-03-14Nakagaki.htm. Please be prepared to present ID to the security desk upon entering the building. If you are unable to attend, live webcast of the talk is available on the AAARI website starting at 6:15PM EST, with post-live video and audio podcast the following week.

For details on all of AAARI’s upcoming events, please visit www.aaari.info. 

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AAARI: Talk on A Comparative Look at Chinese and Dominican Americans

Join us for a talk on Growing Up in Transnational Worlds: A Comparative Look at Chinese and Dominican Americans, by Vivian Louie, on Friday, December 13, 2013, from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Transnationalism refers to the phenomenon of immigrants maintaining connections to their country of origin, and employing a dual frame of reference to evaluate their experiences and outcomes in the country in which they have settled. How does transnationalism matter in the identities among the second generation, e.g., individuals who were born in the United States, or migrated by late childhood? In this presentation, Dr. Vivian Louie examines this question among second generation Dominicans and Chinese who have grown up in strong transnational fields and had parents who want them to participate in the homeland imaginary. The focus is on transnational orientations and/or practices among second generation individuals with particular attention to generational status, class, ethnicity, gender, and race.
 

Vivian Louie is the 2013-2014 CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professor at Hunter College. Dr. Louie received her Ph.D and M.A. from the Yale University Department of Sociology, M.A. from the Stanford University Department of Communication, and A.B. from Harvard University. She  has previously worked as a newspaper journalist, journalism teacher and youth magazine editor, and an associate professor in education and lecturer in sociology at Harvard. 

Dr. Louie studies immigration, education, and identities with a focus on the contrast between lived experience in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Dr.  Louie’s two books, Compelled to Excel: Immigration, Education, and Opportunity Among Chinese Americans(Stanford University Press, 2004) and Keeping the Immigrant Bargain: The Costs and Rewards of Success in America (Russell Sage Foundation, 2012), reveal how academic success is achieved in similar ways among working class Chinese, Dominicans and Colombians, even though they belong to groups typically framed at opposite ends of academic success (the Asian American high achiever and the Latino American low achiever). Dr. Louie is also an editor of and contributor to Writing Immigration: Scholars and Journalists in Dialogue (University of California Press, 2011).

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/13-12-13Louie.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby. Can’t attend? Watch the live webcast on our website homepage, starting at 6:15PM EST, or access the streaming video and audio podcast the following week.  
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AAARI: Microaggressions and the LGBT Community

This talk is free and open to the general public.

Dr. Kevin Nadal will discuss his new book, That’s So Gay!: Microagressions and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community. People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) experience subtle forms of discrimination, also known as microaggressions. Microaggressions are commonplace interactions that occur in a wide variety of social settings, including school or the workplace, among friends and family, and even among other LGBT people. These accumulated experiences are associated with feelings of victimization, suicidal thinking, and higher rates of substance abuse, depression, and other health problems among members of the LGBT community.

In his book, Dr. Nadal provides a thought-provoking review of the literature on discrimination and microaggressions toward LGBT people. Dr. Nadal’s books also includes advice for mental health practitioners, organizational leaders, educators, and students who want to adopt LGBT-accepting worldviews and practices.

Kevin Nadal is an award-winning professor, psychologist, performer, activist, and author, who received his doctorate in counseling psychology from Columbia University in New York City. Currently, Dr. Nadal is an Associate Professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice- City University of New York, where he is also the deputy director of the Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program. He is the author of the books Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice (2011, John Wiley and Sons) and Filipino American Psychology: A Collection of Personal Narratives (2010, Author House), a co-editor of Women and Mental Disorders (2011, Praeger), and the author of That’s So Gay: Microaggressions and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community (2013, APA Books).

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/13-11-08Nadal.htm. Please be prepared to present proper ID when entering the building lobby. For those unable to attend, you can view the live webcast on our homepage beginning at 6:15PM EST, or access the streaming video and audio podcast the following week. 

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On March 28, the Asian American/Asian Research Institute and the Asian-American Entrepreneurs Network presented “The Next Big Thing: Economic Empowerment Conference” at CUNY Graduate Center. AABANY contributed a speaker, Julia Cheng, to the Monetizing IP workshop. Julia is the Founding Principal of her own firm, CyberlawStudio, and a member of AABANY’s IP Committee. She is among those interviewed in this Sinovision piece about the conference.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)