Navigating Model Minority Stereotypes: Asian Indian Youth in South Asian Diaspora

Please join us for a talk on, Navigating Model Minority Stereotypes: Asian Indian Youth in South Asian Diaspora, by Rupam Saran, on Friday, March 11, 2016, 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.

Though Asian Indians are typically thought of as a “model minority”, not much is known about the school experiences of their children. Positive stereotyping of these immigrants and their children often masks educational needs and issues, creates class divides within the Indian-American community, and triggers stress for many Asian Indian students. In her new book, Prof. Rupam Saran examines second generation (America-born) and 1.5 generation (foreign-born) Asian Indians as they try to balance peer culture, home life and academics. It explores how, through the acculturation process, these children either take advantage of this positive stereotype or refute their stereotyped ethnic image and move to downward mobility.

Focusing on migrant experiences of the Indian diasporas in the United States, this volume brings attention to highly motivated Asian Indian students who are overlooked because of their cultural dispositions and outlooks on schooling, and those students who are more likely to underachieve. Prof. Saran highlights the assimilation of Asian Indian students in mainstream society and their understandings of Americanization, social inequality, diversity and multiculturalism.

Rupam Saran is an Associate Professor of Education at  Medgar Evers College/CUNY. Dr. Saran’s book with co-author Dr. Rosalina Diaz, Beyond Stereotype: Minority children of immigrants in urban schools, analyzes the effect of stereotyping on the school experiences of children of new immigrants. Recent journal publications include articles in Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, In the South Asian Diaspora, The Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS) Online Journal, and The Anthropologist.

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/16-03-11Saran.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby.

If you are unable to attend the talk, it will be live webcasted on our website, www.aaari.info,  beginning 6:15PM EST, and also available the following week as streaming video and audio podcast. See you on Friday!