Researching Asian Americans in New England:
Scholarship, Resources, and Community Engagements

Conference of the Asian Americans in New England Research Initiative
November 18, 2005
University of Massachusetts Boston

OPENING PLENARY

The Asian American History of New England

• Robert Lee, Associate Professor, American Civilization, Brown University
• Rajini Srikanth, Associate Professor, English, UMass Boston

MORNING SESSIONS

Panel A: Asian Americans and the New England Economy

Chair: Paul Watanabe, Director, Institute for Asian American Studies and Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston

“Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Neighborhood Revitalization: Vietnamese Businesses in Fields Corner.”
• Michael Liu, Research Associate and Community Programs Coordinator, Institute for Asian American Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston
• Paul Watanabe, Director, Institute for Asian American Studies and Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston
“Women in the Informal Global Economy: the Case of Nepali American Women.”
• Shobha Hamal Gurung, Visiting Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Connecticut
“‘The Chinese Wall around the American East’: Historical Significance of the Reaction to Chinese Labor in North Adams, Mass., 1870.”
• Najia Aarim-Heriot, Associate Professor, History, State University of New York Fredonia

Panel B: Documenting Asian American Lives: Successes and Challenges of Acquiring and Disseminating Regional Data

Chair: Bandana Purkayastha, Associate Professor, Sociology and Asian American Studies, University of Connecticut

• Bandana Purkayastha, Associate Professor, Sociology and Asian American Studies, University of Connecticut
• Fe De Los Santos, Program Specialist, Asian American Studies Institute
• Anjana Narayan, Doctoral Student, Sociology, University of Connecticut

Roundtable 1: Teaching about Asian American Community Involvement in the College Classroom: Pedagogy and Resources

Facilitators: Jean Wu, Program Director, Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and Lecturer, Tufts University; Thomas Chen, Doctoral Student, American Civilization, Brown University; and Kelly Condit, Doctoral Student, History, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Roundtable 2: Documenting Asian American History: Resources, Oral History, and Research Problems

Facilitators: Gary Libby, Board Member, Maine Historical Society and Wing-kai To, Associate Professor, History, Bridgewater State College

Roundtable 3: New Research on Southeast Asian American Communities in New England

Facilitator: Jeffrey Gerson, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

AFTERNOON PLENARY

Research in Asian American Communities: Challenges for Scholars, Communities, and Organizations

Facilitator: Carolyn Leung, Doctoral Student, Education, Harvard University
Panelists:
• Soo Hong, Doctoral Student, Education, Harvard University
• Lydia Lowe, Director, Chinese Progressive Association.
• Andrew Leong, Associate Professor, Law, College of Public and Community Service, University of Massachusetts Boston
• Carolyn Shepard, Doctoral Student, University of New Hampshire

AFTERNOON SESSIONS

Panel C: Community Organizing and Struggles

Chair: Elena Tajima Creef, Associate Professor, Women’s Studies, Wellesley College

“Claiming Space and Voice: Organizing Asian American Communities for Social Justice and Beyond.”
• Soo Hong, Doctoral Student, Education, Harvard University
“Overshadowed: Boston’s Chinatown: A Journalistic Expression of Gentrification.”
• Paul Niwa, Assistant Professor, Journalism, Emerson College
• Angela Kim, Graduate Student, Journalism, Emerson College
• Jake LeBlanc, Graduate Student, Journalism, Emerson College
“New Religious Identities: Changes among South Asian Groups in New England.”
• Anjana Narayan, Doctoral Student, Sociology, University of Connecticut

Panel D: Experiences of Asian Youth in New England

Chair: Monica Chiu, Associate Professor, English, University of New Hampshire

“Growing Up in New England Suburbia: Transnational Dimensions of Ethnicity among the Children of Highly Educated South Asian Immigrants.”
• Bandana Purkayastha, Associate Professor, Sociology and Asian American Studies, University of Connecticut
“‘From a Chinese Youth’: An 1824 Friendship Album made in Cornwall, Connecticut.”
• Karen Sánchez-Eppler, Professor, American Studies and English, Amherst College
“Moving beyond At-Risk Labels: A Case Study of High-Achieving Khmer Students in Providence, Rhode Island.”
• Phitsamay Sychitkokhong Uy, Doctoral Student, Education, Harvard University

Roundtable 4: Building Academy-Community Research Collaborations

Facilitator: Michael Liu, Research Associate and Community Programs Coordinator, Institute for Asian American Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston

Roundtable 5: Struggles, Lessons Learned, and Challenges for Creating an Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program on Campus

Facilitator: Lili Kim, Assistant Professor, History, Hampshire College