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
November 18, 2005
University of Massachusetts Boston
• 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
