Last week on April 25, the Asian Students Association hosted a screening of the film “How to Win at Checkers (Every Time).” The 2015 film by Korean American director Josh Kim is based on Thai American writer Rattawut Lapcharoensap’s acclaimed 2004 short story collection “Sightseeing,” a story about growing up in Thailand as told through the lens of a lower class boy (Oat) observing his older brother (Ek) go through the military draft and work to support the family.
Tag Archives: Asian American
Penn Philippine Association Barrio Culture Show
On Sunday, I attended the Penn Philippine Association Culture Show: Balikbayan at the International House in University City. It was my first time attending a Penn student event, so I felt a little out of place. I didn’t know anyone and I was going alone, but I still enjoyed the buffet dinner and the show. 
ASA Culture Show
On Tuesday March 1, the Asian Students Association finally held their annual culture show. The show was originally scheduled for Friday January 22, but surprise Snowstorm Jonas forced it to be postponed. Themed “Lost & Found,” ASA aimed to explore Asian/Asian American issues of race, culture, and reinvented identity through a variety of empowering performances.
Culture Show Committee
“Organize Your Own” Panel at Asian Arts Initiative
There were two great panel discussions at Asian Arts Initiative last Saturday February 13: Falling In with Dan S. Wang and “Organize Your Own?” a panel on the work
of four Asian American Socially-Engaged Artists. Asian Arts Initiative is an arts space for exhibitions, performances, artist residencies, youth workshops, and community gatherings. I’ve gone to quite a few open discussions at AAI and have come to appreciate this small intimate setting. I only caught the tail end of the Falling In discussion which started at 12:30pm because I had attended the ASA brunch. I was able to stay for the full 3-5pm panel though.
Photos by Hazel Photo/Paul Gargagliano
SAS Culture Show
Also on Saturday night was the South Asian Students Culture Show. This year, the theme of the South Asian Students Annual Culture Show was “Dekh Magar Pyar Se” which loosely translates to “Look, but with love.” Students portrayed this through various forms of dances, songs and spoken word poetry.
My Chinese New Year 2016
Yesterday, February 8, was the Lunar New Year. Many Asian cultures celebrate this holiday, including the Chinese (春节chūn jié), Koreans (설날 Seollal), Vietnamese (Tết). My family celebrates by going out to eat for Chinese food, decorating the house a little with Chinese ornaments, and of course, red envelopes of money given to the children and unmarried. I was unable to join my family to celebrate with them this year, but I found ways to celebrate at Bryn Mawr.
Calligraphy by Maple Lee ’17
Strength In Numbers: Sights and Sounds of the Asian American Hip Hop Generation at PAAFF
Last night was the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival‘s centerpiece event at International House Philadelphia— Strength In Numbers: Sights and Sounds of the Asian American Hip Hop Generation. The event consisted of a screening of select music videos, a panel discussion on Asian Americans in Hip Hop, and live performances by artists included in the Strength in Numbers project.
The panelists included the Mountain Brothers (Scott CHOPS Jung, Chris PERIL-L Wang, Steve STYLES INFINITE Wei), Catzie Vilayphonh of Yellow Rage, rappers Rekstizzy and Joanlee, and singers JL Jupiter and Ann One. The panel was moderated by Dr. James Peterson (Director of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University, Founder of Hip Hop Scholars, Inc and a frequent Guest Commentator on MSNBC and CNN).
Lin + Lam Experimental Film Artists Talk “Citizens of Tomorrow”
On Monday, the Bryn Mawr Film Studies department welcomed mixed media experimental film artists duo Lin + Lam. Lana Lin (Associate Professor in the School of Media Studies, The New School) and Lan Thao Lam (Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at Parsons) have been working together for over 15 years making arts that examine culture, history, colonialism, globalization, and citizenship. Professor Hoang Tan Nguyen, who teaches Asian American Film, invited Lin + Lam to Bryn Mawr to discuss their projects and working methodologies.
Asian / American Reading Group, Week 1: Perspectives of the Outsider
I recently joined a student-led Asian / American Reading Group at Haverford sponsored by the Hurford Center. Although there are occasional topic classes, the Tri-Co does not have a formal Asian American Studies Department. This leaves it up to the students to form their own seminars like this one. Affinity groups like the Bryn Mawr Asian American Students Association (A/ASA) have also had to step up to educate and promote cultural, social, and political awareness of Asian and Asian American perspectives.
PC: Taryn Marshall | Facebook
What does it mean to be Asian American? How do we distinguish between these various identities? Where do we draw the line between fiction and reality?
Colorism Discussion with A/ASA + SAS
Last night, the Asian American Students Association (A/ASA) and South Asian Students (SAS) hosted a discussion on skin color discrimination within Asian communities. This is a very serious problem within our communities, and I was glad both affinity groups joined together in solidarity to share experiences and different perspectives.
Colorism: Discrimination against individuals with darker skin tone, typically among the same ethnic or racial group.
Some of the questions we considered were: Continue reading