Asian American Studies (AAS) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign was founded in 1997. It is currently one of the largest AAS programs in the Midwest, with 15 core and 10 affiliated faculty members. The program offers a minor in AAS and has proposed an interdisciplinary major (click here for more information about the proposal). The program has hosted such national conferences as the all-state conference on Asian American Studies in Illinois in conjunction with the Office of the Governor (Fall 2001), the East of California Conference (Fall 2002), the New Directions in Asian American Studies Symposium (Spring 2003), the Asian Americans and the Law Conference (Fall 2004), the Asian Diasporas Conference (Summer 2005), the Asian Pacific American Graduate Students Organization Conference (Spring 2006), and Bodies & Spectacles: a Conference on Asian American Performance (Fall 2006). We welcome you to come visit us and hope you will take advantage of what this exciting program offers.

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS/NEWS

April 15-16, 2008. Southeast Asians in the Diaspora

March 28-29, 2008. Korean Education Exodus: (Chogi yuhak): Risks, Realities, and Challenges

March 7-8, 2008. Philippine Palimpsests: Filipino Studies in the 21st Century

February 27, 2008. The Balgopal Lecture on Human Rights and Asian Americans
John Manzon-Santos will be the inaugural speaker. Mr. Manzon-Santos is former executive director of Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center in San Francisco; founding executive director of Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS in New York; co-founder of The Audre Lorde Project, community organizing center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Transgender People of Color; Principal of pearldiving, a consulting practice; and a Buddhist practitioner in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.

Moon-Kie Jung received the American Sociological Association's Political Sociology section 2007 Best Book Award for Reworking Race: The Making of Hawaii's Interracial Labor Movement.

January 30, 2008. Spring Open House
Wednesday, January 30, 11am-1pm, Asian American Studies Program Building and Asian American Cultural Center Lounge
We invite you to an informal gathering with the Asian American Studies faculty. Come learn about the AAS courses and new research in the field. Become involved in shaping the future of the Program!

Statement of Support for the SEIU Workers
In the event of a strike by the Service Employees International Union at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the faculty of the Asian American Studies Program hereby agrees to support it. Faculty members are asked to honor the picket line and, if necessary, hold classes off-campus or electronically. No action will be taken against any instructors, including teaching assistants, or staff for refusing to cross the picket line.

Statement on Speak Theater Arts Production Of “NWC”

Professor Balgopal receives 2007 CU International Humanitarian Award
Pallassana Balgopal has been named a recipient of the 2007 Champaign Urbana International Humanitarian Award, in the category of Human Rights. He will be honored at an award ceremony on October 18, 2007. This award recognizes his contributions in teaching, curriculum development, research, consultation, and practice experience in social work spanning over forty-seven years. A faculty member at UIUC for over twenty-five years, Dr. Balgopal was one of the founding members of the Asian American Studies Program. He developed and taught a course titled, "Asian Families in America," one of the early Asian American Studies courses at UIUC which he continues to teach.
Locally, he has been a central figure in advocating for the construction of a Hindu temple in Champaign. In the aftermath of the tragic tsunami that ravaged Asia in December 2004, Professor Balgopal went to India with a team of relief workers and as a social worker to help provide relief efforts to victims directly after the devastation. Earlier in his career, he participated in AIDS education with the World Health Organization Global Program on AIDS. He provided counseling in Singapore, Geneva, Switzerland, and Bombay India from 1988-1989. This work on AIDS as a global phenomenon was some of the earliest efforts by social workers to engage the problem so broadly.
Congratulations!

Acting Director Appointed
Martin Manalansan IV has been appointedas Acting Director of Asian American Studies for the 2007-2008 academic year, during Kent Ono's sabbatical leave.

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