During the month of October 1999, the Asian American Studies Committee sponsored a display at the Main Library titled, “Asian American Experiences: A History of Asians in the United States.” The display consisted of six library display cases (each organized around a different Asian American theme) and a time-line stretching from the 1600’s to the present day. The cases contained information and descriptions of: the pre-1965 immigration of Asian Americans; Southeast Asian refugees (a post-1965 example of Asian American migration), Asian American activism; Asian Americans in popular culture (athletes, politicians, cartoon caricatures); and articles and books by faculty at UIUC (as well as some student organization publications). The final display, situated at the north end of the building, showcased the Asian American Studies Committee at the University of Illinois and included information about the Committee, copies of past newsletters, and samples of magazines and journals kept at the AASC building.

Asians and Asian Americans make up 14% of the incoming freshman population and are 12% of the total student population. As such a sizable percentage, the AASC felt it was timely to present a collection about Asian Americans that would interest and educate the general student body. The display was made possible due to the collaborative efforts of a diverse group of people professors who offered their books, pictures, and support; and graduate and undergraduate students who worked together to choose and set up the display contents.

Conferences

Korean and Korean American Christianity, October 8-9, 1999
The Asian American Studies Committee (AASC) co-sponsored a conference on “Korean and Korean American Christianity” held from October 8 to October 9 at the University of Illinois. The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH) hosted the event which included panel sessions on religion and ethnicity across generations, and on the feasibility of a Korean/Korean American theology.

Presentations included:
"Strong Commitment and Little Loyalty: A Characteristic of Korean Immigrants' Church Life," Shin Kim (University of Chicago) and Kwang Chung Kim (Western Illinois University)

“Immigrants’ Religion and Ethnicity: A Comparison of Korean Protestant and Indian Hindu Immigrants in the United States,” Pyong Gap Min (Queens College)

“The Liminal Creativity of Marginality: Towards a Korean American Theology,” Sang Hyun Lee (Princeton Theological Seminary)

"An Analysis of Revival Meetings in Korean American Churches," Eui Hang Shin (University of South Carolina)

Panel Sessions:
Religion and Ethnicity Across the Generations, by Kwang Chung Kim (Western Illinois University); Inn Sook Lee (Princeton Theological Seminary); Soyoung Park (Hofstra University); and R. Stephen Warner (University of Illinois at Chicago)

Can We Talk About a Korean/ Korean American Theology? by Antony Alumkal (Iliff School of Theology); Peter Cha (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School); Kelly Chong (University of Chicago); Hearn Chun (McCormick Seminary); Won Moo Hurh (Western Illinois University); and Sang Hyun Lee (Princeton Theological Seminary)

The conference was organized by Professor Nancy Abelmann, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and member of the executive committee of the AASC, as well as a committee of graduate students committed to Korean and Korean American issues. The conference was designed to bring together important contributors to the study of Christianity and Korean/Korean Americans, and situated the discussion within the broader spectrum of Asian American studies and comparative ethnic studies. The event provided a lively and constructive venue for an exchange of ideas and was attended by approximately 35 to 40 people over the course of two days.

The conference was sponsored by the AASC, Asian Pacific American Resource Committee; Korea Studies Council of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies; Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities; International Programs and Studies; Program for the Study of Religion; Departments of Anthropology; East Asian Languages and Cultures; History; and Sociology.

AASC Body Workshop Series

The AASC organized a workshop series for the 1999-2000 year titled, “The Asian American Body.” This is an interdisciplinary workshop for interested faculty and graduate students. Each session of the Workshop, held at the Asian American Studies building (1003 W. Nevada, Urbana), focused on one scholar's work in progress. The piece was posted on a website prior to the meeting and was also made available for copying at the AASC building. The workshop was designed to provide an informal setting for academic discussion: a short presentation of the work followed by open conversation. This year’s theme was chosen because it spans the humanities, education, and social and psychological sciences.
Workshop presenters for the year:

Martin Manalansan (Anthropology, University of Illinois), “Disorienting the Body: Locating Symbolic Resistance among Filipino Gay Men” on November 12, 1999.
Juliana Chang (English, University of Illinois), “ ‘I Cannot Find Her': Racial Melancholia, The Oriental Feminine, and Kimiko Hahn's Poetry” on December 3, 1999.
Ji-Yeon Yuh (History, Northwestern University), “Surviving Resistance, Surviving Achievement: Life in America for Korean Military Brides” on February 25, 2000.
Nicole Constable (Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh), “Asian Americans in the Making? Fairy Tales, Family Values, and Filipino-American Correspondence Courtship and Marriage” on March 31, 2000.
Nayan Shah (History, SUNY Binghamton, “Perversity, Contamination, and the Dangers of Queer Domesticity” on April 28, 2000.

Asian American Studies Council Meeting

Left to right: P. Balgopal and M. Manalansan Council Meetings are held regularly throughout the year to engage the campus community in the development of the program. The Spring 2000 Council meeting took place on March 7, 2000 and was titled, "Asian Americans- Confronting Sexuality and Identity." During the meeting, Pallassana R. Balgopal (Professor, Social Work) and Martin Manalansan (Assistant Professor, Anthropology) spoke on intergenerational conflict and sexuality in Asian American families and communities.

AASC Film Series

The AASC hosted a film series during the 1999-2000 Spring semester relating to documentaries on Asian American experiences.

March 2, 2000
Kelly Loves Tony
A documentary chronicling a year in the life of a teenage Laotian American, Kelly, as she negotiates between her responsibilities as a mother and her dreams of a college education.

March 23, 2000
Mixed Feelings
A documentary illuminating the experiences of growing up part Asian in American society, through interviews with five students of mixed heritage.