CCS Town Hall Discussion on #STOP ASIAN HATE

Panel discussion of the recent rise of incidents of violence and racism against Asian Americans.

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In light of the recent rise of incidents of violence and racism against members of the Asian American community, we have assembled a roundtable of scholars, public intellectuals, and activists around the topic of # Stop Asian Hate. The panelists will address topics ranging from: the intersection of Asian American Rights issues with anti-Blackness and Black Lives Matter, how political and media discourse about China has contributed to violence against Asian-Americans, and “how to respond” from a civil rights advocacy perspective. This Town Hall Discussion aims at providing a safe space for students and other members of the community to express their thoughts, feelings, and reflections on recent acts of violence, while also providing a path forward for civil engagement, advocacy, and community activism.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Anna Spain Bradley, (author of GLOBAL RACISM) have both agreed to offer opening remarks.

 
Featuring

Professor Thu-Huong Nguyen-Vo (UCLA, Asian American Studies/Asian Languages & Cultures)

Professor Claire Jean Kim (UC Irvine, Asian American Studies/Political Science)

Kaiser Kuo (Sinica Podcast)

Professor Alex Wang (UCLA, School of Law)

Professor Karin Wang, Esq. (Executive Director, Epstein Program and Professor from Practice, UCLA School of Law)

Dr. Gay Q. Yuen (President of Board of Directors, Chinese American Museum)

Hyeon-Ju Rho (Executive Coach & former Co-director of Advancing Justice, Asian Law Caucus)

Marianna Schroeder (UCLA Sociology major, class of 2021, managing editor of Journal of World Affairs)

Tiffany Do (UCLA Sociology major, Class of 2021, transfer coordinator for SEA CLEAR)

Moderator: Professor Michael Berry (UCLA, Asian Languages & Cultures/Film, Television & Digital Media)

In addition to Zoom, this event will also be live-streamed via YouTube live on the UCLA Center for Chinese Studies YouTube channel. (Subscribe to the channel for notifications)

Audio livestream will be available through Clubhouse.
https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/MdQ34DBl


Speaker Bios:

Nguyễn-võ Thu-hương holds a split appointment in Asian Languages and Cultures, and Asian American Studies. She is working on a book project on ways to understand the responses of people who must live with violence or the memory thereof caused by economic and political practices. Her other research projects explore the politics of time in futurist visions from the (inter)colonial moment to the present in cultural works by Indochinese, Vietnamese, African American, and other artists, writers, and activists. She teaches graduate seminars in critical theory and undergraduate courses in Vietnamese and Vietnamese American politics and culture.

Claire Jean Kim is Professor of Political Science and Asian American Studies. Her first book, Bitter Fruit: The Politics of Black-Korean Conflict in New York City (Yale University Press, 2000) is the recipient of the American Political Science Association's Ralph Bunche Award for the Best Book on Ethnic and Cultural Pluralism and a Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association Organized Section on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. Her second book, Dangerous Crossings: Race, Species, and Nature in a Multicultural Age (Cambridge University Press, 2015), is the also the recipient of a Best Book Award from the APSA Organized Section on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. She is the recipient of a grant from the University of California Center for New Racial Studies, and she has been a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and the University of California Humanities Research Institute. Her popular writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Times and The Nation, and she is frequently interviewed by the media on current events relating to race, social movements, animals, and ecology. She is finishing a book entitled Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World.

Kaiser Kuo is host and co-founder of the Sinica Podcast, the most popular English-language podcast on current affairs in China. Until April 2016, Kaiser served as director of international communications for Baidu, China’s leading search engine. In 2016, Kaiser returned to the U.S. after a 20-year stint in Beijing, where his career spanned the gamut from music to journalism to technology. Kaiser also spent a year in Beijing from 1988 to 1989, when he co-founded the seminal Chinese heavy metal band Tang Dynasty as lead guitarist. He speaks frequently on topics related to politics, international relations, and technology in China.

Alex Wang is Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law, and a leading expert on environmental law and the law and politics of China. His research focuses on the social effects of law, and the interaction of law and institutions in China and the United States. His previous research work examined, among other things, the institutional design of environmental law and policy, environmental bureaucracy, public interest litigation, information disclosure, and environmental courts. His work has addressed air pollution, climate change, and other environmental issues. Prior to joining UCLA, Wang was a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) based in Beijing and the founding director of NRDC's China Environmental Law & Governance Project. In this capacity, he worked with China's government agencies, legal community, and environmental groups to improve environmental rule of law and strengthen the role of the public in environmental protection. Before that, he was an attorney at the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York City, where he worked on mergers & acquisitions, securities matters, and pro bono Endangered Species Act litigation.

Karin Wang is Executive Director of the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, a unique specialization that trains and mentors the next generation of public interest lawyers. Prior to joining UCLA, Wang advocated for civil rights and immigrant rights for more than 20 years. She was the long-time Vice President of Programs and Communications at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, where she oversaw its litigation, legal services, policy advocacy, pro bono, and communications strategies. Prior to that role, Wang directed Advancing Justice-LA’s immigrant rights project, helping secure public benefits for low-income and limited English speaking immigrants. She was also the Deputy Regional Manager for the civil rights office of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, launching its Los Angeles field office and enforcing federal civil rights laws across the southwestern U.S. and the Pacific region. Immediately after law school, Wang was a litigation associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco, where she worked on hate crimes and public benefits pro bono cases.

Gay Q. Yuen 阮桂铭 博士 is the President of the Board of the Friends of the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles, and is currently leading a two-million-dollar expansion of the museum. Dr. Gay has been a leader in education for the past four decades in California, the United States, and Asia. Dr. Yuen’s career in education serves as a touchstone for her community activism. She works closely with immigrant parents to help them understand their rights and responsibilities in US schools. Gay Yuen received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Language Literacy and Learning from the University of Southern California (USC) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She has served in the field of education for over 45 years and has influenced teachers, principals, lawmakers, and national governments in the fields of bilingual and minority education. As a professor and Chair at California State University, Los Angeles, in the Division of Curriculum and Instruction, she oversaw the teacher credentialing programs for elementary/secondary education and graduate education; training thousands of teachers throughout her career.

Marianna Schroeder is a senior at UCLA majoring in sociology. She is also a managing editor at the Journal on World Affairs, a worldwide student journal based at UCLA, and the Director of Advocacy for Lawyers Without Borders, UCLA Student Division. In addition to her experiences volunteering as a K-12 tutor and tutor coordinator and working as an English and philosophy tutor for community college students, her diverse coursework entails other areas of study including ethnic/cultural studies, film, music, psychology, anthropology, communication, and community engagement. She is passionate about issues related to topics including race, gender, mental health, and homelessness, as well as how these topics intersect with one another.

Cosponsored with David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law.

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Duration: 2:34:50