Transnational Brazilian Project - University of Massachusetts Boston

with the 2016 summer olympics beginning, it is worth noting that UMB ethnic studies resources, especially through the Gastón Institute, have particular strength in relation to the local/transnational brazilian diasporic community in metro Boston: https://www.umb.edu/gastoninstitute/transdisciplinary_transnational_research/transnational_brazilian_project

many community festivals each weekend for the rest of the month. thank you to UMB AsAmSt students and alumni who are involved as staff organizers, volunteers, performers, outreach facilitators, documenters, and other participants/audiences. here are some of the large events from aug 14-27 (fall classes start on sept 6!):

UMass Boston Asian American Studies Program

One goal of the historical partnership series was to ensure that BPS teachers were knowledgeable about the history of the diverse populations within our city. A number of community and university partners provided assistance so that we had a robust, inclusive selection of choices to offer teachers. Professor Peter Kiang of UMass-Boston worked with students in the Asian American Studies program to develop walking tours of Chinese and Vietnamese immigration history for our teachers. http://inservice.ascd.org/building-bonds-between-teachers-and-their-cities-bostons-historical-partnership-pd-series/

Expected hike in UMass tuition looms large on Boston campus - The Boston Globe

Any university would be hard pressed to think up a better student than Rohan Nijhawan. He’s intelligent, driven, and loyal to his school, UMass Boston. His near-perfect 3.78 GPA speaks for itself. But if, as expected, the University of Massachusetts board votes to raise tuition Thursday, Nijhawan is nervous about the consequences. The 26-year-old senior, who was born in India, already works 30 to 40 hours per week. He pays for school through a patchwork of scholarships, grants, family assistance, and his job as a freelance Web designer. In Nijhawan’s mind, it’s a simple calculation. If tuition increases, “I would probably have to work more, which would impact my grades.” http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/13/expected-hike-umass-tuition-looms-large-boston-campus/yqM9WIJeW6Jmld3RDy3s4I/story.html

KFK’s Got Talent Winner 2016: Alex Woo!

congratulations to 2015 UMB alumnus and AsAmSt individual major, Alexander Davis Woo (胡天龍), who is Kung Fu Kingdom's 2016 Got Talent recipient: during Lunar New Year my Sifu Calvin Chin promoted me to the Sifu ranking, now giving me the level to teach and to soon start my own Kung Fu school so I can carry on our school’s tradition of Lam Family Hung Kuen... stay inspired, and never give up on your training. The hardest part is the work and training you have to put in but once you see the results you will be thankful for all of the hard work. It is key to become inspired every day. When you think about quitting just remind yourself of why you wanted to start in the first place. Thinking about what inspires you helps motivate you to continue training. Dream big, be patient, stay determined, and more importantly, believe in yourself... http://kungfukingdom.com/kfks-got-talent-winner-2016-alex-woo/#AlexWoo

Cliff Odle on O.W.I's Timely Production of 'Yellowface'

David Henry Hwang's "Yellowface" runs July 15 - 31 at the Boston Center for the Arts, directed by Cliff Odle, professor from UMass Boston. For tickets: http://officeofwarinformation.com/current-production Cliff Odle: Myself being a theater artist of color, I had a level of understanding going into it. I'm not Asian American, but being African American, if anyone understands issues of having your ethnicity represented by someone else, having your ethnicity defined by somebody else, having other people take on aspects of your ethnicity and claim it as your own, if you're African American you know that and you've probably been dealing that longer than almost any other ethnic group in the country. There is an understanding just to begin with. And we started out, when we were having a reading of the play, having everyone talk about their individual experiences, and where they're coming from and having them bring some of that into the play -- that energy and their understanding, bringing that into the play itself. And this particular play... I cast it in a way that every actor is of some kind of Asian background. I intentionally did that. http://boston.edgemedianetwork.com/entertainment/theatre/news//200225/cliff_odle_on_owis_timely_production_of_yellowface

At the BSA, redefining the playground - The Boston Globe

In Chinatown Park at the southern end of the Rose Kennedy Greenway, kids can climb onto (and through, and under) bright orange and green PlayCubes, which are dodecahedrons — three-dimensional shapes with 12 faces — which are stacked into strange formations. The PlayCubes will stay in Chinatown Park even after the “Extraordinary Playscapes” exhibit moves on. “Barriers to Play” lists some common reasons why American children aren’t playing as much as they used to: socioeconomic obstacles, accessibility, scheduled activities, safety concerns of parents or caretakers, the decline of recess time, and, of course, too much screen time. Boston was actually the birthplace of American playgrounds — the first sandpile appeared in the yard of a North End chapel in 1885 — but now the city’s playing catch-up. https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/06/28/bsa-redefining-playground/r1cv3MEzdlpczrDw0WSs8J/story.html

Over 50 Chinatown community members walked out of the Massachusetts Department of...

Chinatown is besieged as it attempts to fight back constant encroachment by the accelerating forces of gentrification and displacement. The redevelopment of Parcels 25 and 26 will have an enormous impact on our community for better or worse, with Chinatown’s fate hanging in the balance. As one of the most vulnerable yet beloved communities in Boston and beyond, the Chinatown community was truly disappointed to learn that this process was futile in meaningfully addressing our concerns and only succeeded in wasting their time. As a result, the community was left with no choice but to exit the process by exiting the room. http://sampan.org/2016/07/over-50-chinatown-community-members-walked-out-of-the-massachusetts-department-of-transportations-fifth-and-final-public-meeting-on-the-sale-and-redevelopment-of-parcels-25-and-26/

Solidarity on the Water, Wampanoag Tribe Creates Vessel to Greet Hokule'a

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is building the muhsh8n in preparation for the arrival of the Hokule’a on Tuesday. The Hokule’a is the same kind of vessel that Polynesians sailed in the Pacific a thousand years before the arrival of Europeans. It is circumnavigating the globe and has used only birds, waves and the stars for guidance since leaving her homeport in Hawaii. When the Wampanoag people heard of the Hokule’a’s voyage, the tribal committee decided to welcome her to Martha’s Vineyard. They will wear traditional tribal clothing and paddle out to greet her in the muhsh8n. Mr. Perry described the significance of the Polynesian people connecting with Vineyard Wampanoags. “There’s a number of things that are going on here,” he said. “We have an indigenous group of people who specifically want to meet with us as an indigenous group of people. For us to do it in our traditional clothing and traditional style of vessel is important.” The aspect of tribal connection for the ceremony of the Hokule’a’s arrival has extended to other native societies. Wampanoag Chairman Tobias Vanderhoop said that the log used to build the muhsh8n is a gift from the Eastern Pequot Tribe. “This vessel symbolizes our strong connection to the ocean and the ocean world,” Mr. Perry said. “That is one of the main things that kept our society alive for many thousands of years.” https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2016/06/23/solidarity-water-wampanoag-tribe-creates-vessel-greet-hokulea

www.naspa.org

[UMB AsAmSt has been one source in CECE's development...] In 2014, Sam Museus proposed the CECE Model (see Figure 3). The CECE Model is derived from qualitative interviews with 150 diverse undergraduate students (e.g., Asian American, Black, Indigenous, Latino, Pacific Islander, and multiracial populations) across the United States, qualitative interviews with more than 30 educators at institutions that have demonstrated relatively equitable outcomes across racially diverse student groups, three decades of existing research on diverse students in college, and practical observations and experiences working with undergraduate populations. A Report on New Tools for Assessing Campus Environments and Diverse College Student Outcomes. pdf summary here: http://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/CECE_Report_EXEC_SUM_DOWNLOAD.pdf

UMass Boston Asian American Studies Program

The Boston Chinatown Atlas is a collaborative project led by MIT Professor Emeritus Tunney Lee, David Chang, Randall Imai, Jonathan Wyss, Kelly Sandefer, Kye Liang, Chinese Historical Society of New England, Chinatown Lantern Cultural and Educational Center, UMass Boston Institute for Asian American Studies, and many former MIT alumni and community members. The project documents and explores Chinatown’s growth and change through time as told by personal stories, photos, maps, and interactive features on the website. Boston’s Chinatown serves as the economic, social, and cultural center for one of the fastest growing populations in Massachusetts. The project and the website seeks to understand and tell the story of Chinatown’s history, dynamics, and context, and to encourage future generations to appreciate the traditions and to preserve the community’s vitality. The Chinatown Atlas concept originated more than 20-years ago between Tunney Lee and Randall Imai through a series illustrations of Chinatown. http://chinatownatlas.org

UMass Boston Asian American Studies Program

The Vietnamese immigrant population in the United States, which was a small one prior to 1975, has grown significantly, roughly doubling every decade between 1980 and 2000, and then increasing 26 percent in the 2000s. As of 2014, Vietnamese represented the sixth largest immigrant group in the country, after those born in Mexico, India, China, the Philippines, and El Salvador. The top four counties with Vietnamese immigrant residents were Orange County, Santa Clara County, and Los Angeles County in California; and Harris County (Houston) in Texas. Together, these four counties comprise about 31 percent of the total Vietnamese immigrant population in the United States. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/vietnamese-immigrants-united-states