ASA conference-goers 'rise up'

Patrick Murray Staff Writer

The Asian Students’ Alliance held a conference last weekend on the subject of Asian culture education, the presence of Asians in politics, Asian performance art, labor unions, sexuality, civil action, prison reform, gender identity, and pornography production.

The conference, entitled “Asian Americans Rising Up: The Movement” took place on Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 after a year of planning by the ASA. It featured eight Asian American speakers and performers involved in social action. ASA Secretary Sonia Chandra ’08 said. The conference “was about Asian American cultural awareness, their involvement, and what they do.”

While some speakers focused on Asian concerns, such as Professor Linta Varghese and Joy Lei’s talk on the development of Asian Studies majors in higher education, others spoke on issues affecting the world at large, such as Kate Rhee’s talk on prison reform and her work with the Prison Moratorium Project. Chandra explained, “We wanted a wide area of subjects about Asian Americans, but also things people would be interested in general. We wanted people who were non-Asian to be there.”

James Hou and Kate Rigg drew the largest crowds with a documentary on pornography and musical performance art, respectively. Hou showed his documentary Skin on Skin, which chronicles the efforts of a UC-Davis professor to produce the first Asian American pornographic film. While the film attempted to break down Asian stereotypes concerning sexuality, Hou’s talk drew a strong response from Vassar students, who voiced concerns about the movie’s sensitivity to women and the misogynistic nature of pornography. Performance artist Rigg closed the conference on Saturday night with her one-woman show, “Slanty-eyed Mama,” which deals with issues of Asian stereotypes and social issues through a self-described “trip-hop exploration.”

Chanelle Aryasingha ’08 said of the performance, “I felt inspired that [Asians’] voice had a chance to come out. She voiced a lot of opinions.” Other talks included Bhairavi Desai’s presentation on the creation of unions for taxicab drivers, Dan Kwong’s viewing of a video of his performance art, and Alain Dang’s talk on sexuality and political action.

ASA Co-President Jason Wu ’07 said of the event, “I think it went really well. It was a lot of work and we kept the line-up very diverse. It was a good way of seeing work and energy culminating.” The ASA has hosted conferences since the mid-nineties, although they have not been able to plan them every year.

The success of this year’s conference, and the response from different groups on campus has inspired thoughts for next year’s conference. Wu commented, “It takes a huge portion of our budget…so the VSA should give us more money!”