Saturday, December 4, 2010
Audio recordings from CMRS 2010 now available
Selected audio recordings from the Nov 5-6, 2010 "Emerging Paradigms in Critical Mixed Race Studies" Conference at DePaul University are now available on iTunes U.
Look for "Critical Mixed Race Studios" listed under DePaul iTunes U as a lecture series. You can go to http://itunes.depaul.edu/, sign in either as a guest or if you are from DePaul use your Campus Connection User ID and Password. It takes you right to the DePaul site.
There are 18 panel and round table sessions available as well as audio from the three keynote speeches and the audio from the Nov 5th Welcoming Address.
CMRS 2010 audio recordings available on iTune U:
Look for "Critical Mixed Race Studios" listed under DePaul iTunes U as a lecture series. You can go to http://itunes.depaul.edu/, sign in either as a guest or if you are from DePaul use your Campus Connection User ID and Password. It takes you right to the DePaul site.
There are 18 panel and round table sessions available as well as audio from the three keynote speeches and the audio from the Nov 5th Welcoming Address.
CMRS 2010 audio recordings available on iTune U:
(Please note that there may have been additional presenters on the panels listed below but only panelist who signed release forms have audio posted)
Welcoming Remarks
Dean Charles Suchar, DePaul University Liberal Arts & Sciences
Camilla Fojas, DePaul University
Laura Kina, DePaul University
Wei Ming Dariotis, San Francisco State University
Keynote Speaker Andrew Jolivétte, San Francisco State University - “Critical Mixed Race Studies: New Directions in the Politics of Race & Representation”
Introduced by Wei Ming Dariotis, San Francisco State University
Keynote Speaker Mary Beltrán, University of Wisconsin-Madison - “Everywhere and Nowhere: Mediated Mixed Race and Mixed Race Critical Studies”
Introduced by Camilla Fojas, De Paul University
Keynote Speaker Louie Gong, 8th Generation; MAVIN; Muckleshoot Tribal College – “Halfs and Have Nots
Introduced by Laura Kina, De Paul University
Re-Envisioning Mixed Race Asian American through Popular Culture
Leilani Nishime (moderator), University of Washington
Teresa Hodges, San Francisco State University- “Blasian Persuasian: Vocal and Visual (Re)presentations of Mixed Black and Asians on Youtube”
Kevin Lim, University of Hawaii at Manoa,- “Alien, Cyborg, Cyberpunk and Exorcist: Keanu Reeves and Alternative Mixed Race Narratives”
Stacy Nojima, University of Hawaii at Manoa, “Identity Politics and Spatial Mapping: Complications of Power and Representation for Multiracial Asian Americans”
Diana Tsuchida, University of Hawaii at Manoa, “Yellowing the Silver Screen”
Teresa Hodges, San Francisco State University- “Blasian Persuasian: Vocal and Visual (Re)presentations of Mixed Black and Asians on Youtube”
Kevin Lim, University of Hawaii at Manoa,- “Alien, Cyborg, Cyberpunk and Exorcist: Keanu Reeves and Alternative Mixed Race Narratives”
Stacy Nojima, University of Hawaii at Manoa, “Identity Politics and Spatial Mapping: Complications of Power and Representation for Multiracial Asian Americans”
Diana Tsuchida, University of Hawaii at Manoa, “Yellowing the Silver Screen”
Critical Dialogues on the Future of Mixed Race Studies
Lauren E. Smith (moderator), University of Miami
Jen Chau, Swirl, Inc.
Jen Chau, Swirl, Inc.
Joshua Manlove, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis
Catherine Squires, University of Minnesota
Anna Wheatley, University of Miami
Catherine Squires, University of Minnesota
Anna Wheatley, University of Miami
Cross-National Categorizations of Mixed Race
Myra Washington (chair), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “Hines Ward: A Case Study on Black/Asian Athletes, Nationalism and Masculinity”
Whitney Laster, Vanderbilt University – “’I'm a Mutt’: An Exploration of Double Consciousness in 21st Century Hyphenated Identities”
Melinda Mills, Castleton State College, “’What Are You?’ versus ‘What Else Are You?’: Making Space for Race in Transnational Contexts”
Chinelo Njaka, University of Manchester – “Cross-National Comparison: A Next Step in Mixed Race Studies”
Whitney Laster, Vanderbilt University – “’I'm a Mutt’: An Exploration of Double Consciousness in 21st Century Hyphenated Identities”
Melinda Mills, Castleton State College, “’What Are You?’ versus ‘What Else Are You?’: Making Space for Race in Transnational Contexts”
Chinelo Njaka, University of Manchester – “Cross-National Comparison: A Next Step in Mixed Race Studies”
Growing (Not Mixed) Up: Literature and Youth
Lan Dong (chair), University of Illinois at Springfield- “From Changowitz to Bailey Wong: Mixed Heritage and Transnational Families in Gish Jen’s Fiction”
Tru Leverette, University of North Florida-“The Ethics of Difference: Inscribing Race Mixture in Literature”
Tru Leverette, University of North Florida-“The Ethics of Difference: Inscribing Race Mixture in Literature”
Julie Schrader Villegas - University of Washington at Seattle, "Bearers of Dangerous Memory/Revising the Racial Shadow: An International Look at the Border in Literature"
Mixed Medium: Linguistic and Visual Representation of Mixed Race
Alexandrina Agloro (chair), University of Southern California-“Who Screenshot Ya?: Digital Expressions of Mixed Race Identity”
Kevin Escudero, UC Berkeley-“Media Representations of the Mixed Race Experience”
Melissa Eriko Poulsen, University of California, Santa Cruz-"Hybrid Veggies and Mixed Kids: Ecocriticism and Race in Ruth Ozeki’s Pastoral Heartlands”
Nicole Rabin, University of Hawaii at Manoa- “The Mixed Race Body Matters?: Visual and Linguistic Representations of Multiraciality”
Kevin Escudero, UC Berkeley-“Media Representations of the Mixed Race Experience”
Melissa Eriko Poulsen, University of California, Santa Cruz-"Hybrid Veggies and Mixed Kids: Ecocriticism and Race in Ruth Ozeki’s Pastoral Heartlands”
Nicole Rabin, University of Hawaii at Manoa- “The Mixed Race Body Matters?: Visual and Linguistic Representations of Multiraciality”
Creolization and Colonization
AB Wilkinson (chair), University of California at Berkeley – “Origins of Hypodescent in British Colonial North America”
Cami Augustus, Michigan State University – “‘Mixed Race’ as Colonialist Category: A Comparative History of Indigenous Identities in Law”
Zimitri Erasmus, University of Cape Town & University of Witwatersrand, South Africa – “Creolisation, Colonial Citizenship(s), and Degeneracy: A paradigm for 'mixed-race/-culture' in British Colonial Africa”
Dani Kwan-Lafond, York University – “Multiracial Black Identities in Canada: Fluid or Fixed?”
Higher Ed Challenges for Mixed Race Studies
Nicole Asong Nfonoyim (chair), Oberlin College – “Mixed Is/Mixed Ain't: Finding Selves, Communities & Histories for Mixed Race Students in Higher Education”
Brett Coleman, University of Illinois at Chicago – “The Relationship Between Racial/Ethnic Socialization and Racial/Ethnic Identity Among Mixed-Race College Students”
Kenyatta Dawson, Texas State University – “Transforming Our New Society: The Role of Higher Education in Formulating Mixed Race Identity”
Jessica Guzmán-Rea, University of Maryland, Baltimore County – “The Experiences of Multiethnic Students: A Qualitative Program Evaluation of the Early Connection Opportunity Program at the University of Rochester”
Jessica Guzmán-Rea, University of Maryland, Baltimore County – “The Experiences of Multiethnic Students: A Qualitative Program Evaluation of the Early Connection Opportunity Program at the University of Rochester”
Creating Community: Starting and Sustaining a Mixed 101 Class
Sarah Ledbetter (moderator), University of Washington at Seattle
Alicia Castagno, Wesleyan University
Rachel Cross, Wesleyan University
Sam Gonzalez, University of York, England
Chris Paredes, University of Washington at Seattle
Jamie Stroble, University of Washington at Seattle
Alicia Castagno, Wesleyan University
Rachel Cross, Wesleyan University
Sam Gonzalez, University of York, England
Chris Paredes, University of Washington at Seattle
Jamie Stroble, University of Washington at Seattle
Creating and Performing Amerasians
Cathy J. Schlund-Vials (Chair), University of Connecticut at Storrs - “Lost in their Fathers' Country: War, Migration, and Vietnamese Amerasians”
Cindy Howe, M.A.C.K. Foundation - “ The Others: Mixed Race Children Abandoned Abroad”
Ariko Ikehara, University of California at Berkeley- “Black-Amerasian Bodies in Spaces in Between Series: Introduction”
Cindy Howe, M.A.C.K. Foundation - “ The Others: Mixed Race Children Abandoned Abroad”
Ariko Ikehara, University of California at Berkeley- “Black-Amerasian Bodies in Spaces in Between Series: Introduction”
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Stanford University- “Amerasian Performance”
A Rx for the FDA: Ethical Dilemmas for Multiracial People in Race-Based Medicine
Thomas Lopez (moderator), Multiracial Americans of Southern California
Dorothy Roberts, Northwestern University Law School
G. Reginald Daniel, University of California, Santa Barbara
Michael Hodgson, Cambridge Biomarketing
Athena Asklipiadis, Mixed Marrow
Athena Asklipiadis, Mixed Marrow
The Biracial Family Network: 30 Years of Multiracial Individuals, Couples and Families
Robin Tillmon (moderator), BFN President
Irene Carr, BFN Founder
Brett Coleman, BFN Member
Arana Fossett, BFN Member; Topaz Club
Heather Meyers, BFN Member
Irene Carr, BFN Founder
Brett Coleman, BFN Member
Arana Fossett, BFN Member; Topaz Club
Heather Meyers, BFN Member
Tyree and Jeff Wright, BFN Members
Mixed Race Youth: K-12 Pedeogy and Narrative
Janet Stickmon (chair), Napa Valley College-“Trickster as Decolonizer: Empowering Biracial Young Adults of African-American and Filipina(o)-American Heritage”
Amina Chaudri, University of Illinois, at Chicago-“Brown Girl, Brown Boy: Gender and Mixed-Race Identity in Children’s Literature”
Dena Luworo, University of Oregon-“Racial Categorization of Black-White Biracial Students in Oregon Public Schools”
Amina Chaudri, University of Illinois, at Chicago-“Brown Girl, Brown Boy: Gender and Mixed-Race Identity in Children’s Literature”
Dena Luworo, University of Oregon-“Racial Categorization of Black-White Biracial Students in Oregon Public Schools”
Arts ReMix: Exhuminb Ethnicity Koden, Obake, and Anthropolocos
Laura Kina (chair), DePaul University
Richard Lou, University of Memphis-“UnEarthing Whiteness and the White-Fying Project: Examining Los Anthropolocos As They Look Back At Their Future Richard A. Lou – ½ of Los Anthropolocos”
Margo Machida, University of Connecticut-“Remixing Metaphors: Negotiating Multiracial Positions in Contemporary Native Hawaiian Art”
Emily Hanako Momohara, Art Academy of Cincinnati-“Koden”
Margo Machida, University of Connecticut-“Remixing Metaphors: Negotiating Multiracial Positions in Contemporary Native Hawaiian Art”
Emily Hanako Momohara, Art Academy of Cincinnati-“Koden”
Critical Mixed-Race Studies Goes Global: An Emerging Paradigm in China, France, Italy, and the United States
Caroline Beschea-Fache, Davidson College – “Beyond National Identity Boundaries: the Status of Fench Mixed-Race Authors”
Community-Based Multiracial Movements: Learning from the Past, Looking toward the Future
Jenee Jahn (moderator), MAVIN
Jen Chau, SWIRL Inc.
Fanshen Cox, Mixed Chicks Chat; Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival
Jennifer Noble, Multiracial Americans of Southern California
Ken Tanabe, Lovingday.org
Robin Tillmon, Biracial Family Network
Jen Chau, SWIRL Inc.
Fanshen Cox, Mixed Chicks Chat; Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival
Jennifer Noble, Multiracial Americans of Southern California
Ken Tanabe, Lovingday.org
Robin Tillmon, Biracial Family Network
Visualizing Mixed Race: Art & Ambiguity
Amy M. Mooney (chair) Columbia College Chicago- "Rowdy, Blab-mouth & Noisy: The Etiquette of Resistance"
Myra Greene, Columbia College Chicago - "My White Friends"
Jillian Nakornthap, Cal State Fullerton – “Art and Identity in a Multi-Cultural/Multi-Racial Society”
Debra Yepa-Pappan, Korean/Jemez Pueblo, Contemporary Native American Artist - "Half Empty or Half Full?"
Myra Greene, Columbia College Chicago - "My White Friends"
Jillian Nakornthap, Cal State Fullerton – “Art and Identity in a Multi-Cultural/Multi-Racial Society”
Debra Yepa-Pappan, Korean/Jemez Pueblo, Contemporary Native American Artist - "Half Empty or Half Full?"
New(Mixed) Media, New (Mixed) "Race"
Alexander Cho (chair), University of Texas at Austin-“Negotiated Revelations: Asian-Descent Multiracial Identities, MySpace.com, and the Politics of Online Embodiment”
Aaron Allen, University of Maryland at College Park-“Truth(s) in Contradiction: Aesthetics, Subjectivity, and Racial Mixedness”
Kristen Lee, University of California at Los Angeles-“MiXeD mE: a Short Film about Three Stories of Mixed-Race Identity, and One Online Community”
Aaron Allen, University of Maryland at College Park-“Truth(s) in Contradiction: Aesthetics, Subjectivity, and Racial Mixedness”
Kristen Lee, University of California at Los Angeles-“MiXeD mE: a Short Film about Three Stories of Mixed-Race Identity, and One Online Community”
Loving Day Movement and Marriage Equality Movement
Wei Ming Dariotis (moderator), San Francisco State University
Stuart Gaffney, Marriage Equality USA; API Equality
Ken Tanabe, Lovingday.org
Stuart Gaffney, Marriage Equality USA; API Equality
Ken Tanabe, Lovingday.org
Sponsored by DePaul’s Women’s Center and LGBTQ Program.
Transfiguration Tales: Re-Imagining Colofrul Families
Mitzi Uehara-Carter (chair) University of California at Berkeley- “Mongrels, Hybrids, and Transfigurations: Re-imagining Colorful Families”
Mercedes Naber-Fisher & Patrice Fisher, transracial sisters -“Growing Up in a White Family: A Tale of Two Transracials”
Yumi Wilson, San Francisco State University -“In Between Two Worlds: Exploring Amerasian Identity”
Multiracial College Students: Racial Climate, Transformational Praxis, Leadership, and Inclusive Anti-Racist Pedegogy
Chelsea Guillermo-Wann (chair), University of California at Los Angeles – “Mixed Race Undergraduates' Classroom Racial Climate: Perspectives of a Research University”
Eric Hamako, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; MAVIN – “Improving Anti-Racist Education for Multiracial People”
Claire Peinado Fraczek, University of Washington at Seattle - “Exposing a Critical Mixed Race Praxis: A Case Study of One Student-Designed Undergraduate Course”
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
"Sugar" published in ZEEK: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture
Order the Winter 2010 issue of ZEEK!
A detail from my "Palaka" painting from my 2010 Sugar series is on the cover of a special issue titled "Pursue Justice...but how?"
Cover image and p.62-65.
They also reprinted selected works from the series inside of the journal.
Other Tongues: Mixed Race Women Speak Out
Two images from my 2006 charcoal Loving series (portraits of Elena Rubin and Shoshanna Weinberger) have been reproduced in this anthology.
NEW from Inanna Publications
Other Tongues: Mixed Race Women Speak Out
edited by Adebe DeRango-Adem and Andrea Thompson
"Speaks boldly and poignantly to who we are, and by 'we' I mean … all citizens of 21st century North America."
INANNA PUBLICATIONS and the TORONTO WOMEN'S BOOKSTORE
invite you to the launch of
Other Tongues: Mixed-Race Women Speak Out
on Thursday, December 9, 2010 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord Street, Toronto (at Spadina)
Refreshments will be served.
Authors will read from the book at 7:15 p.m.
OTHER TONGUES: MIXED-RACE WOMEN SPEAK OUT is an anthology of poetry, spoken word, fiction, creative non-fiction, spoken word texts, as well as black and white artwork and photography, explores the question of how mixed-race women in North America identify in the twenty-first century. Contributions engage, document, and/or explore the experiences of being mixed-race, by placing interraciality as the center, rather than periphery, of analysis. Other Tongues: Mixed Race Women Speak Out
edited by Adebe DeRango-Adem and Andrea Thompson
"Speaks boldly and poignantly to who we are, and by 'we' I mean … all citizens of 21st century North America."
INANNA PUBLICATIONS and the TORONTO WOMEN'S BOOKSTORE
invite you to the launch of
Other Tongues: Mixed-Race Women Speak Out
on Thursday, December 9, 2010 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord Street, Toronto (at Spadina)
Refreshments will be served.
Authors will read from the book at 7:15 p.m.
Praise for
OTHER TONGUES: MIXED-RACE WOMEN SPEAK OUT:
In a fresh approach to the quest for understanding mixed-race identity in the Americas, the multiple genres that find their way into the Other Tongues anthology -- from poetry to photography, fiction to scholarship -- perfectly mirror the prodigious spectrum of their authors’ positions toward the topic. This collection speaks boldly and poignantly to who we are, and by "we" I mean not only women of mixed-race ancestry, but all citizens of 21st-century North America.
-- Lise Funderburg, author of Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk About Race and Identity
These exciting, beautifully inked narratives tell us that, as each woman embraces her biracial or multiracial identity, she mothers a new world, one with equal space for everyone.
-- George Elliott Clarke, Africadian & Eastern Woodland Metis, Laureate, 2001 Governor-General’s Award for Poetry
Passionate, courageous and insightful, Other Tongues speaks affectingly about the pleasures and paradoxes of living between the conventional categories of race. It is a significant anthology, one that I've been waiting for.
-- Karina Vernon, Assistant Professor,
Black Canadian Literature and Diaspora Studies,
University of Toronto
About the editors:
Adebe De Rango-Adem recently completed a research writing fellowship at the Applied Research Center in New York. Her debut poetry collection, Ex Nihilo, was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the world’s largest prize for writers under thirty.
Andrea Thompson’s spoken word CD, One, was nominated for a Canadian Urban Music Award in 2005. A pioneer of slam poetry in Canada, Thompson has also hosted Heart of a Poet on Bravo TV, CiTr Radio’s spoken word show, Hearsay.
The publisher acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council
for our publishing program.
for our publishing program.
INANNA PUBLICATIONS
www.yorku.ca/inanna
www.yorku.ca/inanna
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Video from CMRS 2010 now available/join our google group
If you missed the Nov 5-6, 2010 "Emerging Paradigms in Critical Mixed Race Studies" conference or any of the keynote talks or the welcoming address, you can now download the videos via iTunes U.
Here is a link to the:
Please note that your computer must have iTunes U installed in order to view the video. It can be download from http://www.apple.com
itunes U also supports streaming. You may choose the file and click on play button to view the video.
Want to stay in touch with people you met at the 2010 Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference?
Please join our google group "criticalmixedracestudies":
http://groups.google.com/group/criticalmixedracestudies
Here is a link to the:
- November 5th Welcoming Remarks by DePaul's Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean Charles Suchar and conference organizers Camilla Fojas, Wei Ming Dariotis, and Laura Kina.
- November 5th Keynote Address by Andrew Jolivette "Critical Mixed Race Studies: New Directions in the Politics of Race and Representation"
- November 6th Keynote Address by Mary Beltran "Everywhere and Nowhere: Mediated Mixed Race and Mixed Race Critical Studies"
- November 6th Keynote Address by Louie Gong "Halfs and Have Nots"
Please note that your computer must have iTunes U installed in order to view the video. It can be download from http://www.apple.com
itunes U also supports streaming. You may choose the file and click on play button to view the video.
Want to stay in touch with people you met at the 2010 Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference?
Please join our google group "criticalmixedracestudies":
http://groups.google.com/group/criticalmixedracestudies
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Watershed Moment for Critical Mixed Race Studies
Critical Mixed Race Studies Inaugural Conference |
Camilla Fojas welcoming participants to CMRS 2010 on behalf of DePaul University |
Welcoming Remarks Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference 9:30am Friday, November 5, 2010 |
Audience at Michele Elam, Ranier Spencer, Habiba Ibrahim, and Jared Sexton's panel "Back from Beyond Black: Alternative Paradigms for Critical Mixed-Race Theory" |
"Creating and Performing Amerasians" panel left to right: Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Cindy Howe, Ariko Ikehara |
|
Thomas Lopez from Multiracial Americans of Southern California |
Marriage Equity USA activist Stuart Gaffney, CMRS 2010 co-organizer Wei Ming Dariotis, Ken Tanabe of Lovingday.org |
Representing Fusion from Rutgers University - Phillip Handy and Matthew Vaden |
From left to right: filmmaker Jessica Chen Drammeh, CMRS 2010 keynote speaker Mary Beltran, and organizers Camilla Fojas, Laura Kina, and Wei Ming Dariotis |
"Visualizing Mixed Race: Art & Ambiguity" panel from left to right: Jillian Nakorntap, Debra Yepa-Pappan, Amy M. Mooney, Myra Green |
Audience members Emily Hanako Momohara and Allen Turner |
Following the conference, a colleague challenged me to describe what Critical Mixed Race Studies is in layman’s terms. My best attempt for now is, “Critical Mixed Race Studies focuses on multiracial, interracial, and transracial adoption populations and is concerned with social justice.” My co-organizers and I came up with the following “academic” definition back in 2008:
Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) is the transracial, transdisciplinary, and transnational critical analysis of the institutionalization of social, cultural, and political orders based on dominant conceptions of race. CMRS emphasizes the mutability of race and the porosity of racial boundaries in order to critique processes of racialization and social stratification based on race. CMRS addresses local and global systemic injustices rooted in systems of racialization.
Our reason for this wordy and hopefully careful definition was an attempt to describe something that was already happening around us rather than something purely theoretical. The term “critical” builds on the field of Critical Race theory, a discipline that emerged in the 1970s in the US, which has historically been concerned with racial justice advocacy. Multiracial scholarship in the US began to emerge with key publications such as Paul Spickard’s Mixed Blood: Intermarriage and Ethnic Identity in Twentieth-Century American (University of Wisconsin Press, 1989) and Maria P.P. Root’s Racially Mixed People in America (Sage Publications, 1992). What has yet to happen is an organized effort to establish critical mixed race studies as a field with an aim towards mentoring, networking, and supporting scholarship. We wanted to highlight the interdisciplinary focus and the transnational focus that is currently emerging. Much of the early work in multiracial scholarship has been focused within national boundaries (e.g. the US racial paradigm) or rooted and aimed at only one specific discipline (e.g., psychiatry, sociology). We want to describe something more expansive while at the same time not erase important work that continues in specific geographic regions and within disciplinary contexts.
With this in mind, it quickly became apparent at CMRS 2010 that we might never agree what “critical mixed race studies” is (and that’s perfectly healthy for this to be contested terrain) but I think we can come to a consensus as to our mission “to advance Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) as an academic discipline and a professional field committed to excellence in teaching, research and service to the community.”
Like so many others, I first became interested in issues of mixed race as part of a personal journey to understand my own family history and place in the world. I’m Okinawan, Spanish-Basque, French, English, Irish and Dutch….in other words Asian/White. I grew up in California and the Pacific Northwest identifying as “hapa.” Following the 2000 US Census, I was eager to move beyond biography to find out what other mixed folks were up to. In 2002 I created a series of oil paintings, The Hapa Soap Opera series, starring an all mixed race Asian cast. Living in the Midwest since the early 90s and entrenched in Asian America, I could only imagine such a community in a virtual space. By the time I created my 2006 Loving charcoal series (named in honor of the Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court Case, which overturned the nation’s last anti miscegenation laws), my work reflected the growing number of mixed race peers that had come into my life. By and large they were members of the post 1967 bi-racial baby boom but, who despite our shared mixed heritage, we were still quite disconnected.
In 2008, I created a course for DePaul “Mixed Race Art and Identity” for which there was no existing textbook or sample syllabus to model after. This meant me, as a studio artist, having to set down the brush for a season and pick up the pen (or rather MP3 recorder) to begin to collect artist interviews and assemble a bibliography and index of readings and resources to bring back to my students. At the same time I began to became more involved with MAVIN, “the nation's leading organization that helps build healthier communities by raising awareness about the experiences of mixed heritage people and families.” I currently serve on MAVIN's board. I mention all of this because my story as an academic working on multiracial issues and wearing multiple hats (artist, writer, curator, community organizer etc.) is probably quite typical. It’s been a circuitous, albeit exciting, route of finding existing resources, building my own and navigating uncharted waters. Surely there must be an easier way! Joining efforts with Camilla Fojas and Wei Ming Dariotis, we began to imagine what we might have in common as a larger academic and activist community. With the 2010 Critical Mixed Race Studies conference, our virtual connections have become a physical reality.
CMRS 2010 keynote speaker Andrew Jolivette |
….So what does it mean to be critical, and what can critical mixed race studies offer in dialogues and movements for new directions in the politics of race and representation…what can this critical mixed race studies do about social justice, about human rights, about ending rape, ending economic genocide, about Islamaphobia…and transnational exploitation through capitalist systems of forced and cheap or free labor…in prisons and sweat shops…on borders and in wars…what is our call to action…what will it take for us as Indigenous people and folks of color to work across the divides that have been intentionally set-up to divide us…
Jolivette set the terms for a Critical Mixed Race Pedagogy as he challenged us to “Keep the Revolution Moving.”
Critical mixed race pedagogy as I define it contains four basic components: 1) social justice; 2). Self-determination; 3). cross-ethnic and transnational solidarity; and 4). Radical love. Social justice as articulated by critical mixed race pedagogy asserts that all communities regardless of history, socio-economic circumstance, educational background, health status or national origin require access to the same rights of national and global citizenship as all other bodies.
CMRS keynote speaker Mary Beltran |
Mary Beltran in her Saturday morning November 6th keynote address, “Everywhere and Nowhere: Mediated Mixed Race and Mixed Race Critical Studies”, laid out the current media landscape presence of multiracials and as her title implies, we seem to be everywhere but yet there are very few nuanced stories being told on either the big screen or the small screen about the lives of multiracial individuals. What’s happening instead is that mixed race (as in half white) characters fill the diversity requirement and are used to reinforce normative standards of whiteness. Beltran called for more multiracial screenwriters to take on this challenge. What I took away from Beltran’s talk was how she looked at the pros and cons of focusing on mixed race within her own hybrid position as an Associate Professor in Communications and Chican@ and Latin@ studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Because we do not have a set field or departments within the institution, we must work across fields. Interdisciplinarity and intersectionality thus become key theoretical and methodological approaches. The flip side is that many of us work in isolation. Simply finding who else out there is working on related topics poses a significant challenge.
CMRS 2010 keynote speaker Louie Gong |
On the evening of November 6th, Louie Gong who describes himself as “a Native of mixed heritage (Nooksack, Squamish, Chinese, French, Scottish)“ asked us to consider issues of access in his talk, “Halfs and Have Nots.” Gong shared his own story of growing up in a Nooksack tribal community and what the stakes and terms are for education both in Native communities and for mixed race youth. He talked about the multi-generational trauma of the boarding school system on Native communities and how he started high school with 11 other fellow Nooksack tribal members and how by his senior year, only 2 ended up graduating. He asked us all to raise our hands if we had an undergraduate degree or were on our way to receiving one. I’m pretty sure almost the entire audience raised their hands. He went for the heart. Our privilege was obvious. So what are we in Critical Mixed Race Studies going to do about those other 9 kids? He went on to talk about how his work with MAVIN, Mixedheritagecenter.org and the multiracial movement and how it has been through his artwork with his custom Coast Salish shoes (see http://www.eighthgeneration.com/) that he has really been able to open doors to talk about multiracial issues within Native and youth communities. At the end of his talk, Gong told a story of coming home from school each day and grabbing a juicy red apple and going out to get the mail. As he would walk across the res, kids would yell out, “cannibal!” It wasn’t until years later that he figured out why they were yelling that. The audience was silent for a moment….no one laughed. Gong had to go on to gently prod us…”you know, apple - red on the outside, white on the inside….” No, we aren’t all the same as mixed folks. That silence, that space that starts as misunderstanding, is very important. It’s really the beginning of understanding.
and now for the CREDITS:
and now for the CREDITS:
Help behind the scene. Cristina Rodriguez and Maria Ochoa from Latin American and Latino Studies and the Center for Latino Research |
Kenji Tran from Global Asian Studies holding up a conference bag. Logo design and conference cover design by Sandra Franco. |
I first want to thank my fellow CMRS organizers WEI MING DARIOTIS, Assistant Professor Asian American Studies San Francisco State University, and CAMILLA FOJAS, Professor and Chair Latin American and Latino Studies.
HOSTS
We wish to especially thank DePaul University Department of Latin American and Latino Studies and the Global Asian Studies program for HOSTING the inaugural 2010 CMRS conference. We are deeply indebted to the countless hours MARÍA ISABEL OCHOA and CRISTINA RODRÍGUEZ put in to make sure all the big and little details for the conference were covered. We also want to thank MAYRA ALANIS, JOVANI PEREZ, ANTHONY RODRÍGUEZ, and CESAR ALANIS of the Latin American and Latino Studies and Center for Latino Research and ELIZABETH LILLEHOJ and KENJI TRAN of the Global Asian Studies. None of this would have been possible without the continued support of the Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Dean CHARLES SUCHAR.
We wish to especially thank DePaul University Department of Latin American and Latino Studies and the Global Asian Studies program for HOSTING the inaugural 2010 CMRS conference. We are deeply indebted to the countless hours MARÍA ISABEL OCHOA and CRISTINA RODRÍGUEZ put in to make sure all the big and little details for the conference were covered. We also want to thank MAYRA ALANIS, JOVANI PEREZ, ANTHONY RODRÍGUEZ, and CESAR ALANIS of the Latin American and Latino Studies and Center for Latino Research and ELIZABETH LILLEHOJ and KENJI TRAN of the Global Asian Studies. None of this would have been possible without the continued support of the Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Dean CHARLES SUCHAR.
CO-ORGANIZERS/PARTNERS
We would like to thank our partners MAVIN for helping spread the word about CMRS far and wide and MAVIN’s ERIC HAMAKO, AMANDA EREKSON, JENEE JAHN, MONICA NIXON, and THERESA RONQUILLO for organizing workshops for this year.
I have to give a special shout out to KATRINA CALDWELL and LAILA MCCLOUD of the Center for Intercultural Programs for sponsoring and organizing the November 5th mixed mixer and the November 6th event with comedian Kate Rigg.
Comedian Kate Rigg messing with an audience member after the show |
We would also like to thank the following DEPAUL UNIVERSITY units for their generous co-sponsorship:
African &Black Diaspora Studies
American Studies
Art, Media, & Design
Center for Latino Research
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
LGBTQ Studies
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity - President’s Signature Series - especially ELIZABETH ORTIZ and MIRANDA STANDBERRY-WALLACE
The Society of Vincent de Paul Professors
Women’s and Gender Studies
Women’s Center
SPECIAL THANKS to all the other individuals who helped organize CMRS 2010. Thanks to SANDRA FRANCO for her amazing logo design and for creating a graphic design identity for CMRS, JENNIFER MANGUINO of Broughton Hotels for shuttle services and delightful accommodations at the Willows, City Suites, and the Majestic Hotels. None of this would have been possible without the assistance of faculty and staff across DePaul including: ASTRA STEPHENS and the staff of the Student Center; LINDA GRECO from DePaul’s Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office for creating the CMRS 2010 website; WEN-DER LIN and the staff of Information Services; AISLINN CALLAHAN-BRANDT of Parking Services; MARK GOLDBERG-FOSS and the staff of the DePaul Bookstore; and ELIZABETH SOSA and the staff of Chartwells Catering Services.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference Nov 5-6, 2010
“Emerging Paradigms in Critical Mixed Race Studies,” the first annual Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, will be held at DePaul University's Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield Avenue Chicago, IL 60614 November 5-6, 2010.
http://las.depaul.edu/aas/
The CMRS conference brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines nationwide. Recognizing that the diverse disciplines that have nurtured Mixed Race Studies have reached a watershed moment, the 2010 CMRS conference is devoted to the general theme “Emerging Paradigms in Critical Mixed Race Studies.”
Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) is the transracial, transdisciplinary, and transnational critical analysis of the institutionalization of social, cultural, and political orders based on dominant conceptions of race. CMRS emphasizes the mutability of race and the porosity of racial boundaries in order to critique processes of racialization and social stratification based on race. CMRS addresses local and global systemic injustices rooted in systems of racialization.
Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) is the transracial, transdisciplinary, and transnational critical analysis of the institutionalization of social, cultural, and political orders based on dominant conceptions of race. CMRS emphasizes the mutability of race and the porosity of racial boundaries in order to critique processes of racialization and social stratification based on race. CMRS addresses local and global systemic injustices rooted in systems of racialization.
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The 2010 CMRS is organized by Camilla Fojas and Laura Kina (DePaul University) and Wei Ming Dariotis (San Francisco State University
Hosts
Co-organizers/sponsors
Depaul University co-sponsors
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For updates and information about the conference join our Facebook group: Critical Mixed Race Studies
All queries should be directed to the conference chairs cmrs@depaul.edu or 773-325-4048
The conference is free and open to the public.
Preregister at:
http://condor.depaul.edu/~
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CONFERENCE AT A GLANCE
Friday, November 5, 2010
8:30am-6:00pm Registration
9:00am-6:00pm Information Fair
9:30am-10:00am Welcoming Remarks - continental breakfast
Sponsored by DePaul University’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office
8:30am-6:00pm Registration
9:00am-6:00pm Information Fair
9:30am-10:00am Welcoming Remarks - continental breakfast
Sponsored by DePaul University’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office
10:15am-12:15pm Session One
12:15pm-1:30pm Lunch Break/Caucus Meetings/CMRS Business Meeting
1:30pm-3:30pm Session Two
3:00-6:00pm Book Table
3:45pm-5:45pm Session Three
6:00pm-7:00pm Plenary Session Keynote Address - Andrew Jolivétte
7:00pm-8:30pm Mixed Mixer Social - appetizers, live music, cash bar
Sponsored by DePaul’s Center for Intercultural Programs
12:15pm-1:30pm Lunch Break/Caucus Meetings/CMRS Business Meeting
1:30pm-3:30pm Session Two
3:00-6:00pm Book Table
3:45pm-5:45pm Session Three
6:00pm-7:00pm Plenary Session Keynote Address - Andrew Jolivétte
7:00pm-8:30pm Mixed Mixer Social - appetizers, live music, cash bar
Sponsored by DePaul’s Center for Intercultural Programs
8:30pm-9:30pm Film Screening - Anomaly
Saturday, November 5, 2010
8:30am-5:00pm Registration
9:00am-6:00pm Information Fair
8:45am-9:45am Plenary Session Keynote Address - Mary Beltrán
10:00am-12:00pm Session One
12:00pm-3:00pm Book Table
12:15pm-1:15pm Lunch Break/Caucus Meetings/CMRS Business Meeting
1:30pm-3:30pm Session Two
3:45pm-5:45pm Session Three
6:00pm-7:00pm Plenary Session Keynote Address - Louie Gong
12:00pm-3:00pm Book Table
12:15pm-1:15pm Lunch Break/Caucus Meetings/CMRS Business Meeting
1:30pm-3:30pm Session Two
3:45pm-5:45pm Session Three
6:00pm-7:00pm Plenary Session Keynote Address - Louie Gong
Film Screening UNRESERVED: The Work of Louie Gong
7:00pm-8:30pm Dinner Break
8:30pm-10:00pm Comedian Kate Rigg
Sponsored by DePaul’s Center for Intercultural Programs8:30pm-10:00pm Comedian Kate Rigg
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Here are the two session event that I'm going to be part of at CMRS (besides the welcoming address, CMRS business meeting, and introducing other speakers):
Friday, Nov 5 10:15am-12:15pm
DePaul Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield Room #324
CMRS Round Table “Creating Resistance: Using the arts in challenging racial ideologies”
Laura Kina (moderator) DePaul University
Alejandro Acierto , Musician/Improviser/Composer/Sound Artist (DePaul University Alumni)
Maya Escobar , Performance Artist/Internet Curator/Editor
Tina Ramirez, Writer/Educator/Youth Organizer (DePaul University Alumni)
Jonathan Reinert, Filmmaker (DePaul University Alumni)
Saturday, Nov 6 10:00am-12:00pm
DePaul Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield Room #312
CMRS Panel “Arts ReMix: Exhuming Ethnicity Koden, Obake, & Anthropolocos
Laura Kina (chair) DePaul University
Richard Lou , University of Memphis -“UnEarthing Whiteness and the White-Fying Project: Examining Los Anthropolocos As They Look Back At Their Future Richard A. Lou – ½ of Los Anthropolocos”
Emily Hanako Momohara – Art Academy of Cincinnati - “Koden”
Laura Kina - DePaul University - "Painting Paradise: Cane Fields, Kasuri, and Obake Talk"
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