Sunday, November 23, 2014

600 attended the "Global Mixed Race" Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference



Photo by Ken Tanabe - closing remarks after the
Mixed Roots Stories Live Performance event Nov 15, 2014

CMRS NEWS

"Global Mixed Race," the 3rd biennial Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, was held at DePaul University in Chicago Nov 13-15, 2014.

A big THANK YOU to the over 600 people who attended Global Mixed Race. Videos of our keynotes and Live Performance showcase are forthcoming. Please visit us on Facebook to see event snapshots. Hi res press photos are available on request. Follow the archive of the event on Twitter #CMRS2014. Read a reflection from our Social Media Caucus organizer Sharon H. Chang. Watch Mixed Roots Stories top 3 highlights from each day.

Press:
‘Did Somebody Say “Mulatto”? Speaking Critically on Mixed Heritage by A.B. Wilkinson Huffington Poast 11/21/14
‘Global Mixed Race’ conference welcomes scholars, filmmakers to DePaul by Kristin Claes Matthews DePaul Newsline 11/11/14

The CMRS and Mixed Roots team.
Fanshen Cox, Chandra Crudup, me (Laura Kina), and Camilla Fojas.
Photo by Ken Tanabe.

Special thanks to Fanshen Cox and Chandra Crudup of Mixed Roots Stories for organizing arts and cultural programming across the entire conference, including the Nov 15th Live Performance event with Tangled Roots (UK), Tania Canas (Australia), and US performers Fred Sasaski, Elizabeth Liang and Joe Hernandez-Kolski. Photo by Ken Tanabe.
Rebecca Chiyoko King-O'Riain was our featured CMRS keynote
Nov 13, 2104 - "Mixed Race, Transconnectivity and the Global Imagination"

Zeli Asava was our featured Mixed Roots Stories keynote
Nov 14, 2014 - "Mixed Race Representations in Irish Media"

A special thanks to our student workers and CMRS volunteers. Camilla Fojas and I are pictured here with Jaime Ochoa, Victoria Aagunad, and Raymond Preston.


The 2016 conference will be held Nov 10-12, 2016 at University of Southern California and will be hosted by Associate Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams, founder of the Hapa Japan Project and Director of USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. We will continue to partner with Mixed Roots Stories to offer arts and cultural programming. We are moving forward with founding an association. Join our mailing list to stay informed. We anticipate organizing a symposium in 2015 in Ottawa, ON, Canada and a full CMRS conference on the US east coast in 2018. We are currently seeking institutional partners in the UK or Japan to host a CMRS symposium in 2017. Please contact us at cmrs@depaul.edu if you would like to volunteer.

Paul Spickard Graduate Student Paper Award for Critical Mixed Race Studies

We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Paul Spickard Graduate Student Paper Award for Critical Mixed Race Studies. The award aims to support and encourage young scholars in the field of critical mixed race studies. Deadline December 15, 2014. 



Pursue graduate work in Critical Mixed Race Studies under DePaul University’s new 
MA in Critical Ethnic Studies
. DePaul is currently accepting applications for the first cohort of graduate students to begin in Fall of 2015.

 

The Master of Arts in critical ethnic studies examines the systematic marginalization of racial minorities in the urban United States and the global implication of these structures. Students study how racialized groups use art, culture, political organization and other forms of social citizenship to respond to and counter these forces.
The program takes an interdisciplinary approach – the only one of its kind in the U.S. – in which students take courses across a number of academic departments. Furthermore, DePaul’s Chicago location allows students to take advantage of the city’s rich resources for research and collaboration with non-profit organizations, presenting opportunity to develop community engaged scholarship. Our graduates leave with a broad-based, highly relevant education making them competitive candidates for careers in social justice advocacy, community-based organizing, urban planning, and higher education. 
Contact Camilla Fojas for more info: cfojas@depaul.edu

The 2014 conference was organized in partnership with DePaul’s Department for Latin American and Latino Studies and the Center for Intercultural Programs, and the non-profit organization Mixed Roots Stories. CMRS 2014 was also co-sponsored by DePaul’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, African Black Diaspora Studies, Art, Media, & Design, Center for Latino Research, Critical Ethnic Studies, Global Asian Studies, Irish Studies, LGBTQ Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and the Dean’s Office of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. The conference was also sponsored in part by a grant from the University Research Council.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Nov 13-15, 2014 "Global Mixed Race," the 3rd Biennial Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference


Along with my DePaul colleague Camilla Fojas and Fanshen Cox and Chandra Crudup from the non-profit Mixed Roots Stories, I am co-organizing

"Global Mixed Race," the 3rd Biennial Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference Nov 13-15, 2014

DePaul University Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield Chicago, IL 60614


CMRS 2014 will bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines around the world to facilitate a conversation about the transnational, transdisciplinary, and transracial field of Critical Mixed Race Studies. Join us for our featured keynotes; three full days of over 45 panels, roundtables, and presentations by scholars, activists and artists; short film screenings and live performance event; plus feature film screenings and performances throughout the conference.


Download the complete schedule here.
Look for the keywords "Mixed Roots Stories" to indicate arts programming.
Register (for free) here: http://condor.depaul.edu/dpulas/cmrs/2014/
The first 500 guests will receive a name tag, tote bag and printed conference program.
Learn more about the conference at: http://criticalmixedracestudies.org/wordpress/cmrs-2014/
Press Release: http://newsroom.depaul.edu/NewsReleases/showNews.aspx?NID=2832


Here is studio arts panel I am organizing.

Friday, November 14, 2014 10:45am-12:15pm #325 Student Center
MIXED ROOTS STORIES PANEL: Mixed Race Art: Hybrid Identities and Studio Practice
Chair:
Laura Kina, DePaul University

Bend Sinister: Painting Dutch-Indonesian Hybridity - Adam de Boer, artist
Mixed Media: From the Street to the Table to the Screen - Genevieve Erin O'Brien, artist
Lacuna - Maya Mackrandilal, artist
The Tertium Quid, or Some Third (and Unkown) Thing - Gardiner C. Funo O’Kain, artist

Event Highlights

CMRS Featured Keynote Speaker Thursday, November 13, 2014 5:45-7:15

“Mixed Race, Transconnectivity and the Global Imagination”
Rebecca Chiyoko King-O’Riain is Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, National University Ireland Maynooth.

Mixed Roots Stories Featured Keynote Speaker and Short Film Screening Friday, November 14, 2014 5:15-7:00pm

“Mixed Race Representations in Contemporary Irish Cinema”
Zélie Asava
 is Joint Programme Director of Video and Film at Dundalk Institute of Technology in Ireland.

Friday Night Nov 14th Featured Shorts:

America in Red and Black: Stories of Afro-Native Identity (excerpts) (2006), by Alicia S. Woods
The Happiest Person in America (2013), by Sara Israel
For the Love of Unicorns (2014), by Genevieve Erin O’Brien
Negro: A Docu-Series about Latino Identity (excerpts) (2013), by Dash Harris
Mixed Match trailer (2014), by Jeff Chiba Stearns





Mixed Roots Stories Live Performance Showcase Saturday, November 15, 2014 5:00-6:30pm


Featuring: Joe Hernández-Kolski, Elizabeth Liang, Fred Sasaki, 
Tania Canas, and Tangled Roots

Featured Films:

Thurs, Nov 13 4:00-5:30pm Silk Road Rising presents Not Quite White: Arabs, Slavs, and the Contours of Contested Whiteness, (2012, 24 min 8 sec) directed by Jamil Khoury and Stephen Combs – screening and talk back session with Jamil Khoury.
Fri, Nov 14, 3:15-5:00pm Finding Samuel Lowe: From Harlem to China (2014, 1 hour 28 min) – screening and Q&A with the executive producer Paula Williams Madison. 
Sat, Nov 15, 10:45am-12:15pm A Lot Like You, (2012, 82 min) directed by Eliaichi Kimaro. Join the director for a round table discussion “Mixed Experiences on Screen” on Thurs, Nov 13 9:45-11:15am along with Jeff Chiba Stearns (Mixed Match), Megumi Nishikura (Hafu), and our Mixed Roots Stories keynote Zélie Asava.
HOSTS: DePaul Department of Latin American and Latino Studies, DePaul Center for Intercultural Programs, and Mixed Roots Stories.
DEPAUL SPONSORS: Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, African Black Diaspora Studies, Art, Media, & Design, Center for Latino Research, The Dean's Office of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, Critical Ethnic Studies, Global Asian Studies, Irish Studies, LGBTQ Studies, University Research Council grant, and Women’s and Gender Studies.
Help us promote the conference and your colleagues!
Use our hashtag in your social media posts: #CMRS2014
Follow and interact with the conference on twitter: @CMRSmixedrace
Follow and interact with Mixed Roots Stories on twitter: @ourmixedstories
Keep an eye out on our Facebook pages for updated conference info and to begin networking with attendees and presenters before the conference:
Critical Mixed Race Studies Facebook page: facebook.com/criticalmixedracestudies
Mixed Roots Stories Facebook page: facebook.com/mixedrootsstories

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

CA+T artist interview with Laura Kina

Check out my latest artist interview with Rachel Ishikawa from the Center for Art and Thought:
http://www.centerforartandthought.org/cat-interview-laura-kina

Monday, July 14, 2014

DePaul Art, Media and Design is hiring a 1 year Visiting Assistant Professor

The Department of Art, Media, and Design at DePaul University seeks to hire a one year Visiting Assistant Professor, non-tenure track, for the 2014-15 academic year. The position has a focus in the Department's Media Art concentration teaching beginning photography (both analog/chemical based and digital) as well as in the Core Program: teaching in Drawing, Two-Dimensional Foundations and/or in Figure Drawing. Candidates should also be prepared to teach the department's general education course offerings for majors and non-majors in the university's Liberal Studies program. The teaching load is nine courses per year on the quarter system and service interests would be available.

Required qualifications are: 1) MFA in studio or media art or a related visual arts field; 2) minimum one year of teaching experience on the college/university level, preferably in a liberal arts setting not as a graduate student; 3) knowledge of traditional and contemporary issues in digital arts and in studio arts, 4) record of professional accomplishments and activities and 5) record of exhibition and creative activity in the Visual Arts.

The Department of Art, Media, and Design has eleven tenured/tenure-track faculty members. Our degree program is composed of three concentrations: Studio Art, Media Art, and Graphic Art, with a range of subspecialties in each concentration, offering three minors. We offer a BA degree within the context of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. DePaul is committed to recruiting a diverse faculty to complement the diversity of its student body and the Chicago area. For that reason, we especially encourage women, minority candidates, and persons with disabilities to apply.

Please see our web site for additional information at: http://las.depaul.edu/art.

To apply, click: https://facultyopportunities.depaul.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp

Please submit the following documents electronically by August 8 11:59PM, maximum total data available for all posted documents is 5MB Please submit the following: 1. A Cover letter, 2. Curriculum Vitae, 3. Teaching Philosophy Statement, 4. Under Other Documents - a List of Four to Five References with contact information (reference letters will be required of the finalists only), 5. Under Publication 1 - a compressed PDF file with 20 examples of your Professional Work, and 6. Under Publication 2 - a compressed PDF file with 20 examples of your Students Work. Only applications completed and submitted by the August 8 deadline will be reviewed. Interviews are tentatively planned to take place on campus in Chicago the week of August 18, travel accommodations are the responsibility of the applicant. 3 letters of reference due at time of interview.

Academic year and classes begin on September 10 2014; tentative teaching schedule for Autumn Quarter, pending enrollment: Art 224 Beginning Digital Photography M/W 6-9 PM, Art 101 Digital Tools for Visual Thinkers M/W 11:20 AM-2PM, and Art 106 Beginning Drawing Art 106 M/W. 8:25 AM-11:10 A.M. Position will remain open until filled.

A background check is required for the finalist.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer, DePaul University provides job opportunities to qualified individuals without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, parental status, housing status, source of income or military status, in accordance with applicable federal, state and local EEO laws.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Word We Live By June 6-July 4, 2014

Yet another Molar Productions (Larry Lee, prop) at five spaces simultaneously

North Branch Projects
White Box Studio Gallery
4th Ward Project Space
New Assembly
Vietnamese Association of Illinois

June 6 - July 4

Opening reception every Friday from 6-9pm on

June 6 @
North Branch Projects
3550 W. Lawrence
http://www.northbranchprojects.com/
and White Box Studio Gallery
4813 N. Central Park
http://studio-whitebox.com/

June 13 @
4th Ward Project Space
5338 S. Kimbark
http://www.4wps.org/

June 20 @
New Assembly

[I'll have work in this show] 
1345 W. 19th St*
http://new-assembly.com/
(*June 20 - July 11)

June 27 @ [I'll have work in this show]
Vietnamese Association of Illinois
5110 N. Broadway
http://hnvi.org/

featuring Joanne Aono, Rashayla Marie Brown, C.C. Ann Chen, Alexandria Eregbu, Ariel Fang, Richard Gessert, Angel Harrold with Joshua Slater, Alex Herrera, Ly Hoang, Greyson Hong, Laura Hsieh, Regin Igloria, Laura Kina, Maya Mackrandilal, Marina Miliou-Theocharaki, Dao Nguyen, Jave Yoshimoto, and Transnational Servers, Inc. (Liana Li, Megan Isaacs, Michael Swierz, Ken Dunn, Yan Wang)

Words We Live By is a multi-venue curatorial project as expansive group show centering around artists of color who employ text to reference, translate and/or connect to their sense of self and larger community within or without the mainstream.

Or words in any language as image, object or action, moving or static that confronts or maybe reconciles difference, originating from street as the raw energy of spoken word to the supposed lawless power of graffiti. Voices that are often marginalized seeking to incorporate the concreteness of the written and/or spoken in relationship to the visual.


Like the project on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/608902892539246/

JASC Fundraiser June 12th "Living Our Culture"

JASC Living Our Culture: Bringing Legacy to Life

Thursday, June 12, 2014
Floating World Gallery
1925 North Halsted
Chicago, Illinois
6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Valet parking will be available for $12.

For more info call 773.275.0097 x230 or e-mail.


The Board of Directors of the JASC cordially invite you to our annual benefit celebration, Living Our Culture, on Thursday, June 12, 2014.

For this year's fundraiser, we have chosen the theme Bringing Legacy to Life. We have assembled an extraordinary group of artists, activists, teachers and leaders who will share their life's work with you, exemplifying our theme of creating a "living culture."

These special people live the values we cherish through their actions every day. They have taken the gift of knowledge and traditions learned in previous generations and figured out how to make the most of it in their own way, creating works that fully respect the spirit of each era:

  • Hyogenryoku (creative expression) – Tatsu Aoki, musician, filmmaker
  • Kazoku to Komyunitei family and community) – Alice Murata, Heiwa Terrace and Michael Takada, JASC
  • Chuuseishin (loyalty) – Enoch Kanaya and Kolly Takaki, World War II vets; and Col. Robert Hashimoto, USMC
  • Kokoro to karada no tsunagari (connection of body and mind) – Doug Tono, Tohkon Judo Academy and Dwight Sora, Chicago Aikido Club
  • Shousai ni chuui suru (attention to detail) – Michio Iwao, Nisei wood carver
  • Jiko-ninshiki (identity) – Laura Kina, artist and professor
The event also features:
  • music by Tatsu Aoki
  • appetizers and sushi by Kamehachi
  • an array of complimentary beverages
  • restaurant certificates, get-aways, sports tickets and memorabilia, artwork and more available in the Silent Auction
  • all amidst the beautiful setting of the Floating World Gallery

Tickets are $125 per person.

Only $100 per person when purchasing 5 or more.

Special Young Generation Rate!
The JASC is offering a special rate of $65 a person for individuals 35 and under to attend Living Our Culture.

Living Our Culture reservations may also be purchased at the JASC, 4427 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640 or if paying by MasterCard or VISA, by phone at 773.275.0097.

You can also make reservations or purchase raffle tickets on-line by going to EventBrite.

Place your reservations by mail by May 31, 2014, or by phone or on-line by June 9, 2014.

Tickets will be held at the door.

A portion of your contribution is deductible to the extent provided by the IRS.