It’s been some time since I penned a FAR post. Much has changed and much has stayed the same. I have since moved to a different part of the United States and have started a new teaching position at a large university. Yet, I am still a scholar who seeks out the connection between feminism, gender representation, religion, and popular culture. Which brings me to this new post.
Continue reading “Diversifying Marvel and the Monolith of Superheroes by Anjeanette LeBoeuf”Tag: Asian American
Did You Know…? Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month by Grace Yia-Hei Kao
We are now more than a week into Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Since it’s not always clear to me what is generally known (or not known) about Asian Americans, let me test out a few things here.
Did you know…
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by Grace Yia-Hei Kao
“Did you know that…the Asian population grew faster than any other race group in the United States between 2000 and 2010…[and that] Chinese is the second most widely spoken non-English language in the country (behind Spanish)”?
The Boldness of Grace Ji-Sun Kim by Grace Yia-Hei Kao
“The Grace of Sophia is an openly ‘syncretistic’ work.”
Continue reading “The Boldness of Grace Ji-Sun Kim by Grace Yia-Hei Kao”
The Power of Feminist Rituals by Grace Yia-Hei Kao
“These were very simple rituals and yet they were so powerful.”
Jeanette Stokes’ 25 Years in the Garden is on my bedside table. It’s a book I read several years ago with a small group of feminist Christians when I was living in Blacksburg, Virginia. The following passage from one of her essays got me to thinking back to the 2012 PANAAWTM conference (Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry) I had attended just two weeks ago:
“Rituals are part of everyday lives: reading the newspaper, checking the weather, waiting for the mail to come, or talking with a family member at the end of the day. Rituals can also mark the extraordinary events in our lives: the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, a birthday, marriage, anniversary, or divorce” (Stokes, 2002, p. 37).
Continue reading “The Power of Feminist Rituals by Grace Yia-Hei Kao”
“Passing” for White to Get Into Harvard? By Grace Yia-Hei Kao
“[G]rowing numbers of Asian Americans are not taking a ‘wait and see’ approach about whether elite colleges are discriminating against Asian Americans on account of their race, but have been acting under the assumption that they have been and still are.”
Asian Americans and Harvard University have been in the news and on my mind recently. The bigger story has been about the “Linsanity” surrounding (Harvard grad) New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin who continues to take the NBA by storm.
The smaller story, though one that also made national headlines in early February, is of the recent decision by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate a complaint that Harvard and Princeton Universities discriminate against Asian Americans in admissions. Continue reading ““Passing” for White to Get Into Harvard? By Grace Yia-Hei Kao”
Getting Tenure, Part II: On Being the First of My Kind by Grace Yia-Hei Kao
“I am honored to be the first person of Taiwanese heritage, and first Asian American woman, to have earned tenure at CST.”
I’ve recently recounted how it took a village for me to complete the rite of passage known as tenure review. I want to reflect now on the significance of my having become the first Asian American woman (n.b., third Asian American of any gender), and first person of Taiwanese descent to have earned tenure at my institution.
My first thought upon realizing those statistics was something like: “Wow−what an honor!”
But my second thought has been more like: “Really? How is it possible that simply being a newly tenured Asian American who is neither Korean nor male would be enough for me to make institutional history?” Continue reading “Getting Tenure, Part II: On Being the First of My Kind by Grace Yia-Hei Kao”
Getting Tenure, Part I: It Took a Village by Grace Yia-Hei Kao
“[T]he many sacrifices made for my career have not been borne by me alone….Here are some of the ‘villagers’ to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.”
On December 1, 2011, the full professors at Claremont School of Theology unanimously recommended two of my colleagues and me for tenure. Provided that the Board of Trustees approves their recommendation and two extremes never come to pass (either “financial exigency” compels my institution to start laying off people willy-nilly or I do something professionally or morally egregious enough to be dismissed “for cause”), I now have a job for life! :) Continue reading “Getting Tenure, Part I: It Took a Village by Grace Yia-Hei Kao”
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