Barbara Earl Thomas: The Illuminated Body - Exhibition

February 17 – May 21, 2024  Barbara Earl Thomas’ most recent series of portraits weave an exquisite tapestry of light and color to depict individuals illuminated in moments of creativity. Invoking the history of portraiture, Thomas’ nine large-scale cut paper pieces celebrate great Black cultural icons such as August Wilson, Seth Parker Woods, and Charles Johnson, alongside Thomas’ friends, family, and acquaintances. Set in contexts ranging from public performance to the quiet of daydreaming, they honor the creative spark in all its manifestations. Thomas describes her subjects with nuance and care, encouraging extended viewing of these vibrant and layered portraits. The portraits are presented with The Transformation Room, a luminous installation created from light and intricately cut Tyvek, which offers a moment of respite for reflection and inspiration.

Lecture Series: Jews and the University: Antisemitism, Admissions, Academic Freedom

January 23 - March 14, 2024  The integration of Jews into the university is one of the great success stories of modern American culture and Jewish life. But recent events at Penn and at other campuses have led to accusations that the university has been too tolerant of antisemitism and become less welcoming to Jews. This free lecture series is an effort to share insights from history, sociology, education studies, and other fields that can help put the present moment into context.

The series kicks off with Dara Horn's in-person appearance at Penn Hillel on January 23, and continues with online talks through February and March.

THE POLITICAL SYSTEM: VOICE AND REPRESENTATION

Online |

Racism and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America: The Political System

Panelists:

Traci Burch, Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University

Vincent Hutchings, Diversity and Social Transformation Professor; Hanes Walton, Jr. Collegiate Professor of Political Science and Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan

Michael Jones-Correa, President’s Distinguished Professor of Political Science; Director, Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Race and Immigration, University of Pennsylvania

Adolph Reed, Professor Emeritus, Political Science Department, University of Pennsylvania

Nicholas Valentino, Professor of Political Science and Media Studies, University of Michigan

Against the Grain Spring Speaker Series: The Things We Carried: A People's Archive of Guyanese migration to the United States by Gaiutra Bahadur, essayist, journalist, and critic.

Online |

Asian American Studies Spring Speaker Series, "Against the Grain" presents:

"The Things We Carried: A People's Archive of Guyanese migration to the United States."

By Gaiutra Bahadur, essayist, journalist, and critic.

Hosted by ASAM 165: The Asian Caribbean.

Asian American Across the Disciplines: Cambodian Americans by Sarorng “Rorng” Sorn

Online |

Asian American Across the Disciplines Series Spring 2021 presents Work and Identity, Mental Health and Wellness in conversation with Sarorng Sorn, Director of Immigrant Affairs and Language Access Services at Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual DisAbility Services (BHIDS)

Image removed.

Hosted by ASAM and ASAM 104-401Asian American Communities.

Sex, Power and Democracy: What Could a Biden-Harris Administration Achieve for Reproductive Rights?

Online event |

Galina Espinoza and Imani Gandy. Moderated by Sophie Maddocks.  Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court marks a constitutional crossroads in relation to sex discrimination and reproductive rights. While some states are poised to expand provisions, 2020 also saw more anti-choice women elected to congress than ever before. From a Catholic adoption agency in Philadelphia refusing to serve gay families to the Texas legislature ignoring its maternal mortality rates in favor of anti-choice legislation, sex discrimination and reproductive health issues have never been more politicized, under-covered, and vulnerable to misinformation and conspiracy theories. What can America’s increasingly polarized relationship to sex discrimination and reproductive rights tell us about the health of our nation’s democracy? At this contested time, what could a Biden-Harris administration accomplish?

This panel brings together Galina Espinoza and Imani Gandy to examine the future of reproductive justice under the next administration and explore what public discourse on sex discrimination and reproductive rights can tell us about the health of American democracy. Moderated by Sophie Maddocks and organized by the Center for Media at Risk, this event is free, virtual, and open to all.

Against the Grain Spring Speaker Series: Disalienation: Politics, Philosophy, and Radical Psychiatry in Postwar France by Camille Robcis, Associate Professor of History and French at Columbia University

Online |

Asian American Studies Spring Speaker Series, "Against the Grain" presents Camille Robcis, Associate Professor of History and French at Columbia University.

Camille Robcis is Associate Professor of French and History at Columbia University. She specializes in Modern European History with an emphasis on gender and sexuality, France, and intellectual, cultural, and legal history. She is the author of The Law of Kinship: Anthropology, Psychoanalysis, and the Family in France (Cornell UP, 2013) and Disalienation: Politics, Philosophy, and Radical Psychiatry in Postwar France (Chicago UP, 2021). She is currently working on a project titled The Gender Question: Populism, National Reproduction, and the Crisis of Representation. She has received fellowships from the Penn Humanities Forum, LAPA (Princeton Law and Public Affairs), the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.

In this lecturer, professor Robcis will be discussing Disalienation: Politics, Philosophy, and Radical Psychiatry in Postwar France.

Racism and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America

Online event |

A preceptorial series consisting of a unique series of 13 interdisciplinary conversations among leading scholars and practitioners drawn from a wide range of fields. Each conversation will focus on the ways in which institutional racism is deeply embedded in different parts of our economic, political, social, and cultural systems.

The virtual panel conversations are open to the Penn community and the general public. Members of the Penn community may visit the Preceptorial Canvas site using your PennKey for additional resources.

VOICE, REPRESENTATION AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN MASS MEDIA, DIGITAL MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY

Online |

Racism and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America: Cultural and Media Systems

Panelists:

John Jackson, Jr., Walter H. Annenberg Dean and Richard Perry University Professor

Sarah Jackson, Presidential Associate Professor, Annenberg School for Communication

Matthew Miller, Provost Post-Doctoral Fellow, City and Regional Planning

Amy Hawn Nelson, Director of Training and Technical Assistance, Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy

ASAM Fellows Spring 2021 Symposium: The Foreign Body

Online |

"A conversation on healthcare access, quality, and disparities in Asian American communities"

ASAM Fellows Spring 2021 Symposium: "The Foreign Body" 

ASAM Fellows Spring Colloquium: The Foreign Body

Online | to

The ASAM Program is hosting a spring colloquium with the undergraduate recipients of this year’s ASAM Fellowship: Claire Nguyen, Julci Areza, Tiffany Tieu, Erin Jin Mei O’Malley, Jaywon Kim, and Neelu Paleti. Each Fellow conducted and presented independent research projects that related to Asian American Studies, with a recurring theme of “The Foreign Body.” The Fellows will engage with scholars, professionals, and activists from around the country to examine how the state and greater geopolitical forces have politicized and controlled the foreign body: the Asian American body. These conversations will investigate how Asian American bodies are featured in mental and maternal health, science fiction, decarceration and deportation, and political engagement. Together, their works question the meaning of foreign bodies as they exist in the US and what this signifies for Asian Americans. 

Spring Colloquium Events:

March 19th at 1pm: "Representing Asian Americans in Philadelphia: Education and the Census" Moderated by Julci Areza and Jaywon Kim

March 26th at 1pm: "The Alien Asian / Asian Alien" Moderated by Claire Nguyen and Erin Jin Mei O’Malley

April 2nd at 1pm: "Healthcare Access, Quality, and Disparities in Asian American Communities" Moderated by Neelu Paleti and Tiffany Tieu

Asian America Across the Disciplines Series in conversation with Im Ja Choi, Exec. Dir., Penn Asian American Senior Services

Online |

Asian America Across the Disciplines Series Spring 2021 presents Family, Generations, and Korean Americans in conversation with Im Ja Choi, Exec. Dir., Penn Asian American Senior Services.

Im Ja Choi MS is the Founder and current CEO of Penn Asian Senior Service (PASSi) and its subsidiaries. Additionally, she serves as a council member for the Pennsylvania Department of Aging Cultural Diversity Advisory Council and a commissioner of the Pennsylvania Commission on Women. Ms. Choi received her MS degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania, and her B.A. degree from Korea University in Seoul.

Hosted by ASAM and ASAM 104-401Asian American Communities.