Asian and Native American Center

2015 Asian Heritage Month Photos and Videos

Documentary Film: "CAN"

Can Truong is a pre-med major, aspiring doctor, and model student at the University of Chicago when he is diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder. After years of unsuccessfully trying conventional medical treatments, Can becomes involved in the mental health consumer movement, a social and political effort by people labeled with mental illnesses who believe in recovery through self-determination and peer support. Though many Southeast Asians are reluctant to seek psychiatric help for fear of shaming their families, Can defies many cultural norms, tries numerous healing modalities, and fights for his recovery. Can struggles to finish college over an 11-year period, finally graduating in 2002 with a degree in marketing. 

A panel discussion followed the screening. Our special thanks to following Wright State staff and students who sat on the panel: Mai Nguyen, Director, Asian/Hispanic/Native American Center, Maximilian Tokarsky, Graduate Student in the School of Professional Psychology.

Co-sponsored by the Asian/Hispanic/Native American Center and Wright State University's Chapter of Active Minds.


Lecture: Global Families: A History of Asian International Adoption in America

In the last fifty years, transnational adoption – specifically, the adoption of Asian children – has exploded in popularity as an alternative to family making. Despite the cultural acceptance of this practice, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the factors that allowed Asian international adoption to flourish. Dr. Catherine Ceniza Choy (professor and Chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies at University of California Berkeley) unearths the little-known historical origins of Asian international adoption in the United States.


Lectures:

Taking Back the History of the Vietnam War

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the end of the Viet Nam War, which resulted in the largest exodus of Vietnamese people leaving their country in its history, there has been stealth attempts by power holders in the U.S. and Vietnam to rewrite the war’s history. Dr. Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde (Associate Professor of Asian American Studies at University of California Davis) critically examines the motivations behind such endeavors and what this new narrative of the war looks like, while offering alternative models for understanding the legacy of this time period.

Transnationalizing Vietnam: Community, Culture, and Politics in the Diaspora

Dr. Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde (Associate Professor of Asian American Studies at University of California Davis) will discuss the dynamic and long-standing connections between Vietnam and its diaspora in the United States. These links are especially astounding considering the many decidedly anti-diasporic elements in not only the home and host countries, but also the ethnic community itself.


Asian Culture Night ...a night of cultural explorASIAN through the performing

The Asian Culture Night 2015 was an evening full of traditional folk dances, folk songs, and an extravagant fashion show which highlighted a unique collection of Japanese kimonos and yukatas. It was also the first appearance by Harmony of Japan: Japanese Women's Chorus.


Lecture: Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary Vietnam

The year of 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, or the end of the Vietnam War and the mass out-migration of Vietnamese peoples to various places across the globe. As a nation-state located in Southeastern Asia – sharing borders with Cambodia and Laos to the west, China to the North, the Gulf of Tonkin to the east, and the South China Sea to the south—Vietnam is considered a prime gateway to southeast Asia. Because of this, in part, Vietnam has a long history of conflict that can be traced to ongoing legacies of colonialism. Dr. David Embrick (Associate Professor of Sociology, Loyola University-Chicago) will discuss this history of colonialism as he speaks to the current social problems that merit further examination of the ethnic conflicts and inequalities that continue to plague contemporary Vietnam. Further, he will discuss issues affecting the Vietnamese diaspora that are directly tied to the legacy of the Vietnam War and address the implications of these issues today.

IMG_1037 (640x480)
IMG_1045 (640x480)
IMG_1051 (640x480)
IMG_1053 (640x480)

Documentary Film: "Between Two Worlds: Dayton’s Vietnamese-American Community"

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War (1975-2015), America's storyteller, Thinktv--Greater Dayton Public Television, and Wright State University's Asian/Hispanic/Native American Center partnered to produce a 30-minute documentary entitled "Between Two Worlds: Dayton's Vietnamese Americans Community." This documentary, the first-of-its-kind, features the remarkable stories of Vietnamese Americans who made the painful decision to leave their homeland in search of freedom after the fall of Saigon in 1975. From the ashes of war, their stories tell how they overcame severe challenges during their early days in America, the new lives they have courageously built after 40 years, and the contributions they have made to America, their second homeland.

Even though this documentary tells stories of Vietnamese Americans in Dayton, Ohio, their stories exemplify untold stories of other Vietnamese Americans in small or big cities around the nation.


Documentary Film: "Last Days in Vietnam"

Award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy chronicles the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War as the North Vietnamese Army closed in on Saigon. With the clock ticking and the city under fire, American officers on the ground faced a moral dilemma: follow official policy and evacuate U.S. citizens and their dependents only, or ignore orders and save the men, women, and children they had come to value and love in their years in Vietnam. At the risk of their careers and possible court-martial, a handful of individuals took matters into their own hands. Engaging in unsanctioned and often makeshift operations, they waged a desperate effort to evacuate as many South Vietnamese as possible. An open mic discussion to follow after the screening.

Co-sponsored by Wright State University’s Asian/Hispanic/Native American Center and the Vietnamese Association of Greater Dayton.

IMG_1069 (640x480)
IMG_1082 (640x480)

Art Exhibition: Chinese Calligraphy and Brush Painting by WSU Students

The proud artworks on display are from the WSU students in the Chinese Writing Course taught by instructor, Maan Broadstock. The artworks represented poetry by well known Chinese poets. Translations were available. Visitors to the exhibit were able to vote for their favorite artwork and entered into a drawing to win a Chinese opera mask bookmark.

IMG_1090 (640x480)
IMG_1097 (640x480)
IMG_1089 (640x480)
IMG_1103 (640x480)