APSA at UCI Presents the 32nd Annual
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN
AWARENESS CONFERENCE
Saturday, January 21, 2017 ✸ 9 AM - 5 PM ✸ UCI Student Center
Whether you're an individual or an organization, register before coming to the conference to make sure that we have enough free food for y'all!
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The theme for APAAC this year is Homescapes/Warscapes, based on the Asian American Studies department's event series of the same name. "Homescapes” and “warscapes” have a unique and painful relationship for APIs in the U.S. Many API communities’ homescapes have been transformed into devastating warscapes, creating lasting effects on the communities even today. For some, this transformation has markedly influenced paths to the U.S., as these immigrants try to cultivate a new homescape away from war. Others, such as Pacific Islanders, have had their homescapes overtaken by settler colonialism, losing access to their own lands. Furthermore, creating a home--one of safety and comfort—in a fundamentally White supremacist and cis-hetero-patriarchal society is a struggle even for those who have not directly experienced war. Institutional violence and generational trauma continue to complicate the relationships that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have with the spaces which we inhabit. Our homescapes and warscapes can conflict with, influence, and even become one another.
This year, in the 32nd Asian Pacific American Awareness Conference, we aim to address the various interpretations of the terms “homescapes” and “warscapes.” We hope to discuss and dissect all of the issues affecting the API community that stem from our intertwining history with homescapes and warscapes. Admittedly, we cannot and will not be able to address every single problem or affliction that ails the API community. However, in talking about these different issues and in engaging the community in difficult discussions, we hope to inspire others not to adapt, but to set on a path to find solutions for the warscapes that have been created. Ultimately, we hope to begin to live in homescapes again. |