2011: 22nd Annual ALA Conference

The Circle for Asian American Literary Studies is presenting six panels for the American Literature Association conference, to be held May 26-2, 2011, in Boston. Here is the schedule:

Thursday, May 26, 2011
3:00 – 4:20 pm
Session 5-I Aliens and Allies: A Roundtable on Latina/o and Asian American Literary Studies in Contemporary American Politics (Marriott Simmons)
Organized by the Latina/o Literature and Culture Society and the Circle for Asian American Literary Studies

Moderator: Catherine Fung, Bentley University
1. Sharada Balachandran-Orihuela, University of California, Davis
2. Amy Parziale, University of Arizona
3. Eliza Rodriguez y Gibson, Loyola Marymount University
4. Jane Hseu, Dominican University
5. Lourdes Alberto, University of Utah

Friday, May 27, 2011
12:40 –2:00 pm
Session 10-C Pedagogy Roundtable: Asian American Studies, Literacy, and Education (Essex North Center)
Organized by the Circle for Asian American Literary Studies

Moderator: Greta Ai-yu Niu, University of Rochester
Participants:
Rocío Davis, City University of Hong Kong
Jennifer Ho, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Betsy Huang, Clark University
Stephanie Li, University of Rochester
Timothy Yu, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Friday, May 27, 2011
5:10 – 6:30 pm
Session 14-C Comparative Ethnic Religion in a Postsecular World (Essex North Center)
Organized by the Circle for Asian American Literary Studies and the Latino/a Literature and Culture Society

Chair: Timothy Yu, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1. “Audacity to Hope: Barack Obama and the Spiritual Vernacular,” Anton Williams, Loyola Marymount University
2. “Chang-Rae Lee‘s Native Speaker: Shall We Teach Tolerance and Assimilation as Spiritual Values in Asian American Literary Studies,” Lou Caton, Westfield State University
3. “Born a Heathen: Hisaye Yamamoto, Incarceration and the Catholic Worker,” Khanh Ho, Grinnell College

Saturday, May 28, 2011
8:10 – 9:20 am
Session 15-M Business Meeting: Circle for Asian American Literary Studies (Helicon 7th Floor)

Saturday, May 28, 2011
11:00 am – 12:20 pm
Session 17-K Techno-Orientalism and Asian American Culture (Defender 7th Floor)
Organized by the Circle for Asian American Literary Studies

Chair: David Roh, Old Dominion University
1. “Nature, the City, and Techno-Orientalism in the Works of William Gibson,” Julie Ha Tran, University of California, Davis
2. “Love and Loathing in the Digital Age: Contemporary Speculative Fiction and the New Yellow Peril,” Betsy Huang, Clark University
3. “Video Games and Virtual Empire: Asian Pacific America in The Guild,” Greta Ai-yu Niu, University of Rochester
4. “‘Don‘t Worry, We‘ll Find Them’: Race Passing and Detection in Battlestar Galactica,” Jinny Huh, University of Vermont

Saturday, May 28, 2011
3:30 – 4:50 pm
Session 20-F New Perspectives on the Works of Meena Alexander (Essex North East)
Organized by the Circle for Asian American Literary Studies

Chair: Nicky Schildkraut, University of Southern California
1. “Home Ground and Borderlands,” Meena Alexander, City University of New York, The Graduate Center and Hunter College
2. “Meena Alexander: ‘Dislocation? The Place is the United States,'” Stephanie Han, City University of Hong Kong
3. “‘What if crossing a border one changed color, shape even?’: Momentum and Metamorphosis in Meena Alexander’s Poetry,” Trevor Lee, City University of New York, The Graduate Center
4. “Location and Dislocation of a Fragmented-Self: Meena Alexander‘s Writings within a Diasporic Space,” Divya Girishkumar, Cardiff University

Saturday, May 28, 2011
5:00 – 6:20 pm
Session 21-B Contemporary South Asian and Asian American Poetry: A Creative Reading (Essex North Center)
Organized by The Circle for Asian American Literary Studies

In this creative reading that seeks to highlight poets of South Asian and Asian American descent, these three poets write in ways that challenge existing tropes and forms. Poet and novelist Meena Alexander,
Distinguished Professor of English at the City University of New York, will read poetry selections from her book Quickly Changing River. Poets Bushra Rehman and Jee Leong Koh will also read from their published poetry. Rehman’s poetry has been featured most recently in the 2010 anthology, Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry, and Koh has published two books of poetry, Payday Loans and Equal to the Earth, and his third book is forthcoming in March 2011.