Deepening our Understanding of Confucianism & Daoism for Clinicians & Social Activists: Enriching Applied Approaches for Asian-American/Pacific Islanders
Nancy Liu | Associate Clinical Professor, Psychology | UC Berkeley
Heng Du | Assistant Professor, Chinese | Wellesley College
Boaz Tang | Graduate Student, Asian American Studies | San Francisco State University
Stephen Chen | Associate Professor, Psychology | Wellesley College
Confucian and Daoist ideas are significantly oversimplified as typically applied and understood within mental health and social activism. Concepts such as filial piety, harmony, and collectivism are often described in static, unchanging terms, such as in discussions of psychotherapy cultural competence. As a result, recommendations and approaches for Asian-American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations are at best, blunt and over-prescriptive and at worst, reinforce negative stereotypes of populations as simplistic, conforming, and emotionally-impoverished. This working group will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars with research expertise in Chinese history and philosophy, cultural psychology, and sociology, as well as applied expertise in clinical psychology and social activism with AAPI groups. Through monthly meetings over the course of approximately 1.5 years, the working group will produce at least 2 products: one scholarly and one public-facing. We also anticipate the generation of additional ideas and potential for future collaborations.
Keywords: Activism, Confucianism, Doaism, Healing, Mental Health
Refugee Reconnections: Vietnamese-American organizing in the California Carceral State
Victoria Huynh
Graduate Student, Ethnic Studies
University of California, Berkeley
This research project centers Vietnamese-American grassroots organizing as a site to theorize a framework of healing from refugee trauma. As Vietnamese refugees in the United States are continually displaced by war, incarceration, and deportation, this project asks: how do Vietnamese refugees draw from their spiritual and cultural traditions in order to address the fractures of trauma? How might these embodied, epistemological practices help activists to challenge the state structures responsible for displacement? To examine these questions, in-depth interviews and participant-observation will be conducted with a California-wide network of organizations fighting to free Vietnamese communities from incarceration and deportation: the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, API-RISE, and VietRise. This research project aims to interrogate refugee trauma as the consequence of the U.S. carceral and immigration systems, and to explore spiritual modalities of healing.
Keywords: Activism, Healing, Refugee, Vietnamese American
Repurposing and Greening Church Property for East Oakland
Russell Jeung | Professor, Ethnic Studies | San Francisco State University
Demetries Edwards | Lead Pastor | 23rd Avenue Church of God
Albert Hong | Co-Pastor | New Hope Covenant Church
Daniel Schmitz | Co Executive Director | Hope Avenue
Derek Wu | Graduate Student, Ethnic Studies | UC Berkeley
We galvanize existing collaborative efforts between an Asian American-led church, a historic Black church, and a secular nonprofit to further urban greening and youth development projects in East Oakland. These projects serve as models for other faith communities and advance theories of environmental activism, race relations, and secularization.
Keywords: Activism, African American, Asian American, Churches, Environment, Nonprofit, Youth
Unheard Soundscapes: A Close Listening to Asian America
Chanhee Heo | Graduate Student, Religious Studies | Stanford University
Kathryn Gin Lum | Associate Professor, Religious Studies and History (by courtesy) | Stanford University
Chenxing Han | Independent Scholar
Xianfeng Shi | Graduate Student in Religion | Boston University
Elaine Lai | Graduate Student in Religious Studies | Stanford University
Unheard Soundscapes is a podcast series consisting of interviews, soundscapes, and conversations with people and places where Asian and Asian American religions have been underrepresented in history and society. Our project explores the intersection of Asian and Asian American resistance and religious practice. By attending to multisensorial perceptions and experiences and bringing creative attention to Asian and Asian American religious spaces, Unheard Soundspaces unsettles western-centered epistemologies and modes of knowledge production. Through the podcast series and an accompanying website, our project targets scholars, students of religious studies, practitioners, and activists. As a community-engaged project, Unheard Soundscapes aims to achieve three goals: 1) name and honor marginalized religious spaces and ontological pluralities; 2) empower Asian and Asian American individuals to connect over soundspaces that bridge racial, ethnic, and generational differences; and 3) cultivate decolonial research methods and pedagogical practices.
Keywords: Activism, Asian American, Resistance
* For the 2023-24 cycle, a person can only be a part of one working group.