Asia Pacific American and Native American Religions: A Dialogue on Food, Spirituality, and Land
Dana Lloyd | Assistant Professor, Global Interdisciplinary Studies | Villanova University
Elisha Chi | Graduate Student, Theology and Religious Studies | Villanova University
Himanee Gupta | Professor and Associate Department Chair, Historical Studies | Empire State University
SueJeanne Koh | Graduate Futures Program Director | University of California, Irvine
This working group brings into dialogue scholars of Asia Pacific American religions and Native American and Indigenous religions to critically examine the relationship between food, land, and spirituality. Land and spirituality have been central to the study of Native American and Indigenous religions but remain understudied in the academic field of Asian American religions. Bringing these scholarly communities together will allow each of us to learn from each other in ways that have the potential to open new avenues of inquiry in both disciplines and yield new insights. This interdisciplinary working group brings together scholars from various career stages to create a reading group that will meet every month virtually over six months and then meet in person for three days in April 2024 to use fresh insights gained from the reading group to create a collective podcast series and write a white paper, to be disseminated widely.
Keywords: Food, Indigeneity, Land, Native American, Pacific Islanders, Spirituality