The work of novelist Karen Tei Yamashita, cultural anthropologist Lok Siu, and artist Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik spans the globe. Together, our esteemed speakers will share their decades of research into the little known history and culture of Asian+Latin@ communities from Tokyo to Texas, Bogota to Bombay. We'll explore the blending of identity and inspiration from the Pacific Rim to the Rio Grande, the push-pull of creating anew while searching for comfort and stability, and the future of food in California as immigrant communities continue to grow and meld.

Capacity: 80
$15 general seating.

SITA KURATOMI BHAUMIK is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and writer born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles to Indian and Japanese Colombian parents. After receiving her B.A., Cum Laude, in Studio Art from Scripps College, Sita moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where she holds an M.F.A. from California College of the Arts and is an M.A. candidate in Visual and Critical Studies. Sita has collaborated with organizations such as Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, SomArts, 18 Reasons, 826 Valencia, APICC, Whitman College, and Cal-State Fullerton. Sita has been the art features editor for Hyphen magazine and has written for Art Practical. She is currently a board member and programming committee chair for Kearny Street Workshop. Sita teaches photography and portfolio development at RayKo Photo Center.

LOK SIU, trained as a cultural anthropologist, is associate professor of Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley. Her books include Memories of a Future Home: Diasporic Citizenship of Chinese in Panama and two coedited volumes, Asian Diasporas: New Formations, New Conceptions and Gendered Citizenships: Transnational Perspectives on Knowledge Production, Political Activism, and Culture. She is currently completing a book manuscript tentatively titled, "Asian Latin@," which explores a variety of sites where Asian and Latin@ histories, communities, and aesthetics intersect. One of those sites is food. She has written on Chinese Cuban restaurants in New York City and is now completing her research on the Korean taco truck phenomenon. She also teaches a course on the Cultural Politics of Food. 

KAREN TEI YAMASHITA is the author of five books, Through the Arc of the Rain Forest, Brazil-Maru, Tropic of Orange, Circle K Cycles and I Hotel, all published by Coffee House Press. Most recently, I Hotel was selected as a finalist for the National Book Award and awarded the California Book Award, the American Book Award and the Assoication for Asian American Studies Book Award. She is currently a US Artists Ford Foundation Fellow and Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz.