A/P/A Studies and Crisis: A/P/A Graduate Student Working Group Symposium

The A/P/A Graduate Student Working Group's Spring 2024 Symposium "A/P/A Studies and Crisis" will explore how the concept of “crisis” can expand understandings of what Asian/Pacific/American studies are and what they could be. Crisis is defined here as any rupture that forces critical reflection upon what it means to place geographies, histories, identities, and cultures of “Asian,” “Pacific,” and “American” together as scholarly, political, and social formations.

Through the lens of crisis, this symposium hopes to engage with the interconnected dimensions of Asian, Pacific, and American worlds, particularly as they relate to empires and colonialisms. Graduate student presenters will share work that spans different fields of analysis, whether that be geographic (e.g. Middle East Studies in conversation with Pacific studies), disciplinary (e.g. area studies in conversation with critical ethnic studies), or demographic (e.g. Asian American studies in conversation with Latine studies).

This symposium asks: how does the concept of crisis call for work that crosses such academic divides, while also making these methods increasingly important and politically imperative? How can Asian/Pacific/American studies offer an inclusive and connective response to various crises that have been contained into separate spatial and geographic parameters? How can Asian/Pacific/American studies respond to crises by formulating a collective vision of interconnected struggles, identities, and histories?

NYU campus access guidelines: This is an in-person event, open to the public. Registration is required. Non-NYU guests may be asked to present a government-issued photo ID. NYU guests must present their NYU ID.

Accessibility note: This venue has an elevator and is accessible for wheelchair users. There are single-stall, all gender restrooms and a lactation room available. If you have any access needs, please include them on your registration form or email apa.rsvp@nyu.edu.

Photograph by Chrisna Senatus via Pexels, May 2021.