What story do you have to tell about language & culture?

Posted by Nora Yasumura in Events

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What does language & culture mean to you?

          How has language impacted how you see yourself and others?

What story do you have to tell about language & culture?
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“WE ALL HAVE A STORY:
Exploring stories of the interconnections between different languages & culture”

Pan Asian Community Dinner 12W
This Monday, February 13
6:00 – 7:00 PM
Collis Commonground
*Open to the entire campus

FEATURING…

Michelle Aguila ’12, Abigail Bard ’14, Si Jie Loo ’12, Hye Ryung Son ’15, Maryam Zafer ’12

*Free dinner catered by the Orient
*Please RSVP to Pan.Asian.Council@Dartmouth.edu by Sunday, February 12

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Presented by the many groups that make up the Pan Asian Council (PAC)

Co-Sponsored by:

  • Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL)
  • Students for Africa
  • Native Americans at Dartmouth (NAD)
  • La Alianza Latina
  • International Students Association (ISA)
  • Language in Motion (LIM)
  • Korean Students Association (KSA)
  • Dartmouth Japan Society (DJS)
  • Dartmouth Asian Organization (DAO)
  • Dartmouth Chinese Culture Society (DCCS)

Troubling Super Bowl Ad (DAO dinner discussion tonight)

Posted by Nora Yasumura in Events, News

An alumni and several Dartmouth students have sent me this video and news articles denouncing it because of how it reinforces racist and stereotypical messages.    I love that people are saying- “please consider posting this on the blog Nora”.  Who says that students aren’t connecting to what is happening outside the Dartmouth bubble?

I have to admit that I’m always taken back about how these types of commercials or political ads (this one apparently played during the Super Bowl) even get produced.  Where are the people who are the voice of reason?  Sadly, this is not the first time that East Asians are portrayed as forever foreigners who can’t be trusted and who are trying to “take over the world”.   I have seen how this way of thinking has impacted how students of Asian descent are treated on our campus.  It has contributed to hurtful statements such as the Generic Good Morning Message about President Kim in 2009 and several different racist cartoons in our school’s newspaper.   Although it can be hard for us to openly discuss, I think it’s important that we (meaning the entire campus) notice when these types of things happen in the nation and consider how they impact us all.

Speaking of talking about this topic, I just noticed that tonight (Tuesday) at 8 pm in Collis 212- the Dartmouth Asian Organization (DAO) will be talking about the political ad at their dinner discussion.   This event is open to all so be sure to check it out. Thanks DAO.

Apply for the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers

Posted by Nora Yasumura in Campus Resource, Job advice

Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers

Information Session, Thursday Feb 16, 4:30-5:30, Carson 60

IRT addresses the lack of diversity in the nation’s teaching faculties by recruiting outstanding students of color and other scholars committed to diversity, counseling them through the graduate school application process, and advocating for sufficient funding for advanced study. IRT supports applicants in the humanities, social sciences, math, computer science, and education for PhD and MA programs, and applicants for the Master’s of Teaching (MAT) in secondary science fields such as Chemistry, Biology, and Physics.

The information session will cover the basics of applying to graduate school as well as specifics about the IRT program. More information here:
http://www.andover.edu/SummerSessionOutreach/IFROTeachers/Pages/default.aspx
Application deadline April 1 (early application strongly recommended): to begin IRT in Summer 2012 and grad school in Fall 2013.

All applications require an interview. Campus interviews will take place Feb 16 and 17 in Parker House B1 (Office of Undergraduate Advising and Research). Interviews are 30 minutes; bring a copy of your CV/resumé; be prepared to discuss your interests and graduate school goals. You can schedule an interview in advance by registering at the Doodle poll below; spaces may still be available for sign-up at the info session. You do not need to have completed an application to interview, but you should be familiar with the application questions.  http://www.doodle.com/8y2ygmm2gqcvbz5y

This event is sponsored by the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Dartmouth.

Where is Nora’s New Office?

Posted by Nora Yasumura in Campus Update

As OPAL prepares to welcome our new OPAL Director, I have moved my office down the hall on the second floor of Collis.  

You can now find me in 205-F Collis Center (the corner office on the far right).   It’s an exciting opportunity to be part of this suite of offices because it is also shared by OPAL’s Native American Program (NAP) and International Student Programs as well as Student Assembly (SA).   Please come by and say hello if you’re in the neighborhood.   I’m happy to show off my new space and always love the excuse to visit with students.  

As always, if you would like to schedule a time to meet, please just email me three times that you’re free and I’ll try to accommodate to your schedule.

Hazing & Intolerance on Campus (Dinner Discussion)

Posted by Nora Yasumura in Events

TUESDAY, FEB 7th
:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:
6 – 7 PM @ Collis 101 (open to all)

With the recent controversies regarding hazing and tolerance on campus, Student Assembly’s Diversity and Community Affairs Committee is offering a safe space for individuals to contribute opinions, and learn about other viewpoints. We hope to walk away from the meeting with a greater understanding of all sides of the argument, and decrease the polarization caused by these topics. 

Orient will be provided for dinner.

 Hosted by Student Assembly’s Diversity and Community Affairs Committee

“Visualizing Meiji Nationalism and Japan’s Wars for Empire”

Posted by Nora Yasumura in Academics, Events and tagged with ,

“Visualizing Meiji Nationalism and Japan’s Wars for Empire”

Featuring Ethan Segal, Associate Professor of History, Michigan State University

  • Wednesday, February 8
  • 3 ~ 4:10
  • 104 Reed Hall
  • Open to the public

Prof. Segal is the author of  “Coins, Trade, and the State: Economic Growth in Medieval Japan” (Harvard University Asia Center, 2011), and is currently on sabbatical at Harvard University. 

Prof. Segal’s visit is made possibly by the generous support of Dartmouth College’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Program, and the Dept of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures.

Join LACE – the Language & Cultural Exchange Program!

Posted by Gavin Huang in Campus Resource and tagged with

Do you want to practice a foreign language? Do you need to prepare for an LSA? Want to get to know Dartmouth graduate students? Dartmouth’s LACE program pairs undergraduate and graduate students interested in improving their ability to converse in second languages while gaining new insights into cultures other than their own. Language Pairs meet one-on-one weekly to share conversation and cultural exchange. If you would like to participate in LACE, please email the LACE account to sign up!

Students React to “Inside North Korea” Film

Posted by Gavin Huang in Events and tagged with

On Thursday, January 26, the North Korea Project at Dartmouth screened National Geographic’s powerful documentary Inside North Korea. This is the second time they have screened the film to the entire campus, and it still leaves an impact on many students who watch it and get a glimpse inside the hermit nation. North Korea Project president Daniel Kim ’13 collected reactions from students who attended the screening.

"Although it is my 2nd time watching this documentary, it is still holds a big impact. It is a great documentary. We always hear about North Korean issues, but we don't know what is really going on. Being able to see what actually happens makes a difference." -Jeongu Gim '11

"Watching that made me actually feel physically ill. You don't really have exposure to that kind of control and total subjugation that North Koreans have to deal with in a society where mind control and brainwashing is a huge part of their lives." - Rebecca L. Drapkin '13

"I thought it was good and interesting. It provided a lot of insight on North Korean issues that I was not aware of" - Andrew Hoh '14

Faking It to Making It

Posted by Gavin Huang in Alumni, Career

Last month, the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine published a profile of Neel Shah ’05, currently a television sitcom writer whose career path has been anything but conventional. From his humble days blogging for Gawker from his Alpha Delta fraternity room (he posted about ways to spend weekends in New York City…even though he was 300 miles away) to his night club-hopping work at the New York Post‘s gossipy “Page Six,” Shah, an Indian-American, jumped from media outlet to media outlet, toying with the conventions of journalism before ending up in the studios of NBC. He is now one of 10 writers for the show Whitney and has submitted a pilot to ABC for a “post-racial dating show about Indian Americans.” Shah’s unconventional career path is interesting because it defies what we have come to expect from Dartmouth graduates. In some ways, his work in the party-hard celebrity world of L.A. runs counter to the challenge President Jim Yong Kim has given us to “make the world’s troubles our troubles.” Though still single, Shah has become more settled down over the years. Read about his journey here.