*While AAPI Heritage Month is typically observed in May, Belmont celebrates in April to accommodate the academic calendar.
Join us as we hear from Dr. Jessica Wai-Fong Wong, Ph.D., associate professor of systematic theology at Azusa Pacific University, whose work focuses on race, gender, society, and visual theory. She is an ordained minister and holds degrees in Christian theology and ethics from Duke Divinity School and Duke University. Dr. Wong is the author of Disordered: The Holy Icon and Racial Myths and co-author of the curriculum Lamenting Racism: A Christian Response to Racial Injustice. Her current research projects consider the role of anger and delight in the struggle against racial injustice in the United States.
Co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Department; the School of Theology & Christian Ministry; College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; the Faculty Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Committee; the Asian-America and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Committee; and the Office of Faith-Based Engagement & Church Relations
Jessica Wai-Fong Wong, PhD, is an associate professor of systematic theology and works in political and liberation theologies with a focus on race, gender, society, and visual theory. She is an ordained ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and holds degrees in Christian theology and ethics from Duke Divinity School and Duke University. She is the author of Disordered: The Holy Icon and Racial Myths (Baylor University Press, 2021) as well as co-author of the curriculum Lamenting Racism: A Christian Response to Racial Injustice (MennoMedia, 2021). Her current research projects consider the role of anger and delight in the struggle against racial injustice in the United States as well as the racial and sociopolitical dynamics of Asian American invisibility and Black hypervisibility.
In popular discourse, Asian Americans are often rendered invisible by repeated gaslighting surrounding the validity of our stories, our omission from conversations surrounding race and ethnicity, repeated homogenization of our myriad of cultures, and the gaslighting of our oppression as lived experiences. There has to be another way, and through this presentation, I will encourage you to pursue a culture of the visibility of Asian voices, and how we can pursue this in non-appropriative ways in our music education system and our greater society.
As a Korean jazz musician, I often wondered how I would find a place to fit in within the landscape of jazz. When I pursued the jazz tradition, I found my own home as a creative and recording artist. My mentors have encouraged me to tell my story--but what does Korean jazz (or jazz from a Korean American perspective) sound like? What makes it Korean enough? American enough? East meets west in an exciting performance presentation featuring the music of my recorded output, centering around my second album, Nomad.
Come celebrate the Sakura or cherry blossom season at Belmont by joining Belmont alumna Nozomi Takasu and History Professor Cynthia Bisson for a program of song and stories about the importance of the sakura in Japanese culture and as a symbol of international friendship.
How does the account of Jesus feeding the 5000 inform and shape one’s sense of identity, calling, and vocation? Come hear how God has used this story of the youth sharing his lunch to form Rev. Chan’s discipleship and ministry at several important junctures.
Rev. Sabrina S. Chan is the national director of Asian American Ministries for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is an author of Learning Our Names: Asian American Christians on Identity, Relationships, and Vocation (IVP, 2022). Sabrina has led in church and campus ministries for 25 years. She loves preaching and consults and trains in leadership development and ethnic and racial development and justice. Prior to her national role, she led ministry teams in Texas and the San Francisco Bay Area, and has also been a computer network engineer. Sabrina earned her Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Seminary and her Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Rice University.
Co-Sponsored by the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Committee
"Rev. Sabrina S. Chan is the national director of Asian American Ministries for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is an author of Learning Our Names: Asian American Christians on Identity, Relationships, and Vocation (IVP, 2022). Sabrina has led in church and campus ministries for 25 years. She loves preaching and consults and trains in leadership development and ethnic and racial development and justice. Prior to her national role, she led ministry teams in Texas and the San Francisco Bay Area, and has also been a computer network engineer. Sabrina earned her Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Seminary and her Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Rice University."
Please join us for a lunch discussion on building up the AAPI community at Belmont on April 7 from 12-2pm (Ayers 4th floor conference room).
The AAPI Heritage Month planning committee invites you to a lunch and panel discussion on building up the AAPI community at Belmont. The all-AAPI panel will discuss constructive strategies for fostering community and creating a supportive environment for AAPI faculty, students, and staff. The goal of this event is to celebrate the histories and contributions of Asian Americans and to identify ways to enrich the Belmont and broader Nashville community. The panel features Drs. Amy Crook, Kristi Oshiro, Stephen Hankil Shin, and guest panelist, Dr. Jordan Ryan of Wheaton College, and will be moderated by Dr. Gideon Wongi Park. This WELL Core event marks the inaugural celebration of AAPI Heritage Month at Belmont University.
The generous support of numerous campus partners—including, AAA, Asian Studies, CLASS, COB, CTCM, HOPE Council, Student Life, and the Provost's Office—is gratefully acknowledged.
“Sakura: Cherry Blossoms and Japan” with Dr. Cynthia Bisson and Nozomi Takasu, Belmont alumna. Co-sponsored by Asian Studies and Japanese Culture Club.
Dr. Cynthia Bisson will speak about the cherry blossom as a symbol of the US-Japanese friendship and about the 2023 festival in Nashville on Saturday, April 15. Nozomi Takasu, a Belmont alumna and local performer, will sing Japanese songs and will reflect on what the sakura means for Japanese people.
"AAPI Food Festival."
Please join AAPI-affiliated student organizations for a celebratory time of food and fellowship.
“Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium: Asian Studies Section.”
As an exercise in the Honors Humanities Seminar: Cultural Intelligence, four students will read their cultural autobiographies as a reflection on their personal relationship to their cultural heritage and community. Autobiographies will be read by Elena Amonette (Laotian), Sadaf Folad (Afghan), Ava Malaka Munyer (Lebanese) and Ana Flinton (Korean). A period of Q&A will follow. Advisor: Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn.
"Regenerated to Wholeness"
What does it look like to believe that we can be regenerated to wholeness? Globalization and rapid modernization often collide with traditional cultural and religious values. Many Asian American Christians and bicultural individuals struggle to fashion self out of conflicting values and dual existence. The conflicted, divided self is not unique to these groups, but a shared human condition.
“Thick Clients and Thin Therapists: Towards Understanding Psychotherapy as a Cultural Practice”
It is important to place modern psychology in its historical and social context and recognize psychotherapy contains a distinct moral character that reflects a particular culture and time. As such, it is imperative for clinicians in training to recognize the values underlying psychotherapy as a cultural practice. With rapid globalization, all therapists must engage in cultural learning more deeply and understand the cultural and social embeddedness of clients in a more complex and dynamic fashion. Implications for clinical training and professional development will be discussed.
“Asian Christianity”
Most Americans think of Christianity as a Western religion, but what does the history and the reality of world Christianity show us? We will engage this topic by hearing from Dr. Won Lee, Professor of Religion and Asian studies at Calvin University, and the editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Korea, which explores how faith communities in Korea and the Korean diaspora use the Bible in their religious, social, and political contexts.
“When a Korean American Reads the Bible ...?!”
As a first-generation of Korean American, I belong neither to my motherland nor the newly adopted home and yet I belong simultaneously part of two worlds. This seemingly contradictory state provides a context for introducing new insights that are vital to Christianity, an essentially contextual and pluralistic religion. The question is then whether the works of all diaspora be regarded as mere additions to or integral part of the traditional interpretation of the Bible.
“Reading the Bible from Multiracial Perspectives: Asia, Africa, Latin America, and North America.”
In connection with AAPI Heritage Month, several undergraduate research posters were on display in the second-floor atrium of JAAC. The posters were created by CTCM students in REL 3990 Multiracial Biblical Studies as part of their Final Project.