Asian American Studies Commons^™

"'Joo Wa Dare?' Who Is The Queen?" Queen Contests During The Wartime Incarceration Of Japanese Americans, Bailey Irene Midori Hoy

Madison Historical Review

This paper examines beauty pageants held at incarceration centers during the Japanese-American internment. Although there has been literature created on beauty pageants before and after WWII, there is very little information on these war-era pageants, despite their prolific nature. Using mostly primary sources and material culture, the paper examines the coverage of the contestants, clothing, and presentation within the Center’s newspapers and in coverage by the Wartime Relocation Authority, whilst also problematizing uncritical readings of these documents. This paper highlights the difficulty in determining agency within spaces of incarceration, and calls for further research on the subject.

Silent Music And Sacred Sounds Of The Hoysaḷas: Visual And Aural Sensory Experiences In Jain And Hindu Temples, Vani Vignesh

Jain Studies

This project examines affective responses to temple spaces and investigates how visual and aural sensory stimulations can amplify people’s experiences in Jain and Hindu temples through ethnographic research and qualitative interviews. It involves the study of the traditional Indian methods of designing and planning temples to understand their place in contemporary South Indian devotion. This project focuses on two twelfth century temples built by the Hoysaḷa dynasty in the South Indian state of Karnāṭaka—the Jain Pārśvanātha basadi (temple) at Haḷēbīḍu and the Hindu Vaiṣṇava Chennakēśava temple at Bēlūru—to show that their location, design, and structure were planned to cater to …

The Perseverance Of Play: An Archaeological Analysis Of Residential Blocks With Preschools At The Amache National Historic Site, Megan Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to expand on the understanding of experiences of Japanese American children, specifically preschool-aged children, within the Amache National Historic Site, a WWII Japanese American internment facility located in Granada, Colorado. Through archaeological methods, GIS analysis, oral histories, and archival research, I analyzed the landscape and material culture of the five residential blocks within Amache that had designated preschools. I then compared these blocks with preschools to residential blocks without preschools to determine if there are any patterns and discernable differences between the two study areas. The findings of this research provide insight into how …

I, Discomfort Woman: A Fugue In F Minor, Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Afterlife Of Jennifer Laude: Trans Necropolitics And Trans Utopias, Max D. López Toledano

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

Jennifer Laude is a filipino trans woman who was murdered by a visiting member of the United States army in 2014. Her murder led to several protests in the Philippines and in the United States led by both queer and anti-imperialist movements that urged for the rejection of the 'Visiting Forces Agreement' in the Philippines. This essay explores how Laude's murder is located in a climate of 'trans necropolitics' that allocates death and disposability to unruly trans and brown bodies who fail to comply with cis-normative gender ideals. This essay understands her murder (and her afterlife) beyond her individual body, …

An Analysis Of The Justifications Behind The Japanese Internment Camps And Its Impact On Japanese American Identity, Elizabeth Yoshitake

CMC Senior Theses

In the first half of my paper, I will be reviewing the rationale from political leaders, citizen group organizers, and military officers on the issuing of Executive Order 9066. Additionally, I will be addressing the types of support and dissent that contributed to the eventual mandating of the Japanese internment camps during World War II. By looking into these aspects, I hope to find clarity behind why the internment camps were considered constitutional at the time and how it was received throughout society. The second half of my paper will address the dual identities amongst the Issei and Nisei Japanese …

The Yellow Qipao, Feibi Wang

Honors Projects

This is a creative project centered around the pre-production of a short film about queer Asian American Christianity and the research that went into it. The synopsis of the script written for the short film is a life in the day of Aspen. Aspen prepares for church and is indecisive of the clothes they want to wear, because they are gender non-conforming. They come out to their mom and there is conflict. My research going into this project consists of researching media representation of queerness, Asian American identity, and Christianity, and how the three identities intersect in Aspen’s life and …

Avoiding Shame: Filipino-American’S Motivations For Higher Education, Myra Dayrit

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Filipinos are often referred to as the “forgotten Asians” or “Latinos of Asia” due to the centuries of colonization in the Philippines. This deficit discourse often minimizes the experiences of Filipino Americans, especially in higher education settings. Filipinos typically are lumped into the greater myth of the Asian model minority, allowing for little research specific to Filipino Americans' experiences. The Filipino American experiences differ from those of other Asian Americans due to their complex history with the United States. Thus, the lack of research in this underrepresented population, especially in higher education, is significant because access to a college degree …

An Imaginary* Interview With A Philippines Collections Museum Donor, Camille Ungco

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Ontological distance is the dehumanization that emerges from uninterrogated coloniality between colonized subjects and the oppressive systems. This distancing has occurred in the histories of U.S. teachers both domestic-based and abroad, especially in Southeast Asia. In Steinbock-Pratt’s (2019) historiography on the relationships between early 1900s U.S. teachers and their Filipinx students, ontological distance was “The crux of the colonial relationship was intimacy marked by closeness without understanding, suasion backed by violence, and affection bounded by white and American supremacy” (Steinbock-Pratt, 2019, p. 214). This dehumanizing psychological or ontological distance existed during U.S. colonial regimes abroad, specifically in Southeast Asia and …

The Future And Thriving Of Bipoc Communities: A Time To Act Macroconvening, Global Diversity & Inclusion, Portland State University

Global Diversity and Inclusion Publications and Presentations

This is the overview of the "Time to Act Macroconvening," an event bringing together the BIPOC community on November 4, 2022. The macroconvening was shaped by five affinity-based convenings that were held from June to November 2022. Each engagement was unique, but centered around discussions of the future of thriving and joy of BIPOC communities in and around Portland, and what role PSU has in bringing this future to bear.

Main downloadable file:
Affinity Convenings Thematic Overview

Additional files:

• Event graphic
• Overview article by Christina Rojas, "PSU Brings Together BIPOC Community Groups to Envision a Thriving Future."
• Pictorial Summary of …

Biblography For George Takei Display, Ruby Blakesleay

Library Displays and Bibliographies

A bibliography created to accompany a display about George Takei in November 2022 at the Leatherby Libraries to commemorate his visit to Chapman University.

The Slow Violence Of Racism On Asian Americans During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Gloria Wong-Padoongpatt, Aldo Barrita, Anthony King, Michelle Strong

Psychology Faculty Publications

Racism against people of Asian descent increased by over 300% after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the United States, with one in five Asian Americans reporting direct experiences with overt discrimination. Large-scale eorts and resources initially, and quite understandably, prioritized investigating the physiological impact of the coronavirus, which has partially delayed research studies targeting the psychological eects of the pandemic. Currently, two studies tracked the unique relationships between psychosocial factors, such as experiencing everyday racism, and the self-reported wellbeing of Asian Americans in the United States and compared these associations with Latinx Americans. Study 1 (April 2020–April 2021) examined how …

Christian Mass Movements In South India And Some Of The Critical Factors That Changed The Face Of Christianity In India, Philip Joseph Mathew

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The main reason for Christian growth in India was not individual conversions but rather Christian mass movements (CMMs). Since the late 1700s, a series of independent CMMs among non-Christians and a mass reformation movement within the Suriani community have occurred in the southern end of India. These MMs culminated in a mass emancipation movement against caste-imposed segregation of Dalits in the late 1800s, an event of national significance. In the early 1900s, Pentecostalism evolved from these CMMs and transformed the religious landscape of Christianity in South India and later in India as a whole. The Thoma Christians were the early …

Convening For A Prosperous Future: Middle East North African South Asian (Menasa) Convening, Global Diversity & Inclusion, Portland State University, Middle East, North Africa, South Asia (Menasa), Portland State University

Global Diversity and Inclusion Publications and Presentations

PSU is proactively leaning into its future as a majority-BIPOC student institution and is dedicated to coming alongside BIPOC communities, critical partners, actors, and agents to act in the present to ensure a prosperous future.

We recognize that opportunities and challenges for BIPOC communities require collective, rather than singular, action. In that spirit, we invite you to save the date and join Portland State University's Global Diversity and Inclusion Division on Sunday October 23rd between 11am-2pm for a convening luncheon contemplating present challenges and imagining a prosperous future for our Middle East North African South Asian (MENASA) Community.

This social …

The Structures Of Intra-National Class Divisions In Neoliberalism: The Women Of “Light” And “Dark” In The White Tiger, Sneha Madimi

Theses and Dissertations

Aravind Adiga’s novel, The White Tiger, represents gender hierarchies and the class struggle of India’s neoliberal present. Adiga uses elements of satire and allegory to teach us something about how women are differently positioned in the neoliberal system. David Harvey in A Brief History of Neoliberalism defines neoliberalism as “a theory of political economic practices that proposes that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets, and free trade” (2). I will consider the novel, alongside Chandra Mohanty’s “Under Western Eyes” …

Convening For A Thriving Future: Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, Asian, And Asian American Community, Stephen Percy, Ame Lambert, Lindsay Romasanta, Patrick Villaflores, Christian Aniciete, Marchel Marcos, Allie Yee, Alyshia Macaysa, Aileen Duldulao, Sokho Eath, Roxanna Bautista, Global Diversity And Inclusion, Portland State University

Global Diversity and Inclusion Publications and Presentations

On October 1, 2022, Portland State University (PSU) held the Convening for a Thriving Future for Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, Asian, and Asian American (PIAA) Communities at the university’s Native American Student Community Center (NASCC). This event was part of a series of BIPOC-centered and -led community convenings by PSU’s Global Diversity & Inclusion as one of our action items in the Time to Act Plan for Equity & Racial Justice.

PSU contracted with Roxanna Bautista of Rise Up Solutions to support the planning, development, and coordination of this convening, in addition to providing facilitation and contributing to this convening …

“Filipinos In California, Community, And Identity”: A Personal Inquiry, Sam T. Mcclintock

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Re-Envisioning Self And Community: The Experiences Of Pilipina American Students With Colonial Mentality And Decolonization, Kristine Angelica Din

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the invisibility of Pilipina American narratives in higher education by investigating colonialism and colonial mentality and how they may shape the experiences of Pilipina American undergraduate students in higher education. This study was framed by Pinayism (Tintiangco-Cubales, 2005; Tintiangco-Cubales & Sacramento, 2009), Strobel’s (2001) decolonization framework, and the Colonial Mentality Scale (CMS) (David & Okazaki, 2006b). Participants reflected upon their life stories to explore and make meaning of the ways their lives have been informed by events that have occurred and the messages they received from their families, peers, teachers, and communities. Participants also engaged with indigenous, …

Pioneers Of Evacuation, Pioneers Of Resettlement: The Photographic Archive Of The Japanese American Incarceration And The Settler Colonial Imaginary, Christina Hobbs

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reexamines the photographic archive of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II produced by the US government, arguing that these images “restage” the evacuation, incarceration, and resettlement periods through a settler colonial “pioneer” mythology, thereby obscuring the precarity of Japanese Americans' racial positionality between “settler” and “native.”