Asian American Ph.D. Forum
The Asian American Ph.D. Forum was created in response to the report of the 1994 Provost’s Committee on the Recruitment, Retention and Graduation of targeted minority graduate students. The report outlined academic excellence and a welcoming environment as two of the most critical prerequisites for the successful retention of minority students.
The Asian American Ph.D. Forum seeks to create a supportive environment and a sense of academic community by bringing together doctoral students and faculty in the fields of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Education, and Business. Data from the registrar’s office indicates that it is in these fields that Asian American Ph.D. students are most isolated.
To address this, the A3C hosts a small informal dinner every quarter that allows students and faculty to present a talk that facilitates an interactive discussion. Past talks have included thesis topics or issues of personal interest, ranging from social inequity to science in society. It is our hope that during these dinner sessions, participants can openly share their ideas and meet other students from a broad range of fields.
Past Presentations Include:
Student presentations:
Rosalind Chow, Ph.D. Organizational Behavior, ‘08: “The Importance of describing justice: How inequality frames affect the way we experience and respond to social inequity.”
Praj Kulkarni, Ph.D. Applied Physics ‘09: “Science, Democracy and the Intelligent Design Controversy.”
Lok Siu, Ph.D. Anthropology ‘99: “Queen of the Chinese Colony: Contesting Nationalism, En/Gendering Diaspora”
Christine Min Wotipka, Ph.D. Education ‘01: “Beyond Access to Transformations: Women’s Global Participation in Science and Engineering Education, 1970-2000.”
Sameer Pandya, Ph.D. Modern Thought and Literature ‘01: The Late Colonial Self: The Nationalist Autobiography in India, 1927-1951.”
Faculty presentations:
Stephen Sano, Professor of Music and Department Chair: “North American Taiko: A Sansei Perspective”
Harumi Befu, Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus: “Globalization and the Asian Diaspora”
Anthony Antonio, Professor of Education: “Conceptualizing an Experimental Test of the benefits of Racial Diversity in Critical Thinking”
Gi-Wook Shin, Prof of Sociology and Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Studies: “U.S. and Two Koreas”
Staff Presentations:
Naomi Brown, Psychologist, Counseling and Psychological Services: “How Are You Really Doing: Guidelines for Stress Management, Mental Health and Wellness for Asian American Doctoral Students”