As a service to students, CSUN and the larger community, the department is glad to post announcements about upcoming Asian American events. If you would like to suggest something, send an describing the event with the subject heading, AAS News & Events.
April 2008
South Asian Awareness Week at CSUN
Tuesday, April 22nd (11-2pm) & Thursday, April 24th (12-2pm)
Plaza del Sol , University Student Union
The South Asia Club of CSUN is holding its first annual "South Asian Awarenesss" week on Tuesday (April 22, 11-2:00) and Thursday (April 24, 12-2:00) in the Plaza Del Sol of the Student Union. There will be dancing, fashion, henna, speakers, Indian food and much more. Please come and enjoy. For more information
Annual Distinguished Lecture and Student Awards Night
Wednesay, April 23rd, 6-8pm [Download Flyer]
Fernandeno Room, Satellite Student Union
In addition to recognizing promising and outstanding student accomplishments, this year we are focusing on the history of AAS at CSUN and future directions. Invited participants include former students and faculty involved with the early years of AAS at CSUN as well as a recent alumni.
Free and open to the public, this event is made possible by support from the Department of Asian American Studies, the Academic Programming Fund, and the CSUN AAS Alumni Association.
For more information, contact, Dr. Steven Ropp (steven.m.ropp@csun.edu,
818-677-6098) or Dr. Tracy Buenavista (tracy.buenavista@csun.edu, 818-677-5688)
or the Department of Asian American Studies (818-677-4966).
May 2008
Annual Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Fair
Thursday, May 1st
Grand Salon, University Student Union
June 2008
Summer Activist Training, Los Angeles
June 26-29, 2008
For more information, contact Rhommel Canare (rlcanari86@gmail.com)
Summer Activist Training (sat) has been working with young leaders like yourself for the past decade, building solidarity and equipping them with information and the know-how to further their work toward positive social change and justice. Your participation in sat underscores the commitment of the sponsoring organizations to build a network of young organizers and activists in the greater Asian and Pacific Islander community with skills in outreach, organizing, and direct-action campaigns.
Founded in 1993 by the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (kiwa), little has changed in sat’s mission to seek out motivated and dedicated individuals who are active in effecting positive change in their communities. The first group of sat participants were young Korean American activists from California’s Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York. They were brought together in a ground-breaking program to give them the skills to organize a campaign. Since 1993, sponsorship of sat expanded to include the Garment Worker Center (gwc, founded in 2001); Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (ncrr, founded in 1980); Pilipino Workers Center (pwc, founded in 1997); and the Thai Community Development Center (thai-cdc, founded in 1994).
Though the program itself spans four days, a group of people – representatives from each of the sponsoring organizations, trainers, and coordinators – spend weeks planning the details of each year’s program. Some have been involved with sat for a number of years while others are alumni of the program who are reinvesting in sat their time, knowledge, and experience. We share in the common desire to continually expand and support individuals – and the networks they form – who are committed to making a difference in Asian and Pacific Islander communities and beyond.
Currently, Summer Activist Training has grown and become more diverse. The number of sponsoring organizations has grown from one to five, and they bring to sat a wide range of experience in mobilizing people, raising public awareness, and actively pursuing issues of concern impacting oppressed and disempowered communities, including forming and working within broad-based coalitions in the community at large. sat and graduates of the program continue to make a mark on the API community; many alumni have gone on to work in various community-based organizations and unions. We hope that the training you receive over the next few days will add to the arsenal of skills you will employ in your pursuit of social justice.
On behalf of the trainers and the sponsoring organizations, we welcome you and your Summer Activist Training classmates. Break out your positive attitudes, open minds, and positive energy for four days of invaluable learning and exposure to ideas new and old!