Fall 2022 C.V. Starr Fund for A/P/A Research Awardees

Congratulations to the Fall 2022 C.V. Starr Fund for A/P/A Research Awardees!

Neilesh Bose (Visiting Scholar, NYU) will organize Labor of Love: Performance and Politics in the South Asian Diaspora. This two-day symposium explores labor politics and histories of South Asian diasporic communities in New York City, and representations in theater and popular culture. Portions of the symposium will be published in a special journal issue focused on how South Asian diasporas fit into the larger history of Asian American histories and politics.

Puanani Helena-Ruth Puananiikapoliokalani Apoliona-Brown’s (MA student, NYU Steinhardt ‘23) project will explore the significance of food sovereignty to Native Hawaiian-led movements to reclaim and restore ancestral lands and waters in the face of climate disruption. Brown will travel to Hawaiʻi to gather the mo‘olelo (oral histories) of nā kūpuna (elders) who were active during the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s to consider how the seeds of resistance their generation planted continue to influence land-based movements in Hawaiʻi today.

Sue Jeong Ka (Visiting Scholar, NYU) will attend the International Conference for Carceral Geography (Melbourne, Australia) to present recent research on book ban policies, particularly as they relate to manga, in US prisons. In addition, Ka will host a panel to discuss ways to increase public awareness of carceral censorship in the US and abroad. 

Christina Lee’s (PhD student, NYU GSAS ‘24) project aims to understand the psychological processes by which East Asian American young adults’ experiences of intergenerational cultural conflict and racial discrimination increase risk for suicidal ideation. Structural equation modeling will examine whether these culturally relevant stressors influence suicidal ideation by engendering general perceptions of burdensomeness and low belongingness versus by engendering perceptions of family shame. 

Jess X. Snow’s ​​(MFA student, NYU Tisch ‘23) Roots That Reach Toward The Sky is a short narrative NYU thesis film – a mother-daughter drama about a Chinese herbal medicine shop, kinship between humans and plants, and how three three Asian/Pacific American femmes confront and heal from anti-Asian violence. Through sweeping naturalistic visuals shot on 16mm film and intimate performances, it explores how the diasporic plants that are considered “invasive species” can actually bring us profound healing.

 

Learn more about the C.V. Starr for A/P/A Research.