Join the Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI) on February 22, 2011 for Lyceum: Ice Cream & Ideas, by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Co-sponsored by AAARI, the Lyceum will take place from 4PM to 5:30PM, at 25 West 43rd Street, 18th Floor, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan.In this one-hour session, attendees will write alongside Asian American authors, writers and journalists; and learn how to get their own works published. Writers and professors Moustafa Bayoumi, whose book How Does It Feel To Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America caused a national anti-Muslim controversy, and Terrence Cheng, whose first novel tells the fictional story of the famous and anonymous protester who stood in the way of Chinese tanks at the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, will discuss the issue of anti-Asian sentiment that has come about in recent years.
What does it mean when the people that the TV says are the enemy happen to look like you or your parents? After September 11th and the rise of China, many Americans imagine Asian Americans as the bad guy. Maybe the bad guy looks like Park51, which was never intended to be located at Ground Zero or be a mosque. Maybe the bad guy looks like the Chinese businessman threatening U.S. businesses.
The Lyceum is free and open to the public. Students are encouraged to attend. Includes complimentary ice cream sponsored by the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.
For details on these and all of AAARI’s upcoming activities, or to view streaming videos of past events, please visit www.aaari.info.