Master's students organise graduate conference ‘Who is Asian?’
image: Nehir Aksel
Master's students Adam El Amraoui, Eesha Sheel, Frieda Chen and Lawrence Kurowski are organising a graduate conference. On March 26, students will gather to ponder definitions of belonging both within Asia and among Asian diasporic communities.
‘Asia is a huge region’ says Lawrence. ‘When talking about the region, we often inadvertently use ideas that stem from colonial-era thinking, lumping together places into “South East Asia”, “East Asia” and so on, and glossing over the diverse identities of the people living across the continent. We want to nuance that thinking by considering these complex identities and actual, lived experiences of people living in Asia as well as members of the Asian diasporas in the Netherlands and elsewhere.
In addition to running the conference, Frieda is also going to present her paper on children in Taiwan who have a Taiwanese father and a Southeast Asian mother. 'We hear a lot about the experiences of the women and their motivation for coming to Taiwan for an arranged marriage’ she says about her work, ‘but we know very little about what it means for the next generation, especially from their own perspective. In my study, I interviewed a number of them about what it means to them to be Taiwanese when not everyone sees them that way.'
A well-functioning team
There is still a lot to be done before Frieda can give her presentation. The student team, led by professor Aya Ezawa, has been involved in every aspect of organizing the conference. From participating in the abstract selection process, to arranging the catering, the group has had their hands busy since January. ‘We made the paper selection together with three professors,’ says Lawrence. ‘On the day, we will have people coming from Sweden, and even as far as Indonesia and Taiwan to present their papers and posters.’
‘I also thought the selection process was a special part of the experience,’ adds Frieda. ‘It's great that our team compliments one another so well. Eesha, for example, is very good at design, so she made all the posters for marketing. Adam's large network made it easy for him to invite the right people, and Lawrence kept track of everything.’
New challenges, new skills
One of Frieda’s main tasks was inviting speaker to deliver the keynote. ‘I was surprised at how difficult it was to decide who was the most suitable for our audience and to approach them in the right way,’ she says. ‘The keynote will ultimately be delivered by Professor Maggi Leung from the University of Amsterdam. She will talk about the desire to be transnational, based on the experiences of Asians in the Netherlands. I think this will appeal to many of our attendees, students and staff alike.’
The Who is Asian? conference will take place on Thursday 26 March. The keynote 'The Quest to be (trans)nationals: Experiences of Being Asian in Europe' by Maggi Leung (UvA) will take place on Wensday 25 March.