Asian American Studies Program
University of Pennsylvania
166 McNeil Building
Philadelphia PA 19104-6299 Telephone: (215) 898-1782 Fax: (215) 898-0988 E-mail:grace2@pop.upenn.edu
The University of Pennsylvania's program in Asian American Studies (ASAM) was established in Fall 1996 as a result of joint student, staff, and faculty efforts. An interdisciplinary program that offers a Minor and a broad range of courses and activities, it explores the historical and contemporary experiences of Asian immigrants and of persons of Asian ancestry in North America, and the relevance of those experiences for understanding race and ethnicity in national and global contexts.
TRANSNATIONAL FUTURES Monday, April 14th, 2008
Penn Humanities Forum / University of Pennsylvania (3619 Locust Walk)
PROGRAM 9:30 – 9:45     Coffee
9:45 – 10:15     Introduction: Josephine Park
10:15 – 12:00     Panel 1: Transnational Crossroads
    Sau-ling Wong
    Yunte Huang
    chaired by Amy Kaplan
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:45     Panel 2: Transnational Communities
    Priscilla Wald
    Shu-mei Shih
    chaired by Ania Loomba
2:45 – 3:15     Tea
3:15 – 5:00     Roundtable
    Yunte Huang
    Amy Kaplan
    Ania Loomba
    Josephine Park
    Shu-mei Shih
    Priscilla Wald
    Sau-ling Wong
    Moderated by David Eng and David Kazanjian
Television Writing and Performance Panel with Daniel Chun (Writer, The Simpsons), Vali Chandrasekara (Writer, My Name is Earl) and Peter Jacobson (Actor, House) on Sunday, March 30, 2008, 5-6pm, Terrace Room, Logan Hall. Panel will be moderated by Kalpen Modi (Kal Penn), Adjunct Lecturer at Penn and Actor, House.
On February 21, 2008, Dr. Grace Kao was one of 25 women honored for their leadership at Penn by the Women in Leadership Series at the WILith Fair 2008.
The Women in Leadership Series (WILS), in conjunction with the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Life (VPUL), the Trustee's Council of Penn Women (TCPW) and the Penn Women's Center. WILith Fair 2008 is a celebration of both female leadership at Penn and WILS’ tenth anniversary.
Dr. Josephine Park's book, Apparitions of Asia: Modernist Form and Asian American Poetics was published in January 2008 by Oxford University Press. For more information, go to our
Faculty Spotlight page.
This event will be rescheduled due to unforeseen circumstances at New Line Cinema.
We were thrilled to welcome Margaret Cho to Penn on Sunday, February 10, 2008!
Other speakers from the Film/TV industry will be visiting our program at Penn in Spring 2008. Please check back regularly for updates to our schedule.
Please join us in welcoming Professor David L. Eng to the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Eng received his Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley and his B.A. in English from Columbia University. His areas of specialization include American literature, Asian American studies, Asian diaspora, psychoanalysis, critical race theory, queer studies, and visual culture.
Mr. Kalpen Modi (aka Kal Penn) is currently teaching ASAM 109/CINE 109/SOCI 109 "Asian Americans in the Media" for Asian American Studies, Cinema Studies, and Sociology in Spring 2008!
Kal Penn played the role of Gogol Ganguli in Mira Nair's The Namesake. He also starred in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj, Epic Movie, and appeared in Superman Returns. He also recently apeared in 24 (Fox), and Law and Order (NBC). He currently appears as Dr. Lawrence Kutner on House (Fox). He will also reprise his role as Kumar Patel in Harold and Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay, which will be released in April 2008.
The 2006-07 Academic Year marked the 10th Anniversary of Asian American Studies at Penn. Please visit the 10th Anniversary Website, which includes video interviews and essays by Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Students about their experiences with ASAM at Penn.