Approaching Global Asias Collaborative
Who are We
Approaching Global Asias is a Collaborative that aims to reimagine Asia in a new conceptual mode through geographical processes.Housed in the Asian American Studies Program, and supported by RIDGS, the Institute for Advanced Study and the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Program, Global Asias focuses on narrative construction of identities, mobility, decoloniality, and cultural praxis as our guiding theme. Bringing together methodologies of area studies, diaspora studies and transnational studies, we are a diverse group of scholars attempting to reimagine Asia as a methodology at the University of Minnesota.
Members & Mentors
Approaching Global Asias is a graduate student-led initiative, with core members being drawn from across the University.
Graduate Student, Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature
Phd Candidate, Department of Geography
PhD Student, Hubbard School for Journalism and Mass Communication
PhD Student, Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature
PhD Student, Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature
PhD Student, Department of Geography
Department of English, University if Massachusetts Amherst
Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
Asian American Studies Program (AAS)
Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (RIDGS)
The Approaching Global Asias Critical Reading Group regularly hosts events open to the University of Minnesota community and the general public.
Upcoming Events
The Inaugural Global Asias Asia-Latin America Connections Lecture
By examining Black Flower (Kŏmŭn kkot) —renowned South Korean writer Kim Young-ha’s historical novel that narrates the tumultuous journey of 1,033 Koreans who migrated to Mexico in 1905 as indentured laborers— this talk explores the transpacific entanglements of Korean colonial modernity, Japanese imperialism, hemispheric American settler colonialism and racial capitalism, as well as Mexican and Guatemalan modern national projects.
April marks Dalit History Month, a time to honor the resilience, struggles, and achievements of Dalit communities across history. Rooted in the fight against caste oppression and historical erasure, this month celebrates voices and stories of a marginalized community that dominant narratives of Indian civilisation have continuously erased. Dalit History Month sheds light on histories of resistance, cultural contributions, and the ongoing fight for equality. As Equity Labs, a Dalit civil rights organisation states, “Invisibility creates the conditions for violence to happen and perpetuate, so the celebration of Dalit history is to be unapologetically proud of Dalit identity and share with the world its rich legacy of art, music, literature, and the fire of resilience and radical progressive thought.”
Through Approaching Global Asias, we celebrate Dalit History Month with a book display at the Wilson Library Foyer that features both foundational and contemporary works. The display highlights key texts that document the histories of Dalit resistance, intellectual traditions, and cultural expression in South Asia and across the diaspora, inviting readers to engage with the ongoing struggle for justice and equality.
Co-Sponsors: IAS, RIDGS, AAS, Office of Equity & Diversity and Libraries UMN
Past Events
Enter the world of Mumbai call centers in John & Jane (2005), a striking blend of documentary and sci-fi. Screening hosted by the Approaching Global Asias working group, with cosponsors Moving Image, Media & Sound, and the Immigration History Research Centre.
Join us for the Second Annual Global Asias Lecture with Dr. Janaki Srinivasan (University of Oxford), exploring how digital technologies are shaped by place, power, and global forces. Organized by Approaching Global Asias, with support from IAS, RIDGS, and AAS.
Explore Ho Tzu Nyen’s The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia with Dr. Palita Chunsaengchan, as she traces how epidemics, forests, ghosts, and humidity open new ways of thinking about region, cinema, and the “post-tropical.” An Approaching Global Asias Fall Speaker Event, co-sponsored by multiple UMN departments.
Professor Elliott Powell (American Studies) in conversation with Pratiti Ketoki (PhD Student, Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature). This event discusses the state of Afro-Asian Studies: a new, innovative field that brings together the conversations between African and African American studies and Asian and Asian American Studies.
This is part of the Global Asias Conversation Series.
A lunch workshop in the month of March that brings advanced PhD students from across the university and other schools in the Midwest to present their work relating to Global Asias and which expands the Global Asias Canon.
This is part of the Global Asias Conversation Series.
In conversation with the Inter-Asia Woodcut Mapping collective and the printmaking collectives Print Pals and Spill Paint Not Oil, this event will consider: How can the traditions of anti-imperialist printmaking methods be mobilized in our current moment? How might such creative practices provide help to further build transnational solidarities across Asia, the Asian diaspora, and beyond?