Past Newsletter
March 2023 (1st Issue)
Message From our Co-Presidents
Welcome to our inaugural issue of the AAPIFSA Newsletter. We hope this newsletter brings a greater connection to the people, activities, and opportunitiesin our Titan family. One opportunity to meet some of the people in our AAPIFSA family is to drop in at our weekly Thursday lunch gatherings in Club 57 between 11:30a.m. to 1p.m. Pick up lunch at Club 57 or bring your own. It’s a great opportunity to meet new friends. The university will celebrate and recognize APIDA month in April. We hope to schedule another activity to bring the AAPIFSA family together. Stay tuned for more information. Please don’t hesitate to send us a comment or suggestions to better serve our community.
Together with you,
Eriko Self, co-president
Chi-Chung Keung, co-president
CSUF Celebrates APISAA Heritage Month in April
by Satoko Kakihara
CSUF will hold its annual celebration of APISAA Heritage Month in April this year. Previously referred to as APIDA Heritage Month, the monthlong series of events will feature a variety of speakers and community gatherings based around topics related to empowering APISAA (Asian Pacific Islander South Asian American) communities in and around campus.
One of the scheduled events is “Titan Table Talk: Empowering APISAA Communities.” A part of the monthly Titan Table Talk series, the event will feature a dialogue among panelists who will share their thoughts and experiences from their positionalities rooted in APISAA identity and involvement. The event will include refreshments and take place on Tuesday, April 11, from 11:30 AM to 1 PM in CP-207. Registration is available here.
Questions can be directed to the following email: diversity@fullerton.edu.
In addition to the Titan Table Talk, the schedule for APISAA Heritage Month will include a number of other events planned by such groups as the Asian Pacific American Resource Center (APARC)
as well as AAPIFSA. Look out for announcements for social events and get-togethers as we near the month of April!
Upcoming Events
VISIBLE: SEEING BEYOND BIAS
A Social Practice Art Group Exhibition
Opening Reception: Wednesday, April 12, 2023 (5pm - 8pm)
Showing: April - June l Pollack Library Second Floor Terrace
Terrace Hours for Uncurated Viewing:
Monday - Thursday: 7am-midnight
Friday: 7am - 5pm
Saturday & Sunday 9am - 5pm
VISIBLE explores new ways of seeing both visually and interpersonally. You are invited to join us for a polylogue on identity, stereotypes, and empathy that challenge your ways of seeing yourself and others.
Contributing works from Illustration students in the CSUF Art Department and Research Methods students from the CSUF Psychology Department VISIBLE explores new ways of seeing both visually and interpersonally. You are invited to join us for a polylogue on identity, stereotypes, and empathy that challenge your ways of seeing yourself and others.
The exhibition will use lenticular works to illustrate and illuminate artists' selfconcepts and anaglyphs to visualize the impact of and response to hate incidents in Orange and Los Angeles County. In addition, a digital interface will be available to all of our guests to participate in making art with us to create a collage that makes VISIBLE the multiplicity of identities and individuals that compose Orange and Los Angeles Counties.
Our reception will host three guest dialogues to discuss how the community can support journalists of color, artists of color, and students of color in the art and psychology fields. Our goal is to expand our ability to see beyond our biases and recognize one another as complex, multifaceted individuals.
This project has been funded through the Mellon Foundation Digital Ethnic Humanities Consortia grant and made possible with support from the Pollack Library Exhibit Coordination Services, Makerspace, and OAT.
Producer and Curators: Susan Y. Shimazu and Nicole Yang
Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick's Visit
Date: Thursday, April 6, 2023
Time/Location:
10:00am - 11:15am TSU Theater
11:30am - 12:40pm CLUB 57
1:00am - 2:15pm Data Visualization Center (Pollak Library, PLN 216)
Cal State Fullerton will welcome California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick, to campus on Thursday, April 6. Lee is the 10th California Poet Laureate and the first Asian American poet to serve in this post. Born in Daejeon, South Korea, Lee was adopted at 10 months old and grew up in Danville, California. He teaches at Fresno City College and served as City of Fresno Poet Laureate (2015-2017). Lee’s work is praised as “compassionate,” “politically engaged,” and “highlighting the diverse experiences of Californians.”
This year’s poetry program, The World Beyond the World: Poetry highlighting the spiritual, ancestral, or unseen connections, will feature Lee and African American poet laureate, Peter J. Harris (TSU Theater, 10am-11:15am). Lee and his wife Lisa will join the APPIFSA lunch/conversation gathering at Club 57 (11:30am-12:40pm). Lee will read again at the Community Reading (1:00pm2:15pm, PLN 216), along with CSUF and community poets/readers as we acknowledge the communal roots of poetry and celebrate the creativity in all of us.
Free and open to the public, this year’s poetry program partners include Institute of Black Intellectual Innovation (IBII), Pollak Library, Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics; Department of African American Studies; Department of Asian American Studies.
Past Event
Celebrity Chef Jet Tila Visits
On Tuesday, February 14, students were able to meet celebrity Chef Jet Tila at the Housing Piazza. Chef Jet, a Los Angeles native, is known for his Thai and Chinese food, as well as his appearances as a judge on Food Network’s “Chopped” and as a chef contestant on “Iron Chef America.” During his visit to CSUF, Chef Jet had a cooking demonstration and provided free samples of shrimp po’ boy sandwiches. He was friendly, engaging, and took time to greet attendees and take photos. "It was an exciting experience for Chef Jet to visit and interact with the students and share his culture of Thai cuisine with the campus community." - Jennie Imatomi His cookbook was for sale at the Community Market and sold out before the end of the event! We thank Chef Jet for his generous donation of the proceeds from his cookbook to the ASI Food Pantry on campus.
2023 Spring Scholarship
Book Scholarship
The Asian American Pacific Islander Faculty & Staff Association encourages students to apply for a $500 Book scholarship to promote and recognize students’ academic success at CSUF. Recipients will be recognized at APARC’s APISAA Heritage Month Student Reception on April 24, 2023.
Apply using the link below. Eligible students must complete the application for this competitive book scholarship. tinyurl.com/2023AAPIFSABookscholarship
OUTSTANDING STUDENT AWARDS
A $1,000 award to one undergraduate and $1,000 to one graduate student. The
Scholarship recipients will speak at the Annual Asian Pacific Islander South Asian
American (APISAA) Recognition Celebration on
Saturday, May 20, 2023
from
10am – 1:00 pm at the TSU
.
STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE AN APPLICATION AND MEET THE AWARD CRITERIA.
FACULTY/STAFF/STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Introducing the faculty and student spotlight recipients for the 2023 Spring semester. We thank you for your contribution and continued service to our campus community at CSUF.
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Dr. Davorn Sisavath
Assistant Professor
Asian American Studies
"I am Khmu American, an ethnic group from Laos. Many people did not know about Laos and the U.S. secret war. Growing up, I did a lot of explaining to friends, teachers, and strangers about Laos, my ethnic background, and why my family is in the U.S."
Read more about Dr. Davorn
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Tony Nguyen
Graduate Student
Glass
"I am an artist but I try to be a Jack of All Trades in my life
because I like wearing many hats. I think this stems from
my upbringing in a family where my parents are first
generation immigrants. My parents had to do so many jobs
to raise my three brothers and I. "
Read more about Tony in Student Spotlight
To nominate someone for the next spotlight, please contact us: aapifsa@fullerton.edu
Founder’s Corner
The Beginning of AAPIFSA
By Craig Ihara
In the spring of 1993, I received a call from Ellen Junn, a faculty
new to campus then, but who is now President of CSU Stanislaus.
Because I was Asian American and had already been at CSUF for
20 years, she asked whether I would be interested in helping her
establish an Asian Faculty Staff Association on campus.
Read more about Founder's Corner in the AAPIFSA site.
Community
SUSHI FIRE
Opens in Fullerton
500 N Harbor Ste D
(next to Dripp)
Sushi Fire first opened its doors at its original location in 2014, in Duarte CA. Chef-Owner Alan Cher is the founder of both locations and has over 30 years of experience making high quality delicious Japanese cuisine.
*SHOW THIS NEWSLETTER FOR
ONE FREE CALIFORNIA ROLL WITH
PURCHASE OF ANY SPECIAL ROLL*
Read more about our sponsor!
Questions? Upcoming events you would like to share? Nominate a faculty/staff/student for
a spotlight? Contact us!
