Past Programs

Inaugural Critical Southeast Asian American Studies Scholar Residence, Dr. Ma Vang, at UC Berkeley from March 12-14, 2025

We were honored to invite Dr. Vang for a series of workshops that will focus on empowering attendees to create and support educational programs and opportunities that honor Southeast Asian epistemologies.

MARCH 12TH

Welcome Dinner, Hearst Field Annex C10, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Join us as we welcome Dr. Ma Vang to campus with a community dinner and introduction to her work in critical race theory, critical refugee and immigration studies, and interdisciplinary humanities. The program will include a discussion and Q&A with Dr. Ma Vang. (Dinner will be provided)

MARCH 13TH

Centering Our Narratives: Storytelling Workshop,Hearst Field Annex C10, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

In this workshop, Dr.Vang will work with attendees to engage in the power of storytelling as a method necessary to center the refugee as a subject of knowledge. Attendees will be able to hear and share stories to practice how these different forms of cultural practice can center Southeast communities ancestral and contemporary knowledge in educational settings. (Dinner will be provided)

MARCH 14TH

Creating Community through Art, History, and Storytelling: Paj Ntaub Hmong Embroidery Workshop, Hearst Field Annex C10, 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Paj Ntaub (Hmong Embroidery) is an ancestral Hmong art form that involves needlework, embroidery, and other techniques to create patterns and techniques to tell stories that are shared across generations. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Vang will discuss how it is a form of ancestral knowledge and attendees will have the opportunity to learn introductory Paj Ntaub while also engaging in discussion on Southeast Asian experiences. Through participating in this activity, attendees will also be able to create a space for community to connect and reflect their stories through conversation. (Limited capacity for this workshop. Lunch will be provided)

In Conversation with Dr.Vang on People-making Pedagogy,Hearst Field Annex C10, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

To conclude the residency, Dr.Vang will present her work towards the development of anti-imperialist education and the need for People-making Pedagogy in our educational spaces. Participants from the week’s residency events will also reflect on their experiences from the residency programs in order to reflect on ways we can foster the development of educational opportunities for critical Southeast Asian American studies and empowerment of Southeast Asian communities. We invite you all to join us in reflecting and learning together in this space as we close our Spring 2025 Scholar in Residence with Dr. Ma Vang. (Dinner will be provided)

We were pleased to welcome our inaugural Critical Southeast Asian American Studies Artist in Residence, Nyingv Jae Saechao, to UC Berkeley from October 9 -11, 2024.

Nyingv Jae Saechao (they/them/ninh) is an interdisciplinary artist, storyteller, community educator and cultural worker. As an intergenerational bridge-builder and artist-apprentice to the ancestors, Nyingv Jae's creative work focuses on themes of belonging, culture-keeping, culture-shaping, and ancestral healing with particular emphasis on fat, queer, indigenous Khmu and Iu Mien femme and gender-expansive issues.

They are the co-founder of the Cold Rice Collaborative - an ever-evolving creative community and platform committed to uplifting the narratives and experiences of Iu Mien, Khmu, and diasporic indigenous and ethnic minority peoples of Southeast Asia.

Nyingv Jae’s practice is guided by their visions of a future that sees our collective communities safe, abundant, and free.

During their residency, Nyingv Jae hosted various workshops to connect with students, faculty, staff, and community members on the transformational power of storytelling grounded in their experience as a Indigenous Khmu and Iu Mien artist. You can watch their capstone talk online here.

This program was made possible throhgh the collaboration of Asian American Research Center, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, Asian Pacific American Student Development, and the Asian American Political Activation Program