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Heritage & Health Series Program

2024 Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2024

Waves of Change: Same Heart, Same Dream, Same Goal 

Join in community and celebration for our API events in May and check back often for event updates.

Wednesday, May 1

APIHM Opening Ceremony

Noon–1 p.m.
Library Quad

The month commences with an exciting opening ceremony. Please join us for special guests and performances, special catered complimentary food & beverages, and API resources.  

Asian/Pacific American Network (APAN) presents:

Japanese Archery

Noon–2 p.m.
Small Gym (Room 2501)

Join us for a demonstration of Japanese archery, Kyudo, (弓道) in Japanese, a type of martial arts from Japan. Kyudo originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan and involves shooting targets at a distance of 28 meters, using long bows that are more than 6 feet long. The demonstration will be performed by Shiseikan Kyudojo, based in Redwood City. The club has been practicing at Foothill since the 90s.

Learn more about Shiseikan Kyudojo

Tuesday, May 7

Ayurveda Workshop with Elizabeth Swamy 

Noon-1:30 p.m.
Hearthside Lounge (Campus Center, Room 2313)

Come join Elizabeth Swamy and Vedic Wild Ayurveda for an enlightening introduction to Ayurveda. Explore the ancient self-care tradition from India, spanning over 5,000 years. Discover yoga movements, meditation, and other stress-relieving practices to enhance your well-being. Plus, uncover some cool secrets along the way and a few giveaways! All are welcome - no prior experience or understanding needed. Wear comfortable clothing.

Lite refreshments will be provided. 

Wednesday, May 8

Asian/Pacific American Network (APAN) presents: Chinatown Rising Film + Q&A with Director Josh Chuck 

Noon–2 p.m.
Room 5015 

Don't miss this opportunity to engage with Josh Chuck and gain valuable insights into his transformative work in San Francisco's Chinatown. Clips from the film will be shown and discussion.

Food and refreshments will be provided. 

Chinatown Rising is a documentary film directed by Harry Chuck and Josh Chuck. 

Thursday, May 9

Pasefika Xtreme Hip Hop 


Noon–1 p.m.
Campus Center Plaza   

Xtreme Hip Hop is a new, energetic version of step aerobics set to hip-hop music for a fun cardio fitness experience. Come join Rock, a certified Pacific Islander instructor, with basic step movies to Polynesian Hip-Hop music. 

Lite refreshments and snacks will be provided. 

Saturday, May 11

Asian/Pacific American Network (APAN) presents:

SF Chinatown Tour 


Chinatown, San Francisco, CA 

Chinatown Tour: San Francisco Chinatown Social Justice Tour," which is a 90-minute outdoor walking tour event by Josh Chuck, director of Chinatown Rising Documentary. The tour will start at 11 a.m. For more information and to RVSP, please contact Crystal Chen at chencrystal@fhda.edu  or Clifton Der Bing at derbingclifton@fhda.edu - Limited spots available.

Tuesday, May 14

Virtual Artist Talk with Photographer Rosem Morton 

Noon–1 p.m.
Register to Attend Via zoom

Note: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Meet Rosem MortonRosem Morton is a documentary photographer from the Philippines, whose work focuses on daily life amidst gender, health, and racial adversity. As a National Geographic Explorer and an International Women’s Media Foundation Fellow, she explores a diverse range of issues, including the effects of gender-based violence, the unheard stories of healthcare workers, and the forgotten histories that have shaped Filipino culture and migration.

bedroom scene with woman sitting on bed

Read  Rosem's Bio

Rosem Morton is a documentary photographer from the Philippines whose work focuses on daily life amidst gender, health, and racial adversity.

As a National Geographic Explorer and an International Women’s Media Foundation Fellow, she explores a diverse range of issues, including the effects of gender-based violence, the unheard stories of healthcare workers, and the forgotten histories that have shaped Filipino culture and migration. She has written and photographed stories for publications like National Geographic, the Washington Post, NPR, and CNN.

Her projects have been recognized by the World Press Photo 6x6 Talent, the Pictures of the Year International, and The 30: New and Emerging Photographers to Watch.

Her ongoing personal project, Wildflower, is the recipient of the Leica Women Photo Award and the Visa d'or Daily Press Award. She has since founded, Dear Survivor, an audio-visual resource for survivors of gender and sexual-based violence, supported by We, Women Photo.


tbh Presents: Yoga Healing & Mindfulness Meditation

3:30–4:30 p.m.
Hearthside Lounge (Campus Center, Room 2313)

It’s time to stretch out, breathe in, and find your zen. This healing journey will be just that, a journey.  Join local yoga and sound instructor Taylor Chang to learn how to use yoga and sound to heal and refocus. Taylor will guide you through an hour-long (not intensive) healing session. Here, we’ll focus on being mindful and reaching a place of calm to explore our feelings and emotions.  Using the power of movement and sound we'll explore ways to heal and the intersection of sound/yoga in healing, community and AAPI culture. No prior experience is needed, nor is a mat (but if you have one, please bring one). 

More About Taylor

Taylor Chang is a movement and sound facilitator with a calling to serve her community through sharing tools and teachings that lead to deep self-discovery. Inspired by an integrative approach to Eastern practices in a Western world, learned through her 500+ hours of yoga and sound bath training, she integrated holistic healing modalities and somatic psychology to guide students through experiences that enable them to harness these tools to live in a fulfilling way. She uses movement as a means for students to tap into their source of power, all while inviting in levity and play. 

Wednesday, May 15

Spring Blossom Festival

11a.m.–1 p.m.
Library Quad

Inspired by the SF Festival, Outside Lands, join us for an afternoon filled with live performances that will dazzle, and booths hosted by various clubs. Each booth offers a unique experience - try fun games, arts and crafts, and delicious cultural foods. 

Tuesday, May 21

Cricket Game - DSU x Sports Club  

Noon–1 p.m.
Campus Center Plaza  

Experience the excitement of cricket, a sport beloved in countries like India, England, and Australia. Join us for a friendly game where you can either participate or cheer from the sidelines. All are welcome to join in the fun!

Wednesday, May 22

Speaker Panel: Overlapping Histories — A Dialogue on Borders, Solidarity, and Ethnic Studies

Noon–1 p.m.  
On Campus: Room 8338 | Refreshments provided.
Register for Zoom Option 
(Note: Zoom registration link updated 5/20/2024)
Presented by Foothill College Ethnic Studies Department

Meet Our Panelists

Read about each panelist's talk and bio below.

Dr. Yen Le Espiritu

Meet Yen Le EspirituSo much of the scholarship and public discourse on migrants and refugees in the U.S. is framed from the perspective, logic, and needs of the nation state, which relegates refugees’ interests, desires, and needs as secondary considerations. The language of “refugee crisis” and “migrant invasion” depicts refugees and asylum seekers as the cause of an imagined crisis at the border. This presentation will discuss how migrant and refugee crises are actually the outcome of the actual crises of capitalist globalization, conquest, militarism, and increasingly, climate change, and reconceptualize migrants and refugees as a site of political critique, knowledge formation and social transformation.

Read Espiritu's Bio

Originally from Việt Nam, Yến Lê Espiritu is a Distinguished Professor of Ethnic Studies, UCSD. An award-winning author, she has published extensively on Asian American panethnicity, gender and migration, and U.S. colonialism and wars in Asia. Her most recent book, Body Counts: The Vietnam War and Militarized Refuge(es) (UC Press, 2014) charts an interdisciplinary field of critical refugee studies, which reconceptualizes “the refugee” not as an object of rescue but as a site of social and political critiques. Espiritu has served past terms as Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department, and also as its Director of Undergraduate Studies and Director of Graduate Studies. She has also served as the President of the Association of Asian American Studies and Vice President of the Pacific Sociological Association. She is a Founding Member of the Critical Refugee Studies Collective whose aim is to integrate scholarly, policy, artistic, legal, diplomatic and international relations interests with refugees’ everyday experiences. Espiritu is the recipient of several UCSD teaching awards: the Eleanor Roosevelt College’s Outstanding Faculty Award; the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award; and the Chancellor's Associates Faculty Excellence Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching; and the inaugural recipient of the Association for Asian American Studies Mentorship Award.

Dr. Leslie Quintanilla

Meet Leslie QuintanillaxThe US-Mexico border(s) is a unique site of transterritorial solidarities forged across communities in struggle. In recent years,  social justice movements have proposed important intersectional frameworks, across what are otherwise seen as compartmentalized movement spaces, to organize against colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism. This presentation will situate the San Diego-Tijuana border as an active site of translocal solidarities between and beyond climate justice, border justice, and land/water justice activisms.

Read Quintanilla's Bio

Leslie Quintanilla’s (PhD in Ethnic Studies, Certificate in Critical Gender Studies UC San Diego) grassroots organizing and research praxis focuses on contemporary issues related to transnational borderland activisms, including women-of-color feminist artivism, environmental justice and climate change activism, and cross-diasporic solidarities. Broadly, her long-term interests include: Zapatismo, US///Mexico border(s), Italian & Mediterranean border(s), climate change, and movement organizing.    

She is a co-founder of the Center for Interdisciplinary Environmental Justice (CIEJ), a collective of activists, academics, scientists, and artists working for decolonial environmental justice efforts trans-locally. Currently, the CIEJ is working alongside Indigenous communities to combat lithium mining driven by electrification economies. 

Prior to joining SF State, Quintanilla taught in Chicanx Studies at San Diego City College.

Dr. Jennifer Mogannam

Meet Jennifer Mogannam

In recent years, the question of whether or not Palestine has a place in Ethnic Studies has come to the fore. This presentation will situate the question of Palestine within the broader field of Ethnic Studies, offer context on why this question is surfacing, and interrogate how Palestine is present in and what Palestine offers to the field. This discussion will center how Palestine relates to key concepts in the field as well as Arab American studies. These key concepts include (settler) colonialism, refugees, transnationalism, borders and more.

Read Mogannam's Bio

Dr. Jennifer Mogannam is an Assistant Professor in the department of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and an affiliate of the Center for the Middle East and North Africa at UC Santa Cruz. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC San Diego and an MA in Arab and Middle Eastern Studies from the American University of Beirut (AUB). 

Jennifer is a critical, cross-disciplinary scholar who examines 20th and 21st century Palestinian and Arab transnational movements and third world solidarities, with an eye for analyzing movement praxis for liberated futures. This work intervenes in the critical study of refugees, borders, colonialism and imperialism, global scales of race and indigeneity, and resistance and is grounded in transnational, women of color, indigenous, and Palestinian methods and lenses of liberation.

She also has an ongoing, collaborative Borders are Obsolete project, co-created with Dr. Leslie Quintanilla, that seeks to challenge border systems through illuminating grassroots work to circumvent them.

Friday, May 24

Asian/Pacific American Network (APAN) presents:
API Celebration 

1–3 p.m.

Dining Hall, (Campus Center Upper Level)  

Come join APAN as we have an end of the year celebration and also celebrate the hard work of our students and APAN scholarship winners.

To secure your seat for this event, please RSVP

Complimentary food and beverages will be provided.

Tuesday, May 28

FH Anime Club presents: Film screening of Grave of the Fireflies 

2–4 p.m.
Hearthside Lounge (Campus Center, Room 2313)

(This event was originally scheduled for Thursday 5/23 4-6pm.)

Join us for a special screening of Grave of the Fireflies, a Studio Ghibli masterpiece depicting the struggles of two siblings in Japan during World War II. Experience the beauty and emotion of this iconic film, recognizing the sociocultural impact of historical wars.

Wednesday, May 29

Closing Ceremony 


Noon–1 p.m.
Library Quad  

Join us for the closing ceremony of API Month, where we'll celebrate with a feast of Chinese-American food and beverages. Reflect on the month's events and enjoy a delicious meal in good company as we wrap up this special month of celebration and community.


Questions? Please contact Victoria Strelnikova at strelnikovavictoria@fhda.edu.

APIHM Planning Committee Members

Thank you to all our students, faculty and staff who helped plan our APIHM events this month.

  • Celine Trinh, Committee Chair
  • Zara Ainge, Heritage Month Coordinator
  • Pauline Brown, BIPOC Multicultural Center Supervisor
  • Peter Chow, Faculty/APAN
  • Hyejin Choi, Korean Student Association (KSA)
  • Amit Freikorn, VP of Activities
  • Steven Gerdes, Anime Club
  • Justin Laxamana, Kasama
  • Shahana Shaik, Heritage Month Coordinator
  • Paulo Versosza, VP of ICC
  • Melody Wang, Taiwanese Student Association (TSA)
  • Kavin Yiu, Chinese Campus Fellowship (CCF)
  • Vivian, MASA
  • Mai Huynh, Hip Hop Club
  • Michelle Nguyen
  • Victoria Strelnikova, Student Activities Coordinator, Advisor 

API Library Resources

Visit our Asian Pacific Islander Library page for a list of books, videos, websites and other great resources. 

Learn more about the contributions generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders have made to American history, society and culture.

 

Did You Know?

Our Foothill campus includes a Japanese Culture Center and Bambo Garden.  Learn about the center here.

Watch the 19-minute video—narrated by Dr. Michiko Hiramatsu, founder of Foothill's Japanese language program. She provides a look into an authentic Japanese Tea Ceremony held at the Foothill College Japanese Cultural Center during an autumn day in 1987.
Campus Center Building

Questions?
We're Here to Help!

Heritage Month Planning

650.949.7060


strelnikovavictoria@fhda.edu


Campus Center, Room 2008

Heritage Month Archives

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