Society of Asian North American Christian Studies (SANACS)

The Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative presents:

APARRI 2009

Lost in Transnationalism: Pacific and Asian North American Religions in a Globalized World

Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA

Thursday.2009.Aug.6 – Saturday.2009.Aug.8

Registration Now Open! www.pana.psr.edu/aparri-2009

Please forward this e-mail to others who may be interested.

Inquiries: Questions about APARRI 2009 may be directed to APARRI Program Executive Christopher Chua (cchua@psr.edu) or APARRI Program Assistant Eunice Park (epark@psr.edu) at 510/849-8210.

About the APARRI Conferences: Since 1999, the annual APARRI gatherings have been opportunities for scholars and community leaders involved in work on issues of Asian American and Pacific Islander religion to share research, exchange ideas, and build relationships in a relaxed, supportive conference setting. Emphasis is placed on the development of APA religious studies as a field, the encouragement of emerging scholarship, and the mentoring of scholars and leaders. About APARRI 2009: At the end of the first decade of the 21st century global connections of all sorts are receiving more heightened attention than ever before. The incoming Obama administration is the subject of worldwide scrutiny, not simply because it assumes the White House at a time when U.S. influence on the international stage is met with more ambivalence than it has in a century, but also because the election of an African American signals a sea change in the evolution of American democracy and, consequently, new prospects for democracies all around the globe; the American economy’s precipitous decline over the past year has had the effects not only of American jobs lost, American consumer power diminished, and American companies put at risk, but has negatively impacted the valuations of real property, labor, and investment and expansion opportunities worldwide; and escalating tensions in Southwest Asia, southern Africa, and elsewhere suggest that international interventions and population migrations will be no less an aspect of the early 21st century than it was in the last decades of the 20th. In this context of global connectedness, APARRI 2009 asks what role religion plays in the unfolding of new transnational regimes. Of what significance is the religious to those crossing national and cultural borders? How does the networked nature of the world at the end of the first decade of the 21st century impact the expression of religion in America? Of what significance is the global to the spiritual and vice-versa?

Entitled “Lost in Transnationalism: Pacific Asian North American Religions in a Globalized World,” the 2009 conference will be held August 6-8 on the campus of Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, CA. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region, the conference site emphasizes LA’s roles as a “global city” and a “gateway city” and highlights California’s place in trans-Pacific networks. For Plenary I on Thursday evening Aug/6, filmmaker Valerie Soe and Prof. Russell Jeung will screen their new video documentary Oak Park Story, about three families negotiating class, culture, and race at a low-income apartment complex in East Oakland, CA. Plenary II on Friday afternoon Aug/7 will feature a panel with various institutional perspectives on the connection between transnationalism and religion in the immediate Los Angeles area. And Plenary III on Saturday afternoon (Aug/8) will offer insights on faith in a globalized world from within the APARRI academic network. Concurrent sessions will showcase research-in-progress, and structured mentoring sessions will be available for students and junior faculty members. For more details on the conference, please go to www.pana.psr.edu/aparri-2009.