K-State’s 33rd Annual Cultural Studies Symposium culminated on Friday, February 23rd with a lecture by Dr. Monica Trieu, a professor of American Studies and Asian American Studies at Purdue University.
Titled “Midwestern Asian Americans, Racialized Visibility, and Internalized Racism,” the lecture examined the history of racist language and popular culture in the late twentieth-century. In it, she traced not only the various forms of internalized racism with which Asian Americans in the Midwest have struggled but also the “path forward,” a path that includes resisting racism and learning more about the ethnic culture, communities, and organizations that a part of the Midwest’s rich history.
With over 90 in attendance, either in person or in the online webinar, the lecture proved to be one the Cultural Studies Program’s most vibrant and well-attended events since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Trieu’s public lecture was part of a year-long intellectual journey that took a Cultural Studies look at “The Midwest,” with special attention to new research on race and racial diversity. Highlighted by two mini-seminars in the fall and one in the spring, K-State students, faculty, and staff read and discussed chapters from Dr. Trieu’s Fighting Invisibility: Asian Americans in the Midwest, Dr. Tom Sarmiento’s essay on Midwestern Asian American literature, a history of Kaw treaty making, and much more. This lively series ended with a mini-seminar led by Dr. Trieu, where students and faculty had the chance to discuss her research methods and findings in detail and to explore their implications for new research projects.
K-State’s annual Cultural Studies Symposium is the nation’s longest running annual Cultural Studies event. It is sponsored by the Department of English, the Program in Cultural Studies, and the Student Organization for Cultural Studies or SOCS. Since 1992, the K-State Department of English has offered a master’s degree with specialization in Literature and Cultural Studies, offering graduate students the opportunity to study cultural forms (such as literature, popular music, TV, games, fashion) and cultural practices related to food, community, religion, dance, and more.
Greg Eiselein, Professor and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar
K-State English 