UT Humanities Center 7^th Annual Distinguished Lecture Series

Participatory democracy in the US is imperiled, but those with the most to lose – women, border dwellers, and people of color – offer compelling and intelligent models for inclusive praxis. Deborah Wong explores two case studies from her work in the Asian American public sphere: How do some Asian American women create social change through the arts? How do they work for, with, and beyond their own communities?  She explores how their models for interethnic collaboration are explicitly theorized and uses ideas from feminism, decolonial theory, and community organizing. Who is “at home” and who is a guest in the living room? What are the politics of aggrieved communities choosing to work together? How and why does music and dance create such powerful means for connection?

Deborah Wong is an ethnomusicologist and Professor of Music at the University of California, Riverside. She specializes in the musics of Asian America and Thailand and has written two books, Speak It Louder: Asian Americans Making Music and Sounding the Center: History and Aesthetics in Thai Buddhist Ritual. Her book, "Faster and Louder: Pain, Joy, Taiko, and the Body Politic in Asian American California" is under contract with the University of California Press.

This event is free and open to the public.

More information about the UT Humanities Center’s Visiting Speakers Series