Conference Description: Global Mixed Race, the third biennial Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, will be hosted at DePaul University in Chicago, November 13th-15th, 2014. It will bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines around the world to facilitate a conversation about the transnational, transdisciplinary, and transracial field of Critical Mixed Race Studies.
We are looking forward to presentations addressing this year’s theme by:
– tracing the history and historiography of mixed race in academic, popular, and legal discourses in a global context;
– identifying and measuring the impact of global migration, settlement, and sociocultural encounter and interaction on these mixed-race histories and historiographies;
– encouraging broad, interdisciplinary debate connecting different historical periods and seemingly disparate or far-flung regions of the world, such as comparative racial ideology in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia or the study of comparative anti-miscegenation laws.
Mixed Roots Stories is partnering with Critical Mixed Race Studies in bringing arts and cultural programming to the 2014 conference. In addition to three full days of peer-reviewed scholarly panels and round tables and a featured CMRS keynote speaker, arts and cultural programming will be offered each conference day along with two featured evening events – Friday, November 14th keynote talk/night of short films and Saturday, November 15th live performance event.
The 2014 conference is organized in partnership with DePaul’s Department for Latin American and Latino Studies and the Center for Intercultural Programs, and the non-profit organization Mixed Roots Stories. CMRS 2014 is also co-sponsored by DePaul’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, African Black Diaspora Studies, Art, Media, & Design, Center for Latino Research, Critical Ethnic Studies, Global Asian Studies, Irish Studies, LGBTQ Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and the Dean’s Office of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. The conference is also sponsored in part by a grant from the University Research Council.
Registration: Conference registration is free, compliments of DePaul University, however, registration is still required. You are highly encouraged to register early, but “day-of,” or “walk-in,” registration will also be permitted.
Register here: http://condor.depaul.edu/dpulas/cmrs/2014/
Preferred Conference Hotels: The conference will be held in the DePaul Student Center located at 2250 N. Sheffield, Chicago, IL For your convenience, we have selected four nearby boutique hotels as the official conference hotels. Be sure to CALL and ask for the “CMRS2014″ or “DePaul” hotel discount.
CMRS2014_Preferred Conference Hotels
Download the CMRS 2014 Schedule (accurate as of 10-2-14).
The final schedule will be posted after Oct 17, 2014 and printed copies will be available at the conference.
CMRS 2014 Event Flyer
Schedule at a Glance
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 – DePaul University Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield, Chicago, IL
8:00am-5:00pm Registration
8:45-9:30am Opening Remarks
9:45-11:15am Session One
11:30am-1:00pm Session Two
1:00-2:15pm Lunch/Caucus Meetings
2:15-3:45pm Session Three
4:00-5:30pm Session Four
5:45-7:15pm Keynote address: Rebecca Chiyoko King-O’Riain “Mixed Race, Transconnectivity, and the Global Imagination”
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2014 – DePaul University Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield, Chicago, IL
8:00am-5:00pm Registration
9:00-10:30am Session One
10:45am-12:15pm Session Two
12:30-1:45pm Lunch/Caucus Meetings
12:30-5:15pm Information Fair
1:45-3:15pm Session Three
3:30-5:00pm Session Four
5:15-7:00pm MIXED ROOTS STORIES: Keynote address by Zélie Asava “The Black Irish Onscreen”; short film screenings
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014 – DePaul University Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield, Chicago, IL
8:00am-12:00pm Registration
9:00-10:30am Session One
10:45am-12:15pm Session Two
12:15-1:30pm Lunch/Caucus Meetings/Journal of CMRS and Business Meeting
12:15-5:00pm Information Fair
1:30-3:00pm Session Three
3:15-4:45pm Session Four
5:00-6:30pm MIXED ROOTS STORIES: Live Performance Event
Schedule Highlights
CMRS Featured Keynote Speaker Thursday, November 13, 2014 5:45-7:15
“Mixed Race, Transconnectivity and the Global Imagination”
Rebecca Chiyoko King-O’Riain is Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, National University Ireland Maynooth. Her research interests are: “race/ethnicity, multiraciality, Asian Americans, beauty pageants, gender, children, migration and the globalization of love.” She is the author of Pure Beauty: Judging Race in Japanese American Beauty Pageants (Minnesota, 2006) and co-editor, along with Stephen Small, Minelle Mahtani, Paul Spickard, and Miri Song, of Global Mixed Race (New York University Press, 2014).
Mixed Roots Stories Featured Keynote Speaker and Short Film Screening Friday, November 14, 2014 5:15-7:00pm
“Mixed Race Representations in Contemporary Irish Cinema”
Zélie Asava is Joint Programme Director of Video and Film at Dundalk Institute of Technology in Ireland. Her research covers issues of race, gender and sexuality in Irish, French, American and African screen culture. She is the author of The Black Irish Onscreen: Representing Black and Mixed-Race Identities in Irish Film and TV, (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2013).
Friday Night Featured Shorts:
America in Red and Black: Stories of Afro-Native Identity (2006), by Alicia S. Woods
This intimate film follows six Afro-native Americans from around the U.S., as they reflect upon the personal and complex issues of Native and African heritage, ethnic identity, and racism within communities of color.
The Happiest Person in America (2013), by Sara Israel
Set at the cultural intersection of American Judaism and the Asian American experience, The Happiest Person In Americais a whimsical, slyly insightful, and ultimately bittersweet tale of what we lose and what we gain throughout our lives, and how those transactions affect our identities—even while we must acknowledge that there are aspects of each of us that are immutable.
For the Love of Unicorns (2014), by Genevieve Erin O’Brien
At the heart, this a short film about queer utopia, Asian/American utopia, and mixed race utopia. The young girl, Kylan, represents the hope that when we speak out and organize, one day, we can live in a queer utopian world where, even though everyone’s unicorn may look different, they can all dance together under a glittery rainbow.
Negro: A Docu-Series about Latino Identity (2013), by Dash Harris
Negro is a docu-series exploring identity, colonization, racism and the African Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean and the color complex among Latinos. Through candid interviews from Latinos, the social manifestations and consequences of the deep-seated color complex is deconstructed.
Mixed Match trailer (2014), by Jeff Chiba Stearns
Mixed Match is an inspirational, emotional, and evocative feature-length documentary that explores the need to find mixed ethnicity bone marrow and cord blood donors to donate to multiethnic patients suffering from life threatening blood diseases such as leukemia. This live action and animated film is a dramatic journey focusing on the main characters’ struggles to survive against incredible odds.
Mixed Roots Stories Live Performance Showcase Saturday, November 15, 2014 5:00-6:30pm
Joe Hernández-Kolski
“Cultural Collisions”
Originally from Chicago, Joe Hernández Kolski – a two time HBO Def Poet – is an in demand actor/poet/comedian, known for live performances that are hard hitting, truthful and incredibly funny. As a stand-up comedian/poet, he travels to colleges performing his two shows “Refried Latino Pride” and “Cultural Collisions.” He also runs an open-mic for high school performers called Downbeat 720 – and received an Emmy as producer/host of the televised version. For more: www.pochojoe.com
Elizabeth Liang
“Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey”
Elizabeth Liang was raised in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Morocco, Egypt, and Connecticut as a Guatemalan-American business brat of Chinese-Spanish-Irish-French-German-English descent. Her show ALIEN CITIZEN: An Earth Odyssey, has begun its international tour. She co-hosts the podcast “Hapa Happy Hour,” leads a workshop on solo show writing and writes for TheDisplacedNation.com.
Fred Sasaki
“How to Hafu it All: Three Easy Steps to 100%”
Fred Sasaki is art director for Poetry magazine, a gallery curator for the Poetry Foundation, founding organizer of the Printers Ball, and co-founder of Homeroom Chicago’s “101″ lecture series. With his son and late father he is the author of the zine series, FRED SASAKI’S & FRED SASAKI’S FOUR PAGER GUIDE TO: HOW TO FIX YOU.
Tania Canas
“Untouchable”
Tania Canas is the Arts Director at RISE Refugee, Australia’s first aid and advocacy organisation to be run and governed by refugees, asylum seekers and ex-detainees (http://riserefugee.org/). She is a second year PhD student at the University of Melbourne, and sits on the Editorial Board for the International PTO Academic Journal. Her one-scene monologue script “Untouchable” was published with Currency Press Australia 2013. For more: https://tania-canas.squarespace.com/
Tangled Roots
Lladel Bryant, Adam Lowe, Katy Massey, Zodwa Nyoni
Four strangers meet on a train and share their stories. Have they more in common than they think? A live performance of true stories from the Tangled Roots Book of True Life Tales. Conceived by Dr. Katy Massey, adapted by Zodwa Nyoni and directed by The Cast. Tangled Roots is a programme of performance, workshops and books celebrating mixed race families in the UK.
For more: http://www.tangledroots.org.uk/
Feature Films:
Thurs, Nov 13 4:00-5:30pm Silk Road Rising presents Not Quite White: Arabs, Slavs, and the Contours of Contested Whiteness, (2012, 24 min 8 sec) directed by Jamil Khoury and Stephen Combs – screening and talk back session with Jamil Khoury.
A documentary film that explores the complicated relationship of Arab and Slavic immigrants to American notions of whiteness.
Fri, Nov 14, 3:15-5:00pm Finding Samuel Lowe: From Harlem to China (2014, 1 hour 28 min) – screening and Q&A with the executive producer Paula Williams Madison. Family transcends race, space, and time. Three successful black siblings from Harlem discover their heritage while searching for clues about their long-lost grandfather, Samuel Lowe. Their emotional journey spans from Toronto to Jamaica to China, reuniting them with hundreds of Chinese relatives they never imagined existed.
Sat, Nov 15, 10:45am-12:15pm A Lot Like You, (2012, 82 min) directed by Eliaichi Kimaro. Join the director for a round table discussion “Mixed Experiences on Screen” on Thurs, Nov 13 9:45-11:15am along with Jeff Chiba Stearns (Mixed Match), Megumi Nishikura (Hafu), and our Mixed Roots Stories keynote Zelie Asava.
Eliaichi Kimaro is a mixed-race, first-generation American with a Tanzanian father and Korean mother. When her retired father moves back to Tanzania, Eliaichi begins a project that evocatively examines the intricate fabric of multiracial identity, and grapples with the complex ties that children have to the cultures of their parents. A Lot Like You raises questions about the cultures we inherit and the cultures we choose to pass down, and reveals how simply bearing witness to another’s truth telling can break silences that have lasted lifetimes.
Contacts
CMRS Conference organizer:
Camilla Fojas, Professor Latin American and Latino Studies and Vincent de Paul Professor
e-mail: cfojas@depaul.edu
phone: (773) 325-4994
Mixed Roots Stories and arts programming contact and CMRS co-organizer:
Laura Kina, Professor Art, Media, & Design and Vincent de Paul Professor
e-mail: lkinaaro@depaul.edu
phone: (773) 325-4048
For more information on Mixed Roots Stories visit: http://www.mixedrootsstories.org/
Or contact the co-organizers Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni or Chandra Crudup at info@mixedrootsstories.org
