The speaker series brings to Emory campus prominent scholars and rising stars in the field of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies. The speaker series is administered through the James Weldon Johnson Institute, which serves as a co-sponsor for many of the events.
Future Events
Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement (Q & A with Nobuko Miyamoto and Director Quyên Nguyen-Le)
Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement A documentary following the life of visionary musician, dancer and activist Nobuko Miyamoto. Featuring rare archival footage, the film tells the story of a changing community through one of its most beloved storytellers as she reflects on decades of groundbreaking cultural work and a life that has bridged coasts, industries, families and history. Please RSVP here to join the Q&A session with Nobuko Miyamoto and Director Quyên Nguyen-Le!
01
March
2026
Meeting the Moment: A Dialogue with Helen Zia
Meeting the Moment: A Dialogue with Helen Zia Presented by Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV) Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026 Time: 5-7:30pm Location: Tull Auditorium @ Emory Law (1301 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322) Ms. Zia will be joined by Dr. Chris Suh, who teaches Asian American history at Emory University, to discuss how our communities’ experiences with gender-based violence, anti-AAPI hate, and policies remain more relevant than ever. This is a public event. Community members and students are encouraged to attend. Student tickets are free of charge. Click on the "Get Tickets" button to reserve your ticket today.
Free
Find out more05
March
2026
Past Events
Asian American Feminisms: From Campus Activism to National Politics
Speaker: Judy Wu, Associate Dean, School of Humanities, Professor of History and Asian American Studies, UC Irvine
16
September
2024
Rethinking U.S. Feminisms: Patsy Takemoto Mink, the Pacific, and Congressional Activism
Speaker: Judy Wu, Associate Dean, School of Humanities, and Professor of History and Asian American Studies, UC Irvine
16
September
2024
Empowering Voices: A Symposium to Remember the Live Lost in the 2021 Atlanta Spa Shootings
Speakers: Sohyun An, Professor of Social Studies Education, Kennesaw State University; Helen Kim Hendrix, Attorney and Activist, and Anna Storti, Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, Duke University
28
March
2025
Jon Osaki, Director of Making Waves (2025), and Roland Sintos Coloma, Professor of Teacher Education and Associate Dean of Faculty and Staff Affairs, Michigan State University
See the trailer here: RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfINc7hu8oHaTRaclLzONzx11qPWuUenvhT-sfouxNLPFzVQQ/viewform
11
October
2025
Sameer Pandya, Chair and Associate Professor of Asian American Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Book Talk & Conversation with the Novelist Sameer Pandya Chair and Associate Professor of Asian American Studies, UC Santa Barbara Professor Pandya will be speaking about this new novel, Our Beautiful Boys (2025), which follows the story of three families--one Asian American, one Latino, and one white--to explore the difficulties of raising teenagers in a society that values violent masculinity. Pandya's book has received glowing reviews from several major outlets including the New York Times and the Guardian. For a review of the book written from an Asian Americanist perspective, please take a look at the review in Pop Matters. It will be held on 11/17 (Monday) in Convocation Hall, 5-6pm. Free parking in the Peavine Deck after 4pm!
17
November
2025
Esther Kim Lee, Frances Hill Fox Professor of Theater Studies, International Comparatives Studies, and History, Duke University
Book Talk (Co-Sponsored w/Departments of Theatre & History) Professor Esther Kim Lee, Frances Hill Fox Professor of Theater Studies, International Comparatives Studies, and History, Duke University. Professor Lee will be speaking about her award-winning book, Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era (University of Michigan Press, 2022). Her book offers an extensive examination of the practice of yellowface as a historical way through which non- Asian performers portrayed Asian characters in theater, film, and media. November 20 (Thursday), 5-6:30pm White Hall 205
20
November
2025
