‘Hapa Japan’ Panel at UCLA

Velina Hasu Houston, Curtis Takada Rooks, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Duncan Ryuken Williams

“Hapa Japan” will be presented on Thursday, Jan. 18, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. at Powell Library, East Rotunda, on the UCLA campus.

Panelists will discuss “Hapa Japan: History” (Vol. 1) and “Hapa Japan: Identities & Representations” (Vol. 2). Vol. 1 is the first substantial collection of essays to survey the history of global mixed-race identities of persons of Japanese descent. Vol. 2 tackles everything from Japanese and American films like “Kiku and Isamu” to hybrid graphic novels featuring mixed-race characters. The Hapa experience is multiple, and its cultural representations accordingly are equally diverse.

The speakers are:

• Velina Hasu Houston, director of the Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing program, head of undergraduate playwriting, associate dean of faculty, and resident playwright at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

• Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, a pioneering researcher in the field of narrative psychology on mixed-race identity, multicultural counseling, and diversity in Japan and the U.S. He is a co-founder of LifeWorks at Stanford University, courses that integrate mindfulness, creative expression, and transformative learning.

• Duncan Ryuken Williams, founder of the Hapa Japan Database Project and associate professor of religion and East Asian languages and cultures at USC.

• Curtis Rooks (respondent), assistant professor of Asian Pacific American studies at Loyola Marymount University. His research trajectory focuses on Asian American multiracial identity and diversity.

Professor Keith Camacho will serve as moderator. Light snacks will be provided. RSVP: http://hapajapandiscussion.eventbrite.com

Co-sponsored by Kaya Press, UCLA Library, USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture, UCLA Asian Ameriacan Studies Center, and UCLA Department of Asian American Studies.