Week 10 Ellen Hickman 150E

One of the most important lessons that I learned was South East Asian history. Unfortunately, most of my knowledge from this part of the war came from US veteran war stories. Although they did not hide that the war was terrible, they still said that they acted on orders in service of their country. It was really eye opening to read and watch films about the affects of the wars after they had “finished” as well as to hear how they had a history before the Americans tried to dictate how they should behave. In many of these, I’ve been mentally comparing this to my grandma’s stories of her experience in Taiwan when it was bombed by the United States.

Another aspect that really impacted me was seeing those affected by agent orange. It was hard to see that so many people still suffer from the side effects of chemicals polluting the water, plants and air. When hearing about the children had deformities due to the chemical exposure of their mothers it was heartbreaking to see what these chemicals had done to them in their lives. Not only are the deformities something that they did not receive because they participate in the war that occurred years ago but because the side effects of the substances dropped to kill anti American groups did not disappear after the fight had been called off. There is so much that we don’t know about violence during war however since there has been so many problems with agent orange I wish they did not use something that caused needles violence for generations.

A final aspect of this course that I enjoyed was the chance to see how art was vocal. In this class, there are a few examples that show how the artist involved made statements with the works that they had created. Seeing the nail salon wash bins with their bright colors did not seem too different from the classic tendency to elevate the mundane objects in life. Yet quite a few felt that it was a move that disrespected the community in which they protested to get their way of viewing the piece recognized. This was something we had to discuss in creating our group project in how people would respond to the questions we asked them during the interviews to how the actual presentation would turn out.

This was an eye opening course for me in regards to South East Asian American  history that needs to be preserved so that others can begin to understand the background of the cultures of those involved

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/agent-orange-puts-new-generation-risk-vietnam

Diane Tran- Week 10

Diane Tran
ASA 150E
Professor Valverde

I always enjoy taking Professor Valverde's class. This quarter it has been very eye-opening since we learned a lot about the history of Vietnam and the Vietnam war. I also got to learn the different stories of Vietnamese soldiers as well as the forgotten stories that were not portrayed in history books. All of the history of the Vietnam war here in America is based on the bias of the Americans, not telling the true story of what actually happened. In addition, we got to work on a project for the final. I am working on the topic of Fall of Saigon and the different perspectives of a Vietnamese soldier from the North and the South side. We are making time capsules for each perspective of the North and South. I am excited for other people to see our project and to learn a lot from it. In addition, I feel like I learned a lot about the history of my Vietnamese roots. I also learned a lot about Agent Orange and the tragedy that affected the people of Vietnam as well as the deformities it caused for the children of Viet Nam. I hope I am able to take more classes that is taught by Professor Valverde!


source:https://ronaldyatesbooks.com/2019/04/the-fall-of-saigon-relived-40-years-later/

Week10_Kao Kang Kue Vang_ASA150E

Growing up in the upper middle class of Orange County, my views of the Hmong and interaction with the Hmong community was limited. First, not many Hmong live in Orange County and the limited interaction that I did have was with 15-20 families at my family church. Although once home to a large resettlement of Hmong people, many moved out due to high cost of living. Despite the changes in the Hmong community, Orange County is vast and diverse. Ethnically rich to be honest and a melting pot of all sorts of cultures. These diverse interactions gave me a great appreciation to be culturally sensitive and appreciative of others, yet despite these riches, I did not know of my own culture. Often, I was the only Hmong person in my school. Explaining my roots was complicated as others made fun and bullied me for being someone who didn’t belong or identified as them. What I knew of the Hmong was taught through my church. However, the views of Christianity didn’t teach much of the Hmong history or suffering from the war, but rather it was from the suffering that many Hmong converted to Christianity. My families' views/traditions aligned with the church which limited my world view of the Hmong. My interactions with the Hmong community was once a week for 2 hours in church and this was the extent of my upbringing in the Hmong community. Growing up, I heard of the Hmong living in population dense areas, yet never knew of how they lived or struggled as a community. Sadly, the only Hmong traditions that I knew of was of those taught in the church. It wasn’t until just recently, that my husband’s uncle passed away that I attended my first traditional Hmong funeral. It was a culture shock experience for me.

Instead of studying corporate struggles to improve health outcomes, patient safety and providing access to underserved patient populations, I decided to change my research topic this year to focus on something that is near and dear to me, my people. I know that the Southeast Asian (SEA) community has been struggling with improving their health outcomes and there are many barriers Western healthcare providers do not understand. Even more challenging is the lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate resources for the SEA community. I may not understand my own people, I may not understand their struggles, but what I do know, is that if I do not take the time understand and find ways to help my people then no one will (most researchers focus their research on other larger ethnic minorities, not the invisible SEA communities that are buried among Asian Americans). Which explains why I choose to take ASA150E. I wanted to understand the issues that stems from the historical context that impacts how many SEA families struggled and how such struggles continue to impact them today.

Interestingly, as blatant as Professor Valverde has mentioned numerous times in class, American history and academics does a poor job at teaching history, especially the history of Southeast Asians. Of all the interesting stories and facts taught in class, by far, the lack of adequate historical context on Southeast Asians rang loud and clear all quarter long. Although this class was just a small glimpse into the struggles of different SEA communities impacted by the Vietnam War, I know I have my work carved out for me and this is just the beginning. I hope my goals to continue to study and have a better understanding of Asian American Studies in ASA 189B Spring quarter will provide me additional knowledge of Asian Americans and the impact their culture has on understanding and accustoming to Western culture and views. Meanwhile this quarter went by rather quickly, one valuable thing I did learn was to never take anything at face value. Like they say, there is always two sides to the story, but the story depends on who's telling it. 

This is the only photo I was able to find of my mom and her family right before they came to the United States. At the time they were in the Hmong refugee camps in Thailand in 1976 or 1977. No one really talks about this experience. Some too young to remember, others just block the memory out of their mind. My mom is the oldest of 10. She's the one standing on the far right. 

Week 10_Melody Yan_ASA 150E

This was my first ASA course, and I’m really glad I took it because it introduced me to a part of history that I would have never known. As we have discussed before in class, U.S. History rarely speaks about the Vietnam War, and when they do, it’s a very one-sided, narrow perspective. It’s ridiculous how fixated the U.S. is on the Vietnam War, especially because Vietnam had been fighting for their freedom for much longer. I honestly didn’t know much about the Indochinese Wars, and even though I knew China and France had colonized Vietnam, I didn’t understand to what extent. This class has honestly made me more aware of Southeast Asian issues and the history and political turmoil that has resulted from colonization. I realize how there is a lot of racism even in the Asian/Asian-American community, and how East Asian privilege can exist in some cases. I appreciate Professor Valverde’s transparency with everything we have discussed in class, and honestly much of the lectures and readings have completely shattered what I knew about history and politics.

The class was truly amazing and insightful, and I hope to take more courses like these! My question is, how can we provide more opportunities for people to learn about SEA communities and their histories?

Also, Professor Valverde if you’re reading this, Chloe and I love your outfits and look forward to them every class! Seriously need to take that fashion class now.

Week10_Tiffany Huynh_ASA150E

When I first enrolled in ASA150E, I had expected it to be formatted similar to how other ASA classes are. I was prepared to do my fair share of readings and essays and expected to learn a lot about Southeast Asian and Southeast Asian-American hxstories and experiences through a traditional presentation format. However, since the first day, I noticed this class was going to be much different. Professor Valverde constructed the class in a very non-traditional and unique way. I like how this class had a different structure than I was used to, because it allowed for me to learn in a different way, challenged me to think more critically, and helped knowledge be reinforced in a unique and helpful way.

Something I really liked about this class was how it took a shift and diverged from the traditional ways in which SEA hxstories, especially ones regarding the Viet Nam war, are discussed. It was a breath of fresh air to diverge and turn the focal point towards new, and less dominant, narratives. I really appreciated how we took time to consider other narratives from diverse backgrounds because not only have Vietnamese perspectives been silenced, but so many other narratives have been too, and I think it's truly important to make sure these narratives are known just as prelevantly. 

Another thing that I really appreciated was how Professor Valverde advocates for the narratives of new generations, especially generations who are getting further removed from the war, to be heard. As a Vietnamese American girl who is from a generation not directly affected by the war, I grew up struggling with my identity. I felt like my narrative wasn't valid, and I felt pressure to internalize the narratives of those in my family who came before me. However, I now realize that my narrative and experiences are apart of the very hxstories that I grew up learning about, and my story is just as essential towards striving towards growth and healing. Something I will leave this class thinking about is, how can our ethnic studies program be diversified further? How can our program, especially here at UC Davis, be encouraged to grow? Though we have made much progress, I think it's important that we continue striving to expand and always grow more as a program so that future generations can continue to thrive more.

Sources:

https://lettersandscience.ucdavis.edu/uc-davis-ethnic-studies-celebrate-50-years-community-engaged-scholarship

Week 10_ Chau Nguyen

One aspect that I thought was particularly interesting was how Professor Valverde challenged us to reconsider our connection to our Southeast Asian hxstory of trauma and war, and how we should self-reflect on what it means to continually define and distill our present and future hxstories solely based on something that happened in the past and don't directly affect us, or in similar ways, as it did to previous generations.

Learning from a variety of issues and perspectives on how the Vietnam War, Secret War, and Pathet Lao affected other communities other than the dominant ones also allowed me to understand the Southeast Asian American and Southeast Asian experience more holistically. I've never had the opportunity to learn a more progressive/different perspective on Southeast Asian experiences because I feel like so much of the discourse focuses on the retraumatization of it and focusing on its negative implications, but it was great to learn about it in its entirety. I also appreciated learning about the process in which the Vietnam War was renarrated as one that was inherently brutal and against Vietnamese people, to a contemporary narrative that valorizes soldiers and the U.S. government that saves it.

Another takeaway I've learned is really considering in what way am I going to reshift the narrative of Southeast Asians? In what ways can I help reshift the narrative while still maintaining its roots? How can challenge dominant ideologies that not only our society perpetuates, but that our very community perpetuates?





http://www.riseupforstudents.org/blog/the-school-board-is-trying-to-figure-out-if-seattle-should-have-an-ethnic-studies-curriculum

Week 10_Vivianne Lee_ASA150E

     Taking Professor Valverde's class is always interesting because I learn a lot about things I did not know or think about before. When I first decided to enroll in this class, I thought that this class is mainly going to be focused on relearning the history of Vietnam war like I did in high school. However, this class was heavily focused on the different perspectives of the Vietnam war and learned the importance of preserving narratives and voices that are often silenced in today's society. Prior to taking this class, I only heard about the stories of U.S soldiers who are considered heroes and victories. However, I was able to read and analyze the different perspectives of the Vietnam war such as the north Vietnamese and the south Vietnamese side. I was also shocked to learn about the My Lai Massacre, in which the innocent and harmless South Vietnamese civilians were killed by the U.S. Armed Forces. I am excited for my final project to finally come together. From conducting a lot of research, I learned a lot about both the similarities and differences between the north and south vietnamese perspective's on the Vietnam war and how they provoked different emotions/feelings with regards to the Fall of Saigon. 


https://theculturetrip.com/asia/vietnam/articles/the-best-vietnam-war-stories-by-vietnamese-authors/