The goals of this working group include but are not limited to:
1) Fostering a safe space to further discussions about the production and circulation of race-blackness, Asianness and mixedness-and intersections with gender.
2) Engage with afropessimism, afrotopia, bluetopia, and others in light of findings from our own fieldwork experiences, research findings and outstanding questions regarding blackness in particular.
3) To prompt and inspire new and creative scholarship, whether via the dissertation, articles (for publication) and/or working papers. We are all interested in performance and the use of the arts as a tool to facilitate discussion and as a means of scholarship. We endeavor to push to create scholarship for consumption beyond the academy through photography, blogging and performance art that makes use of humor, dance and drama.
4) A sharing of perspectives on methodology for research and interrogating such questions and themes.
5) Providing access to our discussions and insights via a performance, social media and recordings of our select discussions.
Based on our individual areas of research and interests, themes related to questions of race and gender include reproductive and sexual health programs, family planning and access to contraceptives, the notion of genocide and its embrace as descriptive of the black experience, the performance of hip hop dance by black and Asian bodies and the performance of “surrogation” and “passing” in Trans-Pacific Context. This group is important to fostering interdisciplinary discussions, often difficult to sincerely have within our respective disciplines. A running theme is the role of what is visible-skin color, hair texture, eye shape, etc.-and the audible.