Dear AAAFSC Members:
We hope that your fall semester is going well! We write to tell you about all the news, changes, and opportunities that have arisen in AAAFSC over the past few months. There’s a lot covered in this email, so please read carefully!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Departure of Soonhee Lee:
Our wonderful Vice-President, Soonhee Lee has left UMBC. We are so grateful for her leadership of AAAFSC. She will be sorely missed, but we wish her the very best on her new adventures.
South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), Our Stories Book Club and Publication
The Department of American Studies has sponsored a membership for the Our Stories Book Club with the South Asian American Digital Archive—an excellent resource for Asian American and South Asian American community building and history.
The Our Stories book club, launching on November 7, will meet online monthly and offer behind-the-scenes conversations with our authors and deep dives into the important stories shared in the book. It's the perfect entrypoint to learning about the diversity, vibrancy, and power of the South Asian American community, especially for students. We have a 10% off discount code for all purchases of the book: "OURSTORIES-UMBC"
EVENTS:
Membership Meeting: Dec 8, 12-1pm:
Please attend our online membership meeting on Dec 8, from 12-1pm! We’ll be discussing all the announcements below and our spring book giveaway and book club!
Minor Feelings Book Club and Book Giveaway
In Feb 2022 AAAFSC will be hosting a book club organized around the bestselling work essay collection, Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong. In this short volume, Hong explores Asian American racial consciousness with incisive honesty.
The first 10 AAAFSC members to respond to this email (by writing to tbhalla@umbc.edu) with their Name and Departmental Address will receive a free copy of the book! Books will be sent to you via interdepartmental mail.
A PDF is available as well, if you prefer.
Election of a New Vice-President:
Please consider running for Vice-President. We will be holding elections at the end of November. The vice president receives yearly compensation of $1000 for the duration of their term. We currently have no staff representation on the board with the loss of Soonhee OR representation from CNMS or COEIT.
If you would like to run: please email tbhalla@umbc.edu and adesai1@umbc.edu by November 15 with a brief bio we can share with the membership.
Many thanks to you all and we hope to see you at the December meeting!
Tamara Bhalla, AAAFSC Chair