Week 1 Zoua Vang Section A01

Zoua Vang

Section A01

Week 1 Theme: Your Education at UC Davis and the Asian American Experience

In the article Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia, Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde shared her Asian American experience in academia.  Through her experience, she pointed out the challenges for not only herself but other women of color face as well. She had a bad working environment and her own personal struggles as she was pursuing her tenure.  This article was shocking but  very inspirational.   It was shocking because I thought that in academia professors would be more understanding of each other’s background, especially in an ethnic studies department.  I thought that all Asians innately help one another but this experience was eye opening.  It was very inspirational because despite all the negative environment she was surrounded by, she persevered and made it to where she is today.  Her story can help give people interested in academia a realistic idea of what could happen in academia and to be prepared and ready to counter the negative surroundings she had worked through.  This article connects to this week’s theme of Asian American experience by how it shares an experience that many don’t know about and should know about  to help those who are planning to go into academia and those who are already in it.

Media: I chose this video because it explained a great metaphor of makeup to how to be honest with yourself and prepare to face the world.  The emphasis for self care is so important because you need to be collective of yourself before you can fight against the challenges you are facing.    This video made me think of Valverde’s change for her self care and advice for fighting the tower.  

Question: How are you fighting the tower now? What do you think has progressed and what still needs to be changed?

References:

Valverde, K.. (2013).  "Fight The Tower: A Call To Action For Women Of Color In Academia." Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 12(2), 367-418.

Akana, A. (2014 June 14). "How to Put on Your Face // Anna Akana."  Retrieved from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f49xeXdFSgc