Qi Chen A04 Week7

Saturday, May 9, 2020

Qi Chen,

ASA 002 A04 

Week 7 Blog

In the article, Attack on the Spirit by the “Rational World”, the author discusses a particularly complex point of view. The public assume that Asian scholars and professors have some common characteristics: “an ethic of care, openness to other cultures’ ideas, and commitment to cultivating relationships with communities”. Besides, such characteristics are considered unsuitable for the academic community. In order to disprove this view, the author discusses this topic in depth.

 (Asian American Religion and Depression, Killing the Hope of Our Youth?)

In the educational career, Asian Americans are always oppressed. As mentioned in the article, the author witnessed her excellent Asian female mentor leaving the academic world because of her professional mistakes, which has a negative psychological impact on her. In academic circles, Asian Americans are always oppressed and devalued, and Western medical means have been unable to solve the psychological problems caused by these issues. I believe the medical treatment here refers to sleeping pills, depression drugs and so on. Therefore, the topic of this article is how spirit and spirituality make Asian women redeemed. That may be why some Asian women have the characteristics I mentioned earlier. Asian religion and spirituality make Asian educators more optimistic about their own experiences and difficulties. Only through self-enlightenment can they keep working in the academic circle. Perhaps the author wants to explain that Asian women are not born with these characteristics, but it is an acquired protection mechanism, just as animals use protective colors to keep themselves from being discovered by hunters. Perhaps Asian women are gentle because it's a way to get a foothold in academia. They make themselves more open-minded to work through spirituality, and such religious beliefs also change their personalities. As a result, Asian scholars give the public such a stereotype, which makes people believe Asian American are not suitable to the academic field. On the contrary, such characteristics make Asian American more and more powerful and outstanding in the academia.

Question:  What are the results of Asian scholars' academic characteristics (like gentleness)?

 Reference

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, pp.247-256.