Asian American Feminist Theory is a graduate student–led working group oriented around contemporary theorizations of Asiatic femininity. In the wake of ongoing violence that has laid bare the particular vulnerabilities of Asian American women, we aim to foster an energetic conversation around questions of race, gender, sexuality, materiality, aesthetics, visual culture, and embodiment posed by Asian American feminist theorizing. We welcome undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty from all disciplines to join us for regular meetings, guest talks, and collaborative projects.
Some central questions we ask:
How might a sustained critical focus on the figure of the Asian woman invite us to reimagine the very terms scaffolding the discourses around (in/post) humanisms, corporeality, agency, and subjecthood?
What are the theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical possibilities for Asian American feminist theory and Black feminist theory to both animate and complicate our conceptualizations of racialized personhood?
How can Asian American feminist theorizing contribute to and complicate prevailing discourses around anti-Asian violence and the model minority myth?