Passage: A Reading and Conversation with Author Khary Lazarre-White

Khary Lazarre-White reading from passageDuring this reading and conversation, author Khary Lazarre-White discussed his work as a social justice advocate and founder of the award-winning youth development organization The Brotherhood-SisterSol that supports the empowerment Black and Latinx youth in New York City. Lazarre-White read an excerpt from his novel Passage, which tells the story of Warrior, a young Black man navigating police brutality, structural racism, and the snowy winter streets of Harlem and Brooklyn in 1993. Though the story takes place in 1993, there is a striking parallel between Warrior’s experience and the experiences of Black male youth today. This event was moderated by Assistant Professor Samira Abdur-Rahman from the Department of English.

Read more about the event and Passage in Samira Abdur-Rahman’s post “Encountering the City and the Self in Khary Lazarre-White’s Passage.”

Digital Humanities: Possibilities and Projects

Sample of Text Analysis

This 90-minute program featured inspiring visions and projects in Digital Humanities (DH) research and challenges faculty to imagine the potential of using DH in their own work. Presenters included professors Nathan Dennis and Karen Fraser (Art History/Arts Management and Museum Studies), David Silver (Environmental Studies and Urban Agriculture), and Gleeson Assistant Librarian Colette Hayes. This event was moderated by Michael Rozendal (Rhetoric and Language).

This CRASE panel was especially designed for faculty looking for inspiration in tackling their own DH projects, and/or those wishing to learn more about a range of research methodologies and projects in this ever-expanding digital arena.

Read more about the topic in Colette Hayes’s post “Adventures in Digital Humanities.”

Learn more about Digital Humanities Projects:
Digital Humanities Projects at Stanford
Digital Humanities Spotlight: 7 Important Digitization Projects

Writing a Strong Grant Proposal: Advice from a Grant Editor

During this interactive workshop, grant editor Crystal Herron provided advice on how to prepare and write a strong grant proposal. She shared common mistakes and offered suggestions and strategies for preparing a fundable proposal. Faculty participants also met with the director of the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG), Don Campbell, and learned about the grant application process at USF and resources available to faculty. Faculty appreciated the specific feedback and tips from the editor and had time to apply the concepts during a working session.

10 x 10: Ten Objects, Ten Stories

Peggy Takahashi with Mitsu Sato, Topaz Barracks with a Sand Storm

Ten members of the University of San Francisco community responded to ten unique objects in Something from Nothing: Art and Handcrafted Objects from America’s Concentration Camps. Artifacts were created by people of Japanese ancestry while being held in detention centers— Department of Justice camps and ten permanent camps. Perspectives incorporated personal history and stories, scholarly analysis, and creative expression. The event featured perspectives from each presenter and was followed by a reception.

Ken Yoshioka and Brynn Saito

Contributors included:

  1. Hana Mori Böttger (College of Arts and Sciences, Art + Architecture)
  2. Brian Dempster (College of Arts and Sciences, Rhetoric and Language)
  3. Sara Fan (Center for Research, Artistic, and Scholarly Excellence)
  4. Saera Khan (College of Arts and Sciences, Psychology)
  5. Sherise Kimura (Gleeson Library | Geschke Center)
  6. Nick Large (Information Technology Services)
  7. Noriko Milman (College of Arts and Sciences, Sociology)
  8. Brynn Saito (College of Arts and Sciences, Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program)
  9. Peggy Takahashi (School of Management, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs)
  10. Ken Yoshioka (Information Technology Services)

Read responses from our presenters:
Sherise Kimura “Enemy Alien: Uncovering Family History
Ken Yoshioka “Return to Topaz

Plan Your Semester

Notebook

Christine Yeh, Professor in the School of Education, led an interactive workshop where faculty created a specific semester plan to accomplish their research and writing goals. Participants strategized on how to navigate and balance multiple professional and personal goals. During the event, faculty learned about how many tasks actually go into each discrete goal, how to evaluate how much time each task takes, and the benefits of scheduling tasks on the calendar. Yeh also provided different strategies for being accountable for your research.

Participants felt that the workshop was helpful because it was very concrete and hands-on.

For more information about planning your semester, read Christine Yeh’s post Tips for Creating a Semester Plan for Faculty Success in Writing and Research.

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Michael Arcega Michael Arcega Doña Señorita I was asked to share a reflection/response to the exhibit Anting Anting | Magic Objects by Michael Arcega at a Thacher/CRASE collaborative event “Inspirations from Anting Anting: Magic Objects of Protection.”

Art is not only personal to the artist who created it but also to the person viewing it. I chose the piece “Doña Señorita”: Matriarchal power enhancement. I was drawn to it initially because I love señorita bananas. At a deeper level, the piece makes me remember my home, my family. It symbolizes the generations of Locsin women – past, present and future.

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I am from my mother, my father
From Wo Sin Lok
from Amoy 268 years ago
I am from my family,
small, quiet, large, noisy, 5 in 82
I am from the garnet
hard, durable, yet soft, vulnerable
I am from the diamond
unique, creative, reflecting light to make rainbows
I am from my grandmother
petite, powerful, God fearing,
I am from those who attend Mass, pray the novena
yet believe the theories of Darwin and Lemaitre
I am from the sugar capital of the Philippines
from the home of the aswang
I am from the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
yet believe in the lore of kapre, dwende, tiyanak
I pray the Our Father, Hail Mary and the Glory Be
but say “Tabi Tabi po” to pay respects to the elementals
I am from Washington DC
but call myself a proud Ilongga
I am from the Balay Dako
from the house that burnt to ashes
I am from the Bisaya, Hiligaynon
gentle, soft-spoken, meek
yet direct, honest, to the point
I am from the ones who taught me right from wrong
those who taught me the importance of delicadeza
yet I live in the land where it is non-existent
I am from my Yaya Goya
I am from my Lola Inday
the king, queen, empress, the last word
I am from the Holy Rosary
Ako ang nanay ni Isabel
I am 112235121

Vocabulary:
Ako ang nanay ni Isabel means I am Isabel’s mother.
Aswang means witch
Balay Dako means big house
Delicadeza means being refined or having manners, etiquette. it means having the sense of propriety or how to behave under the circumstance.
Dwende is a dwarf who live in anthills, termite mounds (punso) who are either good or bad
Ilongga refers to the females of the Visayans who speak the Hiligaynon/Illongo dialect.
Kapre is a Philippine mythical tree giant
“Tabi tabi, po” means excuse me, pardon me, please move to the side
Tiyanak is a vampiric creature who imitates the form of a child; sounds like a child and when someone picks it up, it goes back to its true form and attacks.

Liza Locsin is Assistant to the Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a ninth generation Pilipino (of Chinese origin). 112235121 is her number in the Locsin genealogy. There are 82 people in her family on her father’s side.