Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE) 2004 conference will be held on April 7-9, 2004 at Radisson Miyako Hotel, San Francisco. APAHE calls for proposals of papers/workshops before February 9, 2004. For further information, visit www.stanford.edu/group/a3c/apahe.htm About three years ago, APAHE broadened its scope to become the only national organization representing Asian Pacific Americans from all sectors of higher education. Viewpoints of the association range from K-12 educators to university administrators; colleges with over 25% APA students to those with newly emerging populations; universities with established Asian American Studies programs to those struggling to have one self-taught class. In addition, the definition of the Asian Pacific American community continues to expand as interest in pan Asian coalitions and the mixed identity community increases.
This year, the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE) conference seeks to spark a dialogue about the changing role of Asian Pacific Americans in higher education by focusing on the theme "Exploring Intersections: Race, Culture and Leadership". Asian American populations are continually growing and changing, and APA students are taking leadership roles in cross-ethnic organizing around both international and domestic issues. Meanwhile, APA faculty, staff, and administrators find themselves in roles defending diversity in the wake of affirmative action challenges and post 9/11 racial attacks as they are turned to as campus resources for diversity training and redefining harassment policies. As a minority group that has achieved significant successes in education and the workforce, Asian Americans are included in debates over race, culture and merit and therefore need to take leadership roles to shape this discussion.
While the number of Asian American staff and faculty on campuses continues to grow, APA representation at the top executive levels within colleges and universities, especially public systems serving diverse student populations is still quite low. Research indicates that race and culture influence leadership style and decision making; therefore it is important for us to critically examine the impact of this disparity in representation. In the present environment of large scale budget cuts affecting both public and private institutions nationwide, there is no better time to come together to share strategies for maintaining and strengthening programs that serve APA students, faculty, staff, and administrators.
APAHA calls for papers and presentations that will engage conference attendees in discussions about a variety of topics including the changing cultural landscape, pan-Asian identity, professional development, new research in Asian American studies, mental health concerns, cross ethnic collaborations, and leadership. Efforts will be made to include diverse viewpoints within the Asian American community, taking into account ethnicity, national origin, class, gender, religion, & sexual orientation.