keynote speakers.

Michelle Krusiec

Michelle Krusiec has graced films such as Sweet Home Alabama, Cursed, Daddy Day Care, and Duplex, but her uncanny performance in Alice Wu's feature Saving Face caught the attention of critics from numerous publications, including the Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Slate, New York Post, and Washington Post. Michelle's performance opposite Joan Chen garnered Krusiec a coveted Golden Horse nomination for Best Actress. Inarguably recognized as the "Chinese" Academy Award, the Golden Horse awards have recognized and established talents such as Joan Chen, Maggie Cheung and Gong Li. Find out more at: http://www.michellekrusiec.com/

 

Will Tiao

Born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas, Will Tiao worked in international politics for a decade in various places around the world. His experiences also include working under both the Clinton and Bush Administration. In 2002, Will left his position with the U.S. government to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and has worked consistently as an actor, producer, and writer for television, film, and stage. Recently, he was a guest star on the hit TLC series, Untold Stories from the ER, and a co-star on the CBS sitcom, Yes, Dear. He is the executive producer, co-writer, and lead actor of the award-winning film, A Starbucks Story. Recently, the film won several awards at the 2005 FAIF Film Festival in Los Angeles, including the Audience Award for Best Short Film and Best Film of the Festival. Will is currently prepping for his next feature film project, Formosa Betrayed, which he is executive producing.

workshops.

Spoken Word Peformance (Kelly Tsai)

Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai is a Chinese/Taiwanese American spoken word artist who strengthens cultural pride and survival through how she lives and how she spits. She has been featured at over 125 performances across the country including venues like the Nuyorican Poets Café, the House of Blues, the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and two seasons of "Russell Simmons Presents HBO Def Poetry." Splitting her homes between Chicago and New York, Kelly also tours nationally with Mango Tribe and "We Got Issues!" She is the author of two chapbooks Inside Outside Outside Inside and Thought Crimes. Her first full-length play, "Murder the Machine." will be excerpted at Chicago's first Hip Hop Theater Festival in Spring 2006. For more information about Kelly, go to http://www.yellowgurl.com

Walking a Strait Line: Navigating Ethnicity and Objectivity in the Media (Christine Y. Chen)

Christine Y. Chen joined Foreign Policy magazine in 2005 as a senior editor responsible for commissioning and editing reviews, feature articles, and essays. Prior to joining FP, she was a writer-reporter and editorial liaison at Fortune magazine and  Newsweek International, respectively.  In addition to her numerous written articles in publications as diverse as The New Republic and Budget Travel, Ms. Chen has provided radio and television commentary for news organizations such as CNN. She was an Asia Foundation Freeman Fellow in 2002. She received an M.S. in international relations as a Fulbright scholar at the London School of Economics and a B.A in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and also studied abroad in Germany and Finland. She is the only person on the FP staff who can order from menus in English, Finnish, French, German, and Taiwanese.

Freedom Trainers (YK Hong)

YK Hong is a woman passionate about politics. She has been involved nationally and abroad in topics ranging from political education, marginalized communities, anti-oppression, and organizational change. The founder of Freedom Trainers, a network of consultants that use political education to help organizations develop their analysis around anti-oppression, YK believes that only long term strategies can truly change an organization. A writer that's been an activist for ten years and now working on two books, YK is truly a dynamic force. Find out more at: http://www.relativist.org/

How To Get Involved in the Taiwanese American Community (Vivian Shan)

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Greeks and Jesus Freaks (Joyce Pan, Tim Lee)

Tim is currently the Midwest Governor of Lambda Phi Epsilon. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and currently works as a consultant in Evanston.
Joyce Pan is a junior at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and serves as President of her Chinese Christian Fellowship, a group affiliated with Intervarsity.

Interracial Dating (Anne Saw)

Anne Saw received her BA in Psychology from UC-Berkeley. She is now a graduate student at UIUC, and affiliated with the clinical/community psychology program. Her research interests are in the structural and cultural factors that influence the mental health of Asian Americans and other ethnic minorities. Anne is also involved with the Counseling Center., where she is a graduate assistant that oversees Asian Pacific American Outreach.

Asian American Household and Psychological Factors (Noriel Lim)

Noriel Lim received his BA in Psychology from UC-Berkeley. He is now a graduate student at UIUC, and affiliated with the clinical/community psychology program. His research interests include parenting values and practices, adolescent emotional and behavioral problems, parental emotion socialization, and intergenerational conflict within the family. He is currently exploring the association between parental emotion socialization and the development of specific types of behavioral/emotional problems in adolescence, including aggression, depression, and delinquency.

We don't all look alike!: The cultural dimensions of Asian American college (Matthew R. Lee)

Matt Lee received his B.A. in Psychology and English from Rutgers University, NJ, and his M.A. in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a sixth-year graduate student in the Department of Psychology in the Clinical/Community Division. His research interests include understanding the consequences of racial/ethnic minority status on experiences of affect in different social contexts. Matt also teaches the Asian American Studies 199 dialogue course "Being Asian American" this spring 2006.

Breaking into the Music Industry: Fascinoma (Alanna and Alice Lin)

Alanna and Alice Lin are sisters who together pursue their passion in independent music. Alanna first made her musical debut as Fascinoma at the highly competitive NXNE music festival in Toronto, Canada where she was featured as a critic's pick and played to a packed house. Now a trio, Fascinoma is a Los Angeles based folk-punk, low techno, soul project that comprises of Alanna on lead vocals/guitar, Alice on drums/backup vocals, and Mike on bass/guitar. They are currently in the studio preparing their first full-length release. Find out more at:(http://www.fascinomamusic.com/)

An Independent Film: "Perfection" (Karen Lin - Writer, Director & Producer)

After receiving a Sociology/Public Policy degree from Pomona College and a Masters Degree in Public Policy from UC Berkeley, Karen decided to head to Hollywood and follow her passion for film. She started as an agent's assistant, and moved on to feature film production, working in various positions including: assistant to actor Nicolas Cage (Face/Off, City of Angels), and assistant to director Roger Donaldson (Thirteen Days). Three years ago she made the leap into production managing music videos and producing short films. In March 2001, she founded ZuZu Films, which has produced several projects for KSCI (Channel 18) and other national Taiwanese American organizations. Perfection is her first 35mm short film which has traveled to over 24 film festivals around the world. Karen's personal goal is to bring more Asian American faces to the silver screen. Find out more at: http://www.zuzufilms.com/

Storytelling for Society: A Playwright's Perspective (Wesley Du)

Wesley Du hails from Richmond, Virginia. He spent two years at California Institute of the Arts before he transferred and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in theater from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2003. While at VCU he won the prestigious Theater VCU Leadership Award and was a recipient of the Undergraduate Research Grant. This grant was used to produce his play American Chinks Reborn which was directed by former President of the Black Theater Network, Marvin Sims. Upon graduation Wesley relocated to San Francisco, California where he is currently being mentored by world renowned playwright and filmmaker, Philip Kan Gotanda. He served as Philip Gotanda's Assistant Director to his world premiere of Under the Rainbow. Wesley's play, Shui Jiao Dumpling, was showcased at the Asian American Theater Company's New Works Incubator Program. It was also accepted into the "In the Works" program at Second Generation Theater Company in NYC and is currently being developed by them.