WORKSHOPS

Set Sail on Your Leadership
Dat NguyenParticipants will be participating in a cruise ship, learning the ways of a true ship master. From charting the activities and destinations to landing in the correct place, participates will learn on what it takes to be a great leader. Discussions on the definition of a leader, roles of a leader, conceptions of a leader will be covered. Activities will also be done throughout the workshop to show what has been learned throughout the workshop period.

Personal Development Panel: How Your Ethnicity Affects The Media
Judy Ly & Isabelle Du

If you point a little too ecstatically to the TV screen or that magazine you’re reading every time you see an Asian person appear and exclaim, “It’s an Asian person!  It’s an Asian person!” then you should join Judy Ly and Isabelle Du. Expect their rants, raves, and digressions on Hollywood clichés, rejections, and personal experiences as young Asian Americans in the modeling and entertainment industry.  They’ll shed advice in pursuing that awesome dream of yours – whether it’s finding a cure to cancer worthy of parental bragging rights or being that Asian person someone else is exclaiming “It’s an Asian person!  It’s an Asian person!”

Marketing Your VSA: The Importance Of It, And Simple Ways To Achieve This
Bao Nguyen

Whether you are trying to recruit new members, raise funds, or make an impact in the community, marketing your VSA is a key component on keeping a thriving group.  In this workshop, we will have a group discussion on sharing your successful marketing ideas.  After the discussion, we will also cover other cost effective ways that your organization can promote itself by leveraging social media, websites, and ways to network with the school and local community.

Taking Your Organization to the Next Level
Huy Duong

Your organization has just started a new year or just finished a great event. The next question is “Where to take the organization?” How many times do you feel like you re-invented the wheel for the last event? This workshop is for you then. Organizations all have limited resources and we must choose where to invest our resources wisely to maintain stability. It’s hard while running day to day operations, it’s important to take a step back and invest in things to make the organization sustainable.

Vietnamese Identity Fishbowl
Thuc Nguyen

Living in America, How do we identify ourselves?  What is our identity?  Are we Vietnamese-American or American-Vietnamese? Look at yourself, do you look American or do you look Vietnamese? Culturally, what does it mean to be Vietnamese?

Mafia in the Real World: Exploring Who We Are, Where
My-Phuong Ly

Workshop content to be determined.

Becoming a Healthy, Balanced and Successful Vietnamese-American Professional
Giao Tran

Culture identity is who we are, how and we view ourselves.  So how do you view yourself?

Do You Know Martial Arts? Are You Good At Math?
Thomas Nguyen

From a psychosocial approach, this workshop aims to identify the antecedents and consequences of the Vietnamese stereotype.  Participants will explore the historical context, learn how first generation parenting styles affect the second generation, and understand how these factors are intercorrelated with the development and maintenance of how the Vietnamese culture is perceived.  Participants will partake in an a group activity, short lecture, and engage in discussions in this psychologically-driven, interactive workshop.

Vietnamese Cultural Dances
JoAnn Truong-Nguyen

In this workshop, I will briefly talk about the history of Vietnamese Dances and the impact they have in Vietnamese Culture.  Costumes and props also play an important role in Vietnamese Dance.  With guidance, attendees will be given a chance to learn and share group performances with one another as they celebrate the art of Vietnamese Culture through music and dance.

Civic Engagement on the Common Level
Lee Wong

Workshop content to be determined.

Behind the Scenes: Non-Profit Organizations
Anh Q. Hua & Hung Pham

Be the change you want to see in the world.” Come learn how a non-profit organization operates. Talk to a member representative from Care2Share to find out how to improve the lives of the poorest people in Vietnam and Cambodia.  Meet the Operations Director of Senhoa Foundation to learn about the issue of human trafficking in Southeast Asia and how you can help end this modern-day slavery.

Dispelling the “Model Minority Myth:” The true educational challenges of Southeast Asian American students & current policy solutions
Quyen Dinh & Nghia Le

In the United States, there are almost 3 million Southeast Asian Americans (SEAAs) with heritage from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. They constitute one of the largest groups of refugees ever to build new lives in the United States. While Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are often stereotyped as the “model minority,” SEAAs face disparities in education and socio-economic status that make them an invisible minority within the minority. This participatory workshop will connect and inform participants with the real educational challenges faced by SEAA students, and some potential solutions to serve the needs of SEAA students.

A Gaysian Story: What It Means to be Gay and Asian Today
Khoa Nguyen

There are built in challenges to being a minority; I spent 25 years learning how to overcome those challenges – of being Asian American in a primarily Caucasian society. Then I came out of the closet. A whole new set of challenges arose. How do I reconcile this notion of being part of an even smaller community? Does it even matter? In this workshop, I’ll tell my story and my journey into acceptance. Not just by the people around me; but of myself.

Asian Americans, The Media, And The (Im)possibility For Change
Vincent Pham

This workshop historicizes contemporary representations of Asian Americans in mainstream media and provides participants with concepts, vocabulary, and information about ways to engage others about the difficulties of media representation and popular culture production for Asian Americans as a whole and Southeast Asian Americans specifically. Participants will experience a variety of short lecture, video presentation, interactive activities, Q & A, and other activities that fit the needs and interests of participants.

Overcoming Everyday Media
Thuy Cao

This interactive workshop will give you the resources to overcome stereotypical media through self-development and resources. I will provide personal experiences and tools that have resonated with me. Through this, I am very lucky to say that I have experienced many amazing opportunities in all aspects in life and still more to come.

Asian Americans in the Music Industry
DJ Slim

Coming to America was far from easy. Struggling with welfare and poverty, Slim hung out with the wrong kids and got into a lot of trouble. It took a devastating wake up call. Music saved my life, it kept me busy from the streets. Now looking back, I’ve accomplished many things in the music industry such as toured many States and Vietnam, opened doors for Vietnamese DJs, first Vietnamese to have a trance record released in Germany by a real German record label. Produced music for Thai the biggest Vietnamese Hip Hop artist in America right now, Asia Entertainment, film soundtracks, and famous rappers in the hip hop game.

Modern Dance Crew: Breaking into the Dance Industry
TyQuan

The fundamentals of the Dance called BBoying, Hip Hop Culture, and how personally as an Asian American matured and developed in life with a strong influence in the dance B-Boying and Hip Hop Culture. Also, how to balance responsibilities and doing something you love like BBoying within Hip Hop Culture, especially coming from an Asian American household.

Film and Multimedia and Asian Americans – Emphasis on Saigon Electric
Stephane Gauger

Come join in a discussion with Stephane Gauger – Director/Writer/Producer of Saigon Electric. Discuss the state of Asian Americans in the entertainment industry and what it was like working in the United States versus working in Vietnam. How can we break the barriers and perceptions of Asians in the media?