Thematic Discussion Series: Combating Anti-Asian Hate and Violence

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Thematic Discussion Series: Combating Anti-Asian Hate and Violence

The rise in anti-Asian hate crime in the United States is deeply upsetting and has renewed long-standing anxiety and concern regarding racism and xenophobia. In May 2020, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “the pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering” and we have to “act now to strengthen the immunity of our societies against the virus of hate.”

This new thematic discussion series will address the rising racism against Asians in the U.S. and examine the ongoing history of race-based discrimination that has been employed to distract and divide our communities for protecting systematic inequality.

In the session on April 16, Professor Qin Gao of Columbia University School of Social Work will present findings in her recent survey, which includes quantitative and qualitative evidence, conducted among over 400 Chinese Americans in New York City.

Leading scholars and experts will also join the panel discussion to share insights and explore possible course of actions against anti-Asian crime.

Speakers:

Qin Gao is Professor of Social Policy and Social Work at Columbia University School of Social Work and Director of Columbia University’s China Center for Social Policy. She is a faculty affiliate of the Columbia Population Research Center and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and a member of the Faculty Steering Committee for the Columbia Global Centers | Beijing. She is also an Academic Board Member of the China Institute for Income Distribution at Beijing Normal University and a Public Intellectual Fellow of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. Dr. Gao’s research focuses on the Chinese welfare state in transition; welfare, work, and poverty in China; social protection for rural-to-urban migrants in China and Asian American immigrants; and cross-national comparative social policies and programs. Dr. Gao’s work has been supported by multiple national and international funding sources such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Social Science Fund of China, UNICEF, and the World Bank.

Tiffany J. Huang (Twitter: @tiffjhuang) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Columbia University. Her research focuses on race and immigration, examining the outcomes and racialization of immigrants and the second generation, as well as intergroup relations. Her dissertation examines how people navigate identity and diversity in the college application process. Her work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Prior to undertaking doctoral studies, Tiffany worked at the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and as a Public Health Associate Program fellow at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She holds a Master’s of Public Health from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley.

Van Tran is an immigration scholar and urban sociologist who studies the integration of immigrants and their children, ethnic and racial categories, diversity and intergroup relations, neighborhood gentrification, and urban poverty and social inequality. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University. Dr. Tran’s research employs a multidisciplinary, multimethod approach to the dual study of immigrant and urban life, with a focus on how immigration has transformed local communities across the country. His research and teaching are deeply connected to the diversity, history, and vibrancy of New York City. As a social scientist, he views the city as a social laboratory for original research and innovative teaching, both of which hold the potential to substantively inform urban social policy. Since 2019, Dr. Tran has helped mobilize research on critical issues facing New York City as the deputy director for The Graduate Center’s Center for Urban Research.

Moderator:

Weiping Wu is Professor of Urban Planning at Columbia GSAPP and Director of the M.S. Urban Planning program. She also is on the faculty of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and Columbia Population Research Center. Trained in architecture and urban planning, Prof. Wu has focused her research and teaching on understanding urban dynamics in developing countries in general and China in particular. She is an internationally acclaimed urban and planning scholar working on global urbanization with a specific expertise in issues of migration, housing, and infrastructure of Chinese cities. Her published work has gained an increasing public presence, particularly her recent book The Chinese City.

Professor Wu has had a number of academic leadership roles outside of the university setting. She is the President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), a consortium of university-based programs offering credentials in urban and regional planning, with more than 100 full-member schools in North America. She has been a member of the International Advisory Board for the Urban China Research Network, as well as serving on the editorial board of four journals. In addition, she has provided consultation to the Ford Foundation, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and World Bank.

This event is organized by the Columbia Global Centers Beijing and cosponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Columbia School of Social Work, the China Center for Social Policy, the Columbia International Students & Scholars Office, the Hong Yen Chang Center for Chinese Legal Studies, the Office of University Life and the Columbia GSAPP Urban Planning.

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