Professor Alice Yang helps us put the systematic othering we are seeing in the U.S. today into historical context. She discusses the oppression and disappearance of people, and points out how protest movements are often erased from the history Asian American and other immigrant groups in the United States, when the truth is that we can embrace and continue a deep heritage of resistance. Alice emphasizes the urgency of knowing our history to expand what we think is possible in the present, and why it is important to resist the othering of any community member whether they are in our ethnic group or not.

Guest

ALICE YANG is Chair and Professor of History at UCSC. She is also a founding faculty member of the Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Department at UCSC. Her publications include What Does the Internment of Japanese Americans Mean? Historical Memories of the Japanese American Internment and the Struggle for Redress, and Major Problems in Asian American History. She co-directs the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories and recently curated the exhibit Never Again is Now: Japanese American Women Activists and the Legacy of the Mass Incarceration.

Host

REVEREND DANA TAKAGI (she/her) is a retired professor of Sociology and zen priest, practicing zen since 1998. She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian American history at UC Santa Cruz, and she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies.

We hope you enjoy this dharma talk from Rebecca Nie, "10 Vows".

GUEST BIO:

ZEN MASTER REBECCA DAWN NIE is the founder of MV Sanctuary and Vice President of the Maitreya Association for Buddhist College Chaplains. As Stanford’s Chaplain-Affiliate, she oversees the Buddhist religious and spiritual life for students, faculty, and staff. Her offerings ranges from Continental Zen to Buddhist Yoga, offering healing wisdom for contemporary life through dharma teaching, translation, and new media art.

Learn more about Rebecca at

http://mvseon.com/

Highlighted Works

Yin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry by Three Daoist Women (2022, Shambhala).

Heart Sutra: A Network Audio Technology-Assisted Visual Music Composition

Rebecca Nie talks about the common misconception that China is an ethnic monolith, and how she identifies with her Huaren heritage. Although her spiritual path was discouraged in her early life, she discusses being connected to a centuries old heritage of a resilient Dharma that allows us to dream without limitations even through turbulent times.

Rebecca also mentions a book-in-progress which will be a translation of Chan Zen Master poems responding to turbulent historical moments, pointing out how there is much more to Zen poetry than peaceful monks in serene mountains.

GUEST BIO:

ZEN MASTER REBECCA DAWN NIE is the founder of MV Sanctuary and Vice President of the Maitreya Association for Buddhist College Chaplains. As Stanford’s Chaplain-Affiliate, she oversees the Buddhist religious and spiritual life for students, faculty, and staff. Her offerings ranges from Continental Zen to Buddhist Yoga, offering healing wisdom for contemporary life through dharma teaching, translation, and new media art.

Learn more about Rebecca at

http://mvseon.com/

Highlighted Works

Yin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry by Three Daoist Women (2022, Shambhala).

Heart Sutra: A Network Audio Technology-Assisted Visual Music Composition

HOST

REVEREND DANA TAKAGI (she/her) is a retired professor of Sociology and zen priest, practicing zen since 1998. She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian American history at UC Santa Cruz, and she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies.