“Critical Hmong Studies: Change, Continuity, Progress”
St. Catherine University, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
October 24–26, 2019
The Hmong Studies Consortium is a group of scholars with expertise on the Hmong living in the United States of America and Asia. The vision of the Hmong Studies Consortium is to bring together well established and newly emerging scholars who have an interest in Hmong transnational connections, broadly defined. For this reason, graduate students are also encouraged to participate in the conference. The primary language of the conference will be English.
Women * Health * Social Justice * Hmong Language
The conference aims to feature presentations by scholars from around the globe whose work highlights current research trends about the Hmong nationally and internationally.
The themes of the conference—change, continuity, and progress—highlight our own reflections about the Hmong four decades after they were dispersed from Southeast Asia across the globe. We wish to contemplate the implications of such historical displacement in the midst of various “homelands” as new generations of Hmong negotiate varying identities in new locales, each asking what should be kept, what must be discarded, and how should the old and the new be reconstituted to redefine a much more inclusive Hmong identity.
For this reason, we invite papers that critically examine changes, continuities, and progress in all contexts of the various Hmong societies around the globe and in the homelands of Asia. We invite papers that focus on issues pertaining to gender and sexuality, identity, citizenship and belonging, development and modernity, social justice issues, and history and politics.
In addition to the conference paper presentations, we will also host a special summit on Hmong language and language teaching in state institutions in the U.S. For this symposium, we invite papers on the development, dissemination, and teaching of the Hmong Romanized Phonetic Alphabet (RPA) writing system. We will convene this language summit on the afternoon of Saturday, October 26, 2019. The summit will highlight a scholar panel followed by a discussion with audience participation. We invite participants, teachers and linguists, who are interested in the discourse surrounding the teaching of the Hmong RPA system to submit papers for this panel.
Scholars are encouraged to submit individual abstracts not exceeding 250 words. We highly encourage panel abstracts (not exceeding 400 words). Panels should have no more than four presenters, and panel abstracts must also include the individual abstracts of each presenter. All submitted abstracts should contain the names, university or professional affiliations, and email contacts of every individual. Email abstracts by August 1, 2019 to Dr. Pa Der Vang (pdvang@stkate.edu) , Dr. Ian Baird (ibaird@wisc.edu), and Dr. Mai Na Lee (mainalee@umn.edu).
The cost of attending the conference, for both presenters and observers, is $75 per person. The conference fee includes breakfast, lunches and a dinner banquet on Friday, October 25, 2019. Individuals not attending the conference presentations who wish to attend the banquet may register for the banquet-only. The cost for a banquet registration is $25 per person. To register for the conference, click here.
Conference attendants must secure their own transportation and lodging. Conference rate is available at Radisson Blu- Mall of America, 2100 Killebrew Drive, Bloomington, Minnesota 55425. To register in this hotel, click here. Be sure to enter UNIVER as a promo code.
We advise international participants to begin the visa process well in advance of the conference. Please click on the following links for more information:
- Instructions
- Tourist Business (B1)
- Country-Specific Instructions
- Online application
- Visa Application Forms
We are also posting the following details in case you need them in your visa application:
Host/Contact Person:
Pa Der Vang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
St. Catherine University
2004 Randolph Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55105
651-210-9534 (Cell)
651-690-8647 (office)
pdvang@stkate.edu (email)
Location of Conference:
St. Catherine University
2004 Randolph Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55105
Hotel
Radisson Blu- Mall of America
2100 Killebrew Drive
Bloomington Minnesota 55425
St. Catherine University’s (St. Kate’s) mission is to educate women to lead and influence. St. Kate’s values academic excellence, community, integrity, social justice and reflection. The University was founded in 1905 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
St. Catherine University is a women’s college grounded in the liberal arts. The university offers several majors along with a variety of graduate professional programs. Currently there are over 4700 students enrolled at St. Kate’s in the College for Women, College for Adults, and in the Graduate College. The most popular majors are Nursing, Public Health, and Social Work.
As a university with a long history of engagement with the Hmong Minnesotan community, St. Kate’s proudly launched its own Critical Hmong Studies minor in 2012. Fulfillment of the minor includes taking the following courses: Critical Hmong Studies, Asian American Identities, and three Hmong language courses. For more information about St. Kate’s, please visit here.