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Asian American Sessions at the Society of Christian Ethics Meeting (Jan. 7-10, 2010) from Dr. Grace Kao
Here is a message from Dr. Grace Kao, a professor of ethics at Claremont School of Theology. The Society of Christian Ethics [http://www.scethics.org/] annual meeting will be held in San Jose, California.
Dear members (and those interested in membership) of the Asian and Asian American Working Group:
Greetings! The SCE conference is soon approaching (Jan. 7-10, 2010), and we would like to inform you about a few important announcements. Please take this time to read this e-mail in it entirety and don’t hesitate to contact me [gkao@cst.edu] if you have any questions.
(1) Meeting at the SCE: This year, our group will be meeting (officially) only once – Concurrent Session II on Friday, 1/8, from 2-3:30 pm in the Cedar Room. (We were originally planning to arrange another social gathering over a meal and to invite a guest speaker, but please see #2 “special circumstances,” below, which should explain why we decided it would be best to keep things simple this year). The topic for the concurrent session, as discussed during last year’s meeting, is “The Search for an Asian American Christian Ethic.” K. Christine Pae will be presiding; Grace Kao (me) and Jonathan Tran will be presenting brief papers of only 15-20 minutes each, and Hak Joon Lee will be giving a short response (7-12 minutes). The point, as you recall, is to stimulate an internal conversation among ourselves. Here is the abstract:
Both the academy and contemporary church continue to wrestle with the proper relationship between identity, ethics, and theology; specifically, how much the former concern should guide and determine the latter two. Each panelist will put forth a constructive proposal for developing a specifically Asian American Christian ethic (AACE). This panel seeks not only to spearhead a public and much-needed conversation among scholars who identify as Asian American, but also to make a positive case for forming a distinctive AACE as a contribution to the Asian American community as well as to the field of Christian ethics in general. All members of the SCE are invited to attend; interested persons in the Asian/Asian American Working Group are invited to stay for the business meeting to follow.
Also, in the last 10-15 minutes or so, we will be having our business meeting.
(2) Special circumstances: Unfortunately, neither I (Grace) nor Ilsup will be able to attend this year’s SCE meeting; I’m due to deliver my baby (another boy!) on Jan. 11 and Ilsup’s schedule this year simply won’t permit his attendance. I have arranged for Irene Oh to read my paper and for the new co-convener to run the business meeting (see below, #3).
(3) New co-convener: As you might recall from our very first Working Group meeting, we would ideally have two conveners of the Working Group at any given time – one male and one female – and the current conveners would be tasked to nominate the next one, though (s)he should be formally voted-in by the Working Group. It is now time for Ilsup Ahn (the founder of our Working Group) to step down as co-convener, and, after consulting with me, we have both decided to nominate Jonathan Tran as the next co-convener, to serve alongside of me. Procedurally speaking, then, Christine Pae (who will be presiding over the session) will call for a formal vote of the nominated co-convener, Jonathan Tran. Assuming that the group accepts his nomination, Jonathan will then conduct the remainder of the business meeting.
(4) Other events of interest at the SCE:
There are at least two other events that may be of special interest to members of this group:
(a) Hak Joon Lee has been nominated to stand for election to the Board of Directors. If successfully elected, he would be the only Asian/Asian American male on the Board; currently, the only Asian/Asian American person on the Board is Irene Oh.
(b) Sharon M. Tan will be presenting a paper on Sunday from 9-10:30am entitled “Complex Integrity: An Approach to Moral Agency for Asian Americans.” Her abstract is reproduced below:
This presentation constructs an approach to moral agency from the perspective of Asian Americans, who often experience both blended and dissonant cultures and norms, simultaneous racial privilege and discrimination, and simultaneous marginalization and exemplarization. “Complex integrity” as a character trait could assist Asian Americans navigate the conflicting cultural and moral responsibilities they face. Whilst one with “simple integrity” maintains a dogmatic consistency of belief, voice and action, one with complex integrity acknowledges multiple sources of moral knowledge, multiple moral responsibilities, and constructs integrity through weaving a moral narrative that guides and motivates one in moral action toward a desired future
(5) Are you a student? Don’t forget that membership and participation in our Working Group entitles you to have your registration and conference fees waived for X years; please ask me for more details about this.
(6) Are you a student who would like to do some PAID work for our Asian/Asian American Working Group? We are looking to hire a student coordinator to be responsible for recruiting new Asian/Asian American members (students and faculty) to the SCE. We can offer $1000 for this position, and more if (s)he is capable of designing a website for our group. If you are interested, please contact me (Grace) for more details.
–GK
P.S. Please forward this e-mail to those persons whom I may have missed.
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