About this Event

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 titled 'Combating Racism and Xenophobia' 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 the possible courses of action against anti-Asian crime.

Featuring remarks and discussion with:

Joseph Defraine Greenwell currently serves as Vice President for Student Affairs at Columbia University, previously serving in leadership roles at the University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State, Stanford, and Colgate University. Greenwell is an innovative, consensus building, and strategic student affairs expert with over 23 years of experience. He earned his Ed.D. and M.Ed. from the Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree in music and psychology from Vanderbilt University.

Qin Gao is a 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 Ph.D. 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, Huang 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 C. 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.

Malo Hutson is an Associate Professor in Urban Planning at Columbia GSAPP and Director of the school’s Urban Community and Health Equity Lab. Dr. Hutson is a widely-recognized scholar, teacher, and practitioner whose research at the intersection of urban planning and health inequities is of profound relevance in the planning of today’s cities across the United States, and around the world. Dr. Hutson’s specific focus is on community development and urban equity, racial and ethnic inequalities and urban policy, as well as the built environment and health. Dr. Hutson has worked nationally and internationally on community-centered projects that improve the economic, environmental, political, and social well-being of urban residents. Dr. Hutson received his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Master of City Planning degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.

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 research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and World Bank. She is the immediate past President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and a board member of the Planning Accreditation Board. At GSAPP, she is working with colleagues on the Anti-Racism Task Force to develop curricular and programming initiatives to commit the school to an explicitly and systematically anti-racist path.

Reminders

• Event language: English
• If you have any questions, please email [email protected].