When Lynsey Le '06 visited Brown as a prospective student, she attended a student multicultural show and remembers thinking, "This is what I want to do."
Three years later, Le is following through on that impulse - along with Jennella Sambour '07, she is serving as co-coordinator of Southeast Asian Week, a series of events celebrating Southeast Asian culture that starts today and will run through Nov. 21.
Organizers of the week aim to raise consciousness of the Southeast Asian student population on campus as well as global issues concerning Southeast Asians. The various discussions and shows will "represent the underrepresented," Sambour said. The week is also a celebration of diverse cultures not always visible on campus, both student planners said.
The convocation, which will be held at 6 p.m. in List Art Center 120, features CNN correspondent Betty Nguyen, who has covered major news stories, including the war in Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks, and is also the co-founder of the non-profit organization Help the Hungry. Her lecture is titled "Breaking News: Southeast Asians in the Headlines."
Le said she is excited about the opportunity to welcome a Southeast Asian who is active in the media because many Southeast Asian leaders are not visible in the public sphere.
"We want to bring those figures to the public eye and say hey, look, we're finally out here," she said.
Nguyen's speech will offer insight into "what it's like to be a reporter, a woman and a Southeast Asian," Sambour said.
Other events include a lecture given by Councilman Rithy Uong of Lowell, Mass., at 6 p.m. Monday in Wilson 102. His discussion will address issues such as access to education, political activism and youth gang violence.
On Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Salomon 001, the Southeast Asian Series will host a panel discussion on AIDS featuring Adjunct Professor of Anthropology Patricia Symonds, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics David Pugatch and Makna Men GS. Symonds will discuss sex trafficking while Pugatch and Men will share their reflections on several trips to Cambodia. Sambour emphasized the importance of this type of discussion, saying that AIDS is "an exploding problem that will only get bigger if we don't do something."
The series' last event, to be held Nov. 21 in Salomon 101, is the annual Southeast Asian Cultural Show. The show, which will feature guest musician Anh Thao Le and student performances, offers students the opportunity to "speak and share their culture," Sambour said.
The coordinators said these events allow Southeast Asians to exhibit their own unique cultures without being simply clumped together with all Asians. Still, Sambour said, "within the (Southeast Asian) culture, so many countries and customs are represented, which is what makes this so interesting."
The series has been in the works for a while, coordinators said, and it will mostly focus on Southeast Asians in the media. Le said while she was initially "hesitant" about contacting potential speakers, she soon learned "it's all about networking."
The project is also the result of collaboration between many groups, Le said. She is the co-chair of the Vietnamese Students Association, one of the participating organizations. The Third World Center provided support for the entire week, and funding and support also came from University departments, individuals, the academic deans and the Student Activities Office, she said.
