Me and Ama: A Recap of ITASA National Conference 2019
The 2019 ITASA National Conference was titled Me and Ama: Weaving Together Stories of Our Past with Memories of Our Future, and was hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. The conference brought together 160+ students from 17 different schools. With an emphasis on the inclusivity of the Taiwanese identity, the 2019 ITASA National Conference sought to bring together a diverse group of students, leaders, and creatives.
This perspective was written by Anthony Su, a junior at Carnegie Mellon and the current president of CMU TSA.
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Fourteen members from Carnegie Mellon University’s Taiwanese Students Association took the long drive to Philadelphia to attend the 2019 ITASA National Conference. The conference this year placed a deliberate emphasis on Taiwanese identity and tackled the difficult topics of social and political identity among those who identify as Taiwanese Americans.
In a speaker series that covered topics such as Taiwan’s history, the Taiwanese language, queer Asian identity, and more, each conference attendee gathered different experiences from the 2019 National Conference. This article will highlight some of the speakers from my perspective and comment on the viewpoints they wished to share with us.
Author Julia Lin delivering her keynote on writing stories, not Taiwanese or Asian stories.
The opening keynote was delivered by Taiwanese-Canadian author Julia Lin. She mentions that when she began her journey as a writer, she aimed not to write Taiwanese or Asian stories, but to write stories for everyone. However, as she continued in her career, she found herself drawing from segments of the cultural upbringing that she knew and the nuanced family dynamics within Taiwanese people. As she shared a portion of her book, Miah, she read from the perspective of a Taiwanese teenager during the period of martial law, criticising his father, who was a military officer, that the Americans laugh at Taiwan’s attempt of democracy.
Julia Lin opened the conference with her keynote, mentioning that the term Taiwanese must be broad and inclusive, as it must include basketball star Jeremy Lin and Brendan O’Connell, the first naturalized ROC citizen and celebrated Catholic priest in Taiwan. Julia Lin compared the demographic of overseas Chinese with Darwin’s Galapagos finches; while they all had origins in the same home, many sought different opportunities and futures, spreading out and becoming better at their respective goals and traits.
Although Lin’s keynote was not widely celebrated and confusing at parts, I enjoyed the new perspective that Lin gave, especially the comparison with the Galapagos finches. When I mentioned this comparison to my father, an immigrant from Taiwan and a scientist, he did not partake with the comparison.
While the Taiwanese American identity is a complex one, the consensus at the ITASA conference seemed to simplify it slightly. Allowing for the broad definition of what it means to be Taiwanese, almost all those with roots to Taiwan can claim the title of Taiwanese. The question now is what this identity represents and how we express it.
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Identity
Politics lies at the core of how we identify and what we believe. Amongst Taiwanese Americans however, especially those with a more distant upbringing from Taiwan’s political atmosphere, how to approach a new political climate can be tricky.
The primary cultural upbringing students in the United States have is with their family; the next most influential is likely environments within schools, including TSAs and TASAs at the collegiate level. Eric Tsai is the founder of Outreach for Taiwan, a non-partisan organization that seeks to educate others about the historical and political atmosphere of Taiwan. With a platform at the National Conference, Eric decided to speak directly to the leaders of TSAs and TASAs and spoke about being unapologetically Taiwanese. While many in the conference have taken a broad and inclusive definition of what it means to be Taiwanese, if we take the definition of inclusivity, then those who identify as Taiwanese need to own the phrase “Taiwanese”. Since we are allowed such a broad definition, one should not back off or question what the term truly means, as it is all encompassing. The heads of TSAs and TASAs must remember that although you need not be Taiwanese to join these organizations, you must have an interest in Taiwanese history, society, and culture. Thus, our organizations must be able to present more to our respective student bodies beyond culture night shows and night market events.
Within political identity, many of those in the United States may be unaware of the politics in Taiwan. I personally would only see glimpses of Taiwanese politicians on TV when I was growing up, typically with a crowd of people chanting a rally phrase. Although raised in the United States, Leona Chen was able to form her own Taiwanese political identity with through her parents in the states. With a father fiercely blue and a mother fiercely green, Chen brought the viewpoint from her own upbringing within a family that was divided politically. She embodied everything it meant to be unapologetically Taiwanese. While confident with her own presentation and how she spoke about political struggles, she mentioned how careful she has been to be as inclusive as possible and not alienate others who also identify as Taiwanese, while still being able to talk about her interests and beliefs.
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Expressing Identity
Within the inclusive definition of being Taiwanese, how does one present this identity to others? Of course, within organizations on campus, the more easily consumed media forms are videos and movies. James Chen emphasized the importance of film within Taiwanese history. With a background of advocacy with the Institute for Global Engagement, Chen brought the most critical viewpoints of Taiwanese history through a form that does not require an expensive expert lecturer or many hours of research. Subjects from Taiwan’s history, such as Japanese occupation and martial law, can remain difficult for students to juggle; thus, deferring to the expertise of film allows students to gain a new perspective without necessarily requiring a student to take the initiative on an issue near to them. Chen recommended Warriors of the Rainbow for a historical perspective and On Happiness Road for a modern Taiwanese story.
When CMU TSA came back to campus, we had a movie night watching On Happiness Road. I called the film a Taiwanese Forrest Gump, as the film weaves together the historical events of Taiwan with the main character’s life. The film was widely appreciated by the members of the organization, and they found the film’s story of acceptance incredibly moving.
Creative arts are another path; with that said, within the Asian community a creative path is notoriously known as being “unstable” or “impractical”. Thus, having a speaker who was able to achieve the impossible gave the creatives at the conference hope and insight into the creative process. Priska may call herself a singer/songwriter, but she is a true musician. With a tiny midi keyboard and amp, Priska performed her heart out to three of her original songs, including “Keep to The Path” and “State Change”. Since I first heard Priska on the album Stuntman, seeing her perform in a state that was so open and vulnerable brought nostalgic memories. While at the conference, Priska spoke about getting past what she called “Step One”, the first moment of the creative process. She described Step One as the part of the creative process where you are still incredibly critical, cynical, and questioning of your own ideas; until you pass this barrier completely, you won’t be able to improve on your creative work and move onto Step Two.
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Conference directors Amy Chen and Peter Sheu from University of Pennsylvania.
Part of the reason why I love going to the ITASA Conferences is that the student leaders of TSAs and TASAs are able to gain some context into how their organization stands in comparison to other schools. CMU TSA was founded in the 1990s as an organization with many members who came to college from Taiwan. While the first generation immigrant demographic is still present within CMU TSA, a vast majority are now second or 1.5 generation. Thus, the ability for our organization to gain more context at ITASA Conferences is invaluable to our members, and we are glad we can share our own traditions and what CMU TSA loves, such as what it means to build booth at CMU. When in comparison to other conferences such as ECAASU or NYCAASC, ITASA is still able to capture the issues and of Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans without alienating those with other experiences. The story of Taiwan and the Taiwanese is one that should be spread and heard by many.