TCAnthro students and faculty present at 2024 AES/APLA Spring Conference in Pittsburgh, PA

Programs in Anthropology are proud to share that students and faculty from our program presented at the American Ethnological Society & Association for Political Legal Anthropology (AES/APLA) 2024 Spring Conference at the University of Pittsburgh this weekend.

Students in Prof. Amina Tawasil’s ITSF 5001 Ethnography and Participant-Observation (fall 2023) organized a flash ethnography panel to present their projects from the course, focusing on Jamaica Market: Ethnographies of Urban Space, Community Repair, and Resilience in Queens NY.

The panel showcased six distinct yet interconnected ethnographic projects investigating Jamaica Market’s role in fostering community ties, navigating surveillance, crafting identities, adapting immigrant cultures, and defining unique sensory and culinary experiences. Collectively, the panel presented Jamaica Market as a microcosm of urban life, where daily practices contribute to ongoing community building, cultural exchange, and the negotiation of space and identity.

• Abishek Shah, Co-Existing and Community in Jamaica Market, Queens.
• Esther Fan, Place’ in Jamaica Market, Queens.
• Andrea Kim, Market Watch: Exploring Surveillance and CommunityDynamics in Jamaica Food Market.
• Muyan Guo, Muddling Through (‘混’in Chinese), to Achieve a ‘Double-Fit’ in both the Broader US Context and the Jamaica Market Food Fest (JMFF) in Queens, NYC–a brief ethnography for stuffs of a Chinese food Shop at JMFF.
• Sidney Hacker, Traces of the Past: Exploring Time, Sound, andTemperature at G & L Cajun Grill at Jamaica Market.
• Suma Cheru, ‘Selling’ Hibachi Cuisine through Accommodations and‘Standing Out’ to Perform: Critical Reflections on New Sarkura Japan’s Catering Practices toEthnically Diverse Patrons.

Jamaica Market: Ethnographies of Urban Space, Community Repair, and Resilience in Queens NY.
(from left:) Abishek Shah; Suma Cheru; Prof. Amina Tawasil; Muyan Guo; Andrea Kim.
(on screen, from left:) Sidney Hacker; Esther Fan.

Our programs’ students and faculty member showcased a diverse array of research topics at the conference, presenting projects from their class research paper to Integrated Projects and pre-dissertation research. This provided an invaluable opportunity for them to receive feedback from graduate students and faculty members from other institutions, enriching their academic journey and fostering collaboration across disciplines.

Mako Miura presenting her paper, Animal-Themed Objects and Young Children as Companion Species to One Another.

• Alicia Banks, Ethnomathematics: A Decolonial Approach to Education.
• Caprice Corona, MotherLoad: Unpacking Friction at the Intersection of Mothering and Educating.
• Muyan Guo, Renovating Homeland Heritage, Balancing EconomicPursuits with Cultural Preservation: ‘Quadriform Symbiosis,’ in the Miao Villages with Stilted Houses.
• Skylar Hou, Learning a language with no future:” ethnographic work in a Mongolian learning group in China.
• Mako Miura, Animal-Themed Objects and Young Children as Companion Species to One Another.
• Reid Pierce, From Safer Spaces to Solidarity: Black Feminism andUnderground Electronic Music Scenes in New York.
• Amina Tawasil, The Spray Can: Graffiti, Transgression, and New York City Gentrification.

TC Anthro students in Pittsburgh

Explore the program book of the 2024 AES/APLA Spring Conference to read the presentation abstracts.