Many Americans currently find themselves wrestling and renegotiating their place in the American political landscape, and Asian American religious communities are no different as categories of race, ethnicity, generation, and religious tradition have become less stable and capable of predicting political affiliation or participation. Especially with rising anti-Asian hate movements, international political and economic tensions with Asian countries, and aggressive immigration debates and policies since the election, many Asian American communities have been pushed to reexamine the intersection of religion, identity, and civic belonging.

We invite you to join us for a public panel discussion featuring experts of Asian American religion and politics to reflect on the place of Asian American religious identities and communities in the current political climate. The conversation will follow a scholarly conference earlier that day and aims to bring research and discussions to the general public emphasizing the role academics and institutions of higher education have as political commentators, influencers, and activists.

About the speakers

Russell M. Jeung is Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. His research interests include the Sociology of Race, the Sociology of Religion, and Social Movements. Dr. Jeung is extensively engaged with his students in conducting community-based, participatory research with Asian American communities. In 2020, Dr. Jeung launched Stop AAPI Hate, a project of Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, and SF State Asian American Studies. It tracks Covid-19 related discrimination in order to develop community resources and policy interventions to fight racism. He is the author of several books, most recently Family Sacrifices: The Worldviews and Ethics of Chinese Americans (Oxford University Press).

Bradley Onishi is a social commentator, scholar, and co-host of the Straight White American Jesus (SWAJ) podcast. He founded Axis Mundi Media in 2023 in order to provide a platform for research-based podcasts focused on safeguarding democracy from the threats of extremism and authoritarianism. His writing has appeared at the New York Times, Politico, Rolling Stone, NBC News, HuffPost, among others, and he is a frequent guest on national radio, podcast, and television outlets. His book Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism – And What Comes Next unpacks the religious history that led to the January 6 Insurrection – and charts a map of what will come next from the marriage of Christian nationalism and MAGA Nation. 

Dheepa Sundaram is Associate Professor, Hindu Studies, Critical Theory and Digital Religion at University of Denver. She is a scholar of performance, ritual, and digital culture, and her research examines the formation of Hindu virtual religious publics, online platforms, social media, apps, and emerging technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Dr. Sundaram’s current monograph project examines how commercial ritual websites fashion a new, digital canon for Hindu religious praxis, effectively “branding” religious identities through a neoliberal “Vedicizing” of virtual spaces.

Jesse Lee, Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Danforth Center, will moderate this important conversation.

The panel discussion is free and open to all, and seating is first come, first served. We hope you will join us for a reception with the speakers following the discussion. We appreciate your RSVP to rap@wustl.edu or 314-935-9345 so that we can send parking and event information.

This event is co-sponsored by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI).