SEAD’s Petri Dish for Political Dialogue and Analysis

Background

There are few resources made by and for Southeast Asian diasporic folks to critically learn about and engage with the history of the countries we came from, and the countries we’ve been resettled to, made by and facilitated for Southeast Asian diasporas in the setting of a shared learning community. There is a need to expand our political and economic imagination around how to name and address the historical, often man-made processes that shaped the lives, social relations, and intergenerational itineraries of our families and communities.

Rad Cafe is an attempt for SE Asians in the U.S to co-design an intentional dialogue circle space for expanding and challenging our political imaginations and practical frameworks. In this series, we do this by politicizing the mundane of our everyday lives; things as common as a popular cultural dish, a well-known song or artist, the topics we’re taught in class, the visions of success that the adults and peers in our lives reinforce on us. We incrementally zoom out from these subjects of the everyday to explore the political economies, or the social, political, and economic processes, shaping the ways that these things impact us in ways both minor and widely-pervading.

Program Summary

A small cohort-based discussion based seminar series that meets bi-weekly for seven sessions between mid-August to early November. The facilitator acts as a guide while participants share resources and lead discussions on topics related to: culture, historical geography, education, social relations, and more through the lens of political and economic analysis. SEAD will send cohort members a small gift card for beverages leading up to each session.

Vision

Build community and develop critical dialogue about how both social and economic politics impacts the well-being and decision-making factors of peoples at a community, national, and international levels.

Program Goals

• Equip cohort members with skills to engage, analyze, and share high level political topics and themes in a variety of communities and audiences
• Apply SEAD’s storytelling approach to change, equipping 1st person narratives with big picture frameworks
• Build healthy community and relationships around dialogues surrounding these topics

Table of Contents

Rad Café Discord & Gather Participation Guide for RC Cohort

• Evolving Community Guidelines
• Curriculum and Interactive Group Tech Draft Overview
• RC Cohorts Contact List
• Rad Café Gather Room
• Shared Resources

Contact

For any inquiries regarding the program, directly contact:

Tri M Vo E: [email protected] P: (651) 434-3129 (text/call)

Theme Cycles "TC"

• Format & Set-Up
• Theme Cycle 0: Rad Café overview, Middle Ground activity
• Theme Cycle 1: Culture, Recreation, Museums
• Theme Cycle 2: History, [Cultural/Human] Geography, Nation-building and Nationalism