ACEC Events

If you need accommodations or have any questions for any of the events listed below, please contact Dr. Nina Ha at nha@vt.edu.

March 13  |  4pm    APIDA Mental Health Support Group

The theme of this session is "strength spotting". Please complete the VIA Character Strengths Survey before attending.  

Location: ACEC - 140 Squires; Virtual

March 15  |  6pm    College of Science Community Night 

Join other Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) science students at the Asian Cultural Engagement Center and be in Community.  Dinner Provided!

Location: ACEC - 140 Squires; Virtual

March 16  |  12pm    Viet Thanh Nguyen Learning Lunch

Join us for a meal and discussion with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nugyen. This event is co-hosted by the Asian Cultural Engagement Center, Moss Arts Center, and Mozaiko Living and Learning Community.

Location:  The cube in Moss Arts Center; Virtual

March 16  |  7:30pm     An Evening with Viet Thanh Nguyen

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s writing is bold, elegant, and fiercely honest. Globally reimagining what we thought we knew about the Vietnam War, his remarkable debut novel, The Sympathizer, is a New York Times best seller and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Nguyen’s voice is refreshing and powerful as he urges readers to examine the legacy of that tumultuous time and its aftermath from a new perspective.

Co-sponsored by the Department of English Visiting Writer Series, with additional support from the Asian Cultural Engagement Center and Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies. Nguyen will hold a booksigning in the Grand Lobby following the talk. His books will be available for purchase. 

Location: Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre in the Street and Davis Performance Hall, Moss Arts Center

March 20  |  5:30pm     Violence in Schools

A virtual listening session with the Asian Cultural Engagement Center, the Virginia Asian Advisory Board, and the Virginia Latino Advisory Board. Dr. Siming Xie will provide a 20-30 minute presentation about healing from racial trauma and violence. He will share mental health tools and techniques.  Following this presentation will be time for comments from the community.

Location: Virtual

March 21  |  1:30pm     Queer, Questioning, & Allies Support Group

What does it mean to come out to your peers and how do we deal with the pressure to label ourselves? How do we come out safely? This event is co-sponsored by Hokie Wellness and Cook Counseling Center. Light refreshments will be provided. 

For more information, please register for the event. 

March 22  |  12pm     Book of Mountains and Sea Learning Lunch

Location: ACEC - 140 Squires; Virtual

March 23  |  8pm     Nighttime Guided Meditation with Vivek Rajan

Location: Virtual

March 27  |  12pm     APIDA Men's Support Group

Please join us for the APIDA Men's Support Group and discuss about "Emotions" among APIDA men. This meeting will provide an opportunity for attendees to share their experiences, provide support, and learn from one another. Light refreshments will be provided.

Location: ACEC - 140 Squires

March 28  |  3pm     InspirASIAN Series: Graduate Student Experiences & Perspectives

After a successful event last semester, we’re bringing back the InspirASIAN Series!

Join us for an inspiring event with our graduate student panel, where you’ll have the opportunity to learn from their experiences, ask questions, and engage in meaningful discussions. This panel will feature: 

• Sydney Dayyani, master's student in the School of Education, Curriculum and Instruction and president of the Middle Eastern Dance Association; Minhyuk Ko, Ph.D. student and graduate teaching assistant in Computer Science (CS); Hesam Mahmoudi, Ph.D. student and graduate research assistant, Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE); Diksha Pilania, master's student in Architecture and graduate assistant in the Graduate Life Center; Lily Seah, Ph.D. student and graduate teaching assistant in Psychology; Prithivrajan Thiyagarajan, master's student and research assistant in ISE; Farooq Zahid, master's student in Aerospace Engineering and graduate research assistant with the National Security Institute. 

Location: ACEC - 140 Squires; Virtual

March 30  |  5:00pm     Scholar in Residence - Dr. Banu Subramaniam Lecture

Dr. Subramaniam will deliver a talk titled, "Alien Becomes Exotic: Race, Gender, and the Practice of Science". Areception will follow at 6:00pm in the Newman Library Multipurpose Room. 

This engagement, in honor of both Women’s History Month and preceding Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month (APIDAHM), is a collaboration among the Women’s Center at VT, the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, the Provost’s Women and Minority Artists and Scholars Lecture Series, the Graduate School, College of Science, Department of Religion and Culture, Department of Science, Technology, and Society, Women’s and Gender Studies, College of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Asian Cultural Engagement Center (ACEC). 

Location: Newman Library Multipurpose Room; Virtual

March 31  |  12pm     Learning Lunch featuring Dr. Banu Subramaniam 

Dr. Banu Subramaniam is Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Trained as a plant evolutionary biologist, Banu engages the feminist studies of science in the practices of experimental biology. Author of Holy Science: The Biopolitics of Hindu Nationalism (University of Washington Press, 2019), Ghost Stories for Darwin: The Science of Variation, and the Politics of Diversity (University of Illinois Press, 2014), Dr. Subramaniam’s current work focuses on decolonizing botany and the relationship of science and religious nationalism in India.

Location: ACEC - 140 Squires; Virtual