Drawing upon ethnographic research, this talk examines how Asian Americans at two community-based educational spaces in the Chicagoland region engaged with dominant racializing discourses. I analyze each space's racial logics--which I call ethnic multiculturalism and neoliberal model minority--and how they shaped the lessons youth learned about race, identity, and education.

Eujin Park is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP) at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Dr. Park draws upon Critical Race Theory, Asian American Studies, and community engaged research to examine how Asian American families negotiate with race in and through educational institutions. She recently conducted an ethnographic investigation of community-based educational spaces in the Chicago-area Asian American community, which highlighted the role of community spaces in youths’ educational experiences and understandings of racializing discourses. She is currently co-PI of a qualitative study that examines what role community-engaged research can play in social movements. As part of this project, Dr. Park is conducting a case study of a participatory action research project with girls of color. In addition to publishing and presenting her work in multiple academic venues, Dr. Park draws upon her research in her work with Asian American youth in community-based organizations. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a concentration in Social Sciences and a Minor in Qualitative Methods. She also holds an M.A. from UW-Madison and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.