Hmong Scholar to Address Issues of Health and Language Acquisition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 7, 2001
Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Pam Brown, Social Work
530-898-5875
Hmong Scholar to Address Issues of Health and Language Acquisition
Anthropologist Dia Cha, Ph.D., will visit California State University, Chico on March 13, 14, and 15 to deliver a public lecture, “Perspectives of Medical Anthropology on the Health of the Hmong,” and participate in discussions with educators on reading methodologies for Hmong children.
Cha is the author of three books: Dia’s Story Cloth, 1996, with Norma Livo, Ph.D.; Folk Stories of the Hmong, 1991; and Teaching with Folk Stories of the Hmong: An Activity Book, 2000.
Cha is the first Hmong to receive a Ph.D. in anthropology in the United States. In 1975, she and her family fled from the advancing communists in their native Laos. They were refugees in Thailand, and then immigrated to the United States. Cha quickly mastered English and was encouraged to pursue higher education. She received a B.A. in anthropology from Metropolitan State College, Denver, Colorado, in 1989; an M.A. in applied anthropology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1992; and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2000.
The schedule of for Cha’s visit is as follows:
Tuesday, March 13
Demonstration and Discussion: Reading Methodologies for Use with Hmong Children (especially for educators, but everyone welcome)
4Ð5:30 p.m., Butte County Library, 1st and Sheridan, Chico
Wednesday, March 14
Reading Methodologies for Use with Hmong Children
4-5:30 p.m., Barry Elementary, 991 Barry Road, Yuba City
Thursday, March 15
Public Lecture: Perspectives of Medical Anthropology on the Health of the Hmong
4 p.m., Glenn 212, CSU, Chico campus
Cha’s visit, sponsored by the Committee on Arts and Lectures, CSU, Chico, introduces a focus on Hmong culture at CSU, Chico for the coming year. The Book in Common Program, in its second year, has chosen Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, as its selection for the 2001-2002 year.
“It is wonderful that Dr. Dia Cha is coming to Chico. It ties in perfectly with the Book in Common. We chose The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down because it offers an incisive and interesting look at aspects of Hmong culture and the adjustments being made by Hmong people to American customs and ways of life,” said Byron Jackson, vice provost for Academic Affairs and chair of the Book in Common Committee.
For more information about Dia Cha’s visit, contact Pam Brown, Social Work Program, at 530-898-5875.
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