Kip Fulbeck,
award-winning artist, slam poet, and filmmaker, will deliver the weekly
Carleton convocation on Friday, May 1 at 10:50 a.m. in the Skinner
Memorial Chapel. Fulbeck is internationally renowned for his work
dealing with issues of identity, multi-raciality, and pop culture. His
presentation, titled “ What Are You? The Changing Face of America,”
will address these topics through a fusion of spoken word, stand-up
comedy, political activism, and personal anecdotes. Fulbeck’s
appearance is free and open to the public.
Fulbeck’s appearance is the annual Asian-Pacific American
Convocation at Carleton. His talk stems from the Hawaiian word "hapa" –
literally translated as "half" – a slang term used to describe a person
of mixed ethnic heritage with partial roots in Asian or Pacific Island
ancestry. Once considered a derogatory term, “hapa” has since been
adopted by the growing American hapa population as a term of pride.
In 2003, Fulbeck, whose mother is Chinese and father is English, Irish and Welsh, began The Hapa Project,
a personal and professional undertaking in which he traveled the United
States and photographed more than 1,000 ethnically mixed Asians. His
book, Part Asian, 100% Hapa
(Chronicle Books, 2006), features many of those individuals. The simple
portraits, blank-faced and taken from the collarbone up, mimic and
critique the official photos seen on driver's licenses, passports and
other forms of identification.
Fulbeck has also published two additional books: Permanence: Tattoo Portraits (Chronicle Books, 2008) and Paper Bullets: A Fictional Autobiography (University of Washington Press, 2001).
Fulbeck is the director of twelve films, including “Banana Split”
and “Lilo & Me,” and has made numerous appearances on CNN, MTV, and
PBS.
Fulbeck is a professor of art and Asian-American studies at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has been named an
Outstanding Faculty Member four times. He is also an avid surfer,
guitar player, motorcycle rider, ocean lifeguard, and pug enthusiast. A
complete overachiever despite being only half Chinese (he quips),
Fulbeck is also a nationally-ranked Masters swimmer.
For more information regarding the convocation and disability
accommodations, please contact the Carleton College Relations Office at
(507) 222-4309.
LINK: http://apps.carleton.edu/news/news/?story_id=525251