Terry Park | SpeakerHub

Personal Details

Bio

Dr. Terry K Park (he/him) is an award-winning educator, social justice advocate, and former performance artist.

Currently, Terry is the Education and Narrative Change Program Officer for The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). TAAF is a convener, incubator, and funder founded in 2021 by a group of prominent Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, aiming to support an array of Asian American and Pacific Islander causes. Terry is also the founding director of Maum Consulting, a social enterprise offering a range of Asian American Studies-based educational services. Through Maum, Terry has facilitated many well-received DEIB-focused workshops for a range of corporate, nonprofit, and university clients, including Etsy, Jackson Laboratory, and Minerva University. He previously served as a full-time, teaching-focused professor of Asian American Studies at seven higher education institutions across the U.S., including Wellesley College, the University of Maryland, College Park, Hunter College, San Quentin State Prison and Harvard University, where he was awarded a Certificate of Teaching Excellence.

Included on the list, “Inspiring Activists: Trailblazers and leaders in the community and in the struggle for social justice” by former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim, Terry has participated in several national and community-based Asian American organizations across the U.S., including a stint as Executive Director of Hyphen, an award-winning nonprofit news and culture magazine that tells the stories of Asian America with substance, style and sass. Dr. Park received his PhD in Cultural Studies with a designated emphasis in Studies of Performance and Practice from the University of California, Davis.

Learn more, including testimonials from former clients, at maumliberation.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-k-park-ph-d-9749a4133/.

Current position (2)

Education and Narrative Change Program Officer

The Asian American Foundation

Founding Director

Maum Consulting, LLC

Achievements (1)

UC Davis Provost’s Dissertation Year Fellowship

Issued by Office of the Provost, University of California, Davis · Jan 2014

Degrees (3)

PhD, Cultural Studies

University of California, Davis

2006 to 2014

MA, Cultures and Performances of the Korean Diaspora

New York University

2003 to 2006

BA, International Studies

Vassar College

1997 to 2001

Presentations

Presentations (5)

"Yellow Peril and Model Minority Myth: Two Sides of the Same Coin of Anti-Asian Violence"

This workshop provides a broad historical and contemporary overview of anti-Asian violence in the U.S. It focuses on the two dominant discourses that have shaped racist institutions, policies, and practices towards Asian Americans–”yellow peril” and the “model minority myth.” Asian American participants are invited to reflect on how these two discourses have shaped their lived experiences. All participants are also given space to think of concrete ways to challenge anti-Asian racism in order to cultivate a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

"Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling to Expanding the Bamboo Floor: Modeling a Politics of Downward Spacious

This workshop, delivered in May 2022 to Etsy and Sisense, identifies the very real problem of the "bamboo ceiling" that deprives Asian Americans, particularly those of East Asian descent, from promotion to executive/leadership positions in the corporate workplace. But just as importantly (if not more so), I challenge *how* we (sometimes) talk about the bamboo ceiling that inadvertently reinforces the very Model Minority Myth that gives the ceiling its shape. Instead of only "looking up"--towards individual understandings of advancement & success, and possible absorption of harmful and self-destructive values of what it means to be a leader--I advocate a politics of looking down: towards hyper-invisibilized yet vibrant Asian American communities, particularly Southeast Asian, working-class, immigrant & refugee, formerly incarcerated, undocumented, and queer & trans.

"K(no )w History, K(no )w Self: A Snapshot of Asian American History in the Age of #StopAsianHate"

This racial equity-focused workshop, delivered in May 2022 to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities as part of their recognition of AAPI Heritage Month, provides a broad historical overview of how U.S. empire played a crucial role in Asian American community formations and how this imperial history continues to shape lived experiences of anti-Asian violence.

Race, Racism, and Anti-Racism

This workshop, delivered to the Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC) and Minerva University, breaks down the concepts of race, racism, and anti-racism. It also offers concrete solutions for addressing anti-racism in a range of workplaces.

Asian Americans in the media

This workshop, based on Dr. Park's previous courses at Harvard University, Wellesley College, and the University of Maryland, offers a brief overview of the history and current landscape of representations of Asian Americans in U.S. media, with a focus on both harmful stereotypes as well as complex, affirming portrayals in both mainstream and independent productions.