A variety of activities have been scheduled on Monday-Friday, April 4-8, to commemorate Asian Awareness Week at Hope College.
The public is invited to all of the week's four events. Admission is free except for the Asian Food Festival on Wednesday, April 6.
The week is coordinated by Hope's Asian Perspective Association (HAPA), a student organization working in conjunction with a variety of campus groups and offices including the college's Office of Multicultural Education. T-shirts will be sold and cash donations will be collected at all events to raise funds for earthquake relief for Japan.
The week will begin with a Sushi Night on Monday, April 4, at 6 p.m. in the Maas Center auditorium. Attendees will be able to make their own sushi rolls.
A showing of the documentary film "Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women," with discussion led by the film's producer, Dr. Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, will take place on Tuesday, April 5, at 6 p.m. in the Fried-Hemenway Auditorium of the Martha Miller Center for Global Communication. "Silence Broken" tells of Korean women forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
Participants will have an opportunity to taste a variety of Asian dishes on Wednesday, April 6, from 4:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the annual Asian Food Festival hosted at both Phelps and Cook halls. Meals during the festival are $5 for those not on the college meal plan, who may participate at the Phelps dining hall.
The week will conclude with a performance by comedian Dan Nainan on Friday, April 8, at 8:30 p.m. in the DeWitt Center Kletz. Nainan, whose father is from India and mother is from Japan, was a senior engineer with Intel before becoming a comedian. He has performed around the country as well as internationally; specific appearances range from NBC's "Last Comic Standing," to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, to Apple's "Get a Mac" series of television advertisements.
The DeWitt Center is located at 141 E. 12th St., facing Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., on Columbia Avenue at 10th Street. The Martha Miller Center for Global Communication is located at 257 Columbia Ave., at Columbia Avenue and 10th Street. Phelps Hall is located at 154 E. 10th St., on Columbia Avenue at 10th Street.