The Southeast Asia in the Midwest Initiative at Purdue starts with Aunty Lee’s Delights event
Despite the gloomy weather, the Asian and Asian Resource and Cultural Center (AAARCC) was packed on Friday, September 30, 2024, for the event titled “Aunty Lee’s Delights at the AAARCC.” In partnership with the Southeast Asia in the Midwest Initiative, Asian American and Asian Gardening Club, Purdue Student Farm, and the Big Read Program, the event featured community preparation and sharing of Singaporean cuisine featured in Ovidia Yu’s novel Aunty Lee’s Delights: A Singaporean Mystery that is this year’s featured literary work in the Purdue’s Big Read. Attendees of the event enjoyed a taste of Singaporean chicken and vegetarian curry, sayur lodeh (mixed vegetable stew), terong sambal (eggplant sambal), acar (pickled vegetables), sardine epok-epok (curry puffs), and es Bandung (iced rose syrup beverage).
Dr. Mindy Hui-Tan, lecturer in African American Studies, led an activity introducing attendees to Singlish, the vernacular language in Singapore that mixes English, Tamil, Malay, Chinese languages, et cetera.
The event also served to soft-launch Purdue’s new research group, Southeast Asia in the Midwest Initiative. Co-directed by Dr. Dada Docot (Anthropology), Dr. Minh Duc Trinh (Political Science), and Dr. Pamela K. Sari (Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center), the initiative aims to bring together experts, scholars, artists, and community members in the Midwest whose academic and creative interests touch on Southeast Asia. The initiative envisions to advance research on Southeast Asia in the Midwest, open space for knowledge exchange and intercultural understanding, and provide expertise on Southeast Asia at Purdue and beyond.
Faculty, students, and staff interested in participating in future events of the Southeast Asia in the Midwest Initiative can register their interest by filling out this Qualtrics form.
The event was funded by the College of Liberal Arts Office of Research and Graduate Education.
