Based on interviews with three Chinese international students at a liberal arts college, Yam will examine how they talk about friendship. To them, what are “friendship” and “closeness”? How do their cultural contexts change “friendship” and “closeness” for them? How do their culturally different understandings of “friendship” and “closeness” affect how they “do” friendship? Finally, how do they resist institutional discourse of racially coded language, racial markedness, and self-segregation? Yam will raise Chinese international students’ issues with “(American) friendship” -- and possibilities for “(un-neoliberal) friendship” -- to construct “friendship” as a tool of social mobilization.

Workshop Speaker
Brandon Yam (any pronouns) is a third-year student at Hamilton College where he majors in anthropology and minors in education studies. The Queens, N.Y. native looks at how (in)formal learning contexts serve as loci for cultural (re)production. His academic interests include friendship, educational linguistics, and critical pedagogy in global contexts. Outside of academics, he likes meeting with his book club, trying new teas, and spamming his friends with cat memes. He also hopes to pursue a career in education.

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