Kim Park Nelson

Candidate statement

I have been a Midwest-based member of AAAS since 2004 and have lifelong experience with the community and intellectual experiences faced by many Asian Americanists in smaller academic programs and/or as part of marginalized Asian American populations. These include Southeast Asian populations, refugee population, and Asian adoptee populations that are common in the Midwest but less visible in other parts of the country. As a AAAS board member, I would offer my extensive organizing and administrative knowledge and expertise as a convener of three overseas academic symposia between 2007 and 2013 (the First, Second and Third International Symposia on Korean Adoption Studies in Seoul, South Korea) and as a principle conference planner of two US-based conferences in 2016 and 2018 (with the Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture). In addition, I am an established scholar whose work has contributed to the building of the Asian American Studies subfield of Asian Adoption Studies. I am an experienced faculty of color organizer and advocate within my and other university settings and would be honored to serve AAAS as a proud representative for Midwest-based Asian Americanists, including midwestern Asian American faculty, students and communities.