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Center for Asian American Christianity

Follow the New Way: How American Refugee Resettlement Policies Changed Hmong Religious Life

Public Lecture by Dr. Melissa Borja

Thursday, February 16, 2023 • 3:30PM EST • Hybrid Event

Cooper Conference Room, Erdman Center

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Center for Asian American Christianity

Follow the New Way: How American Refugee Resettlement Policies Changed Hmong Religious Life

Public Lecture by Dr. Melissa Borja

In the United States, the government has long depended on Christian organizations to aid and resettle refugees. Over the past half century, however, incoming refugees have been increasingly non-Christian and more religiously and racially diverse. How has the American refugee resettlement system adapted to these new religious circumstances, and how have non-Christian refugees experienced a resettlement system dominated by Christian organizations? Focusing on the case of Hmong refugees, this talk will show how American refugee resettlement policies transformed the religious lives of refugees, despite sincere efforts by both government and resettlement agencies to respect religious differences and put ideals of religious pluralism into practice.

American resettlement policies changed Hmong religious life in two ways: first, they made it difficult for Hmong refugees to practice their traditional rituals, and second, they facilitated the adoption of Christianity by setting up close relationships between Hmong refugees and Christian organizations that implemented the U.S. refugee resettlement program. In the end, American refugee resettlement policies—which on the surface appear to be religiously neutral—profoundly unsettled the religious lives of Hmong refugees.

Speaker

Assistant Professor of American Culture

Dr. Melissa Borja

University of Michigan

Melissa Borja is Assistant Professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan, where she is core faculty in Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies. Trained at Harvard, the University of Chicago, and Columbia, she is a historian of migration, religion, race, and politics and is the author of Follow the New Way: American Refugee Resettlement Policy and Hmong Religious Change (published in February 2023 by Harvard University Press). An active public scholar, Dr. Borja advises Princeton’s Religion and Forced Migration Initiative, serves as the lead investigator of the Virulent Hate Project, and has contributed research to Stop AAPI Hate. For her research and advocacy on anti-Asian racism during the Covid-19 pandemic, USA Today honored her as one of its 2022 Women of the Year.

Melissa Borja is Assistant Professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan, where she is core faculty in Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies. Trained at Harvard, the University of Chicago, and Columbia, she is a historian of migration, religion, race, and politics and is the author of Follow the New Way: American Refugee Resettlement Policy and Hmong Religious Change (February 2023, Harvard University Press). An active public scholar, Dr. Borja advises Princeton’s Religion and Forced Migration Initiative, serves as the lead investigator of the Virulent Hate Project, and has contributed research to Stop AAPI Hate. For her research and advocacy on anti-Asian racism during the Covid-19 pandemic, USA Today honored her as one of its 2022 Women of the Year.

Host

Director

Dr. David C. Chao

Center for Asian American Christianity

Dr. David C. Chao is director of the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary. He teaches courses on Asian American theology, organizes academic programming in Asian American theology and ministry, and mentors Asian and Asian American students. His research and writing focus on Asian American theology, the uses of Christian doctrine for liberation, the convergence and divergence of Protestant and Catholic dogmatics, and the theology of Karl Barth. His first book, titled Concursus and Concept Use in Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Providence, is under contract with Routledge. He is grant co-author and project editor for the $300,000 translation grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to the Karl Barth Translator’s Seminar. He is also developing a multi-volume project on Asian American theology. Chao is a graduate of Yale University (BA), Regent College (MDiv), and Princeton Theological Seminary (ThM, PhD). He is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Association for Asian American Studies. Chao has a wide range of pastoral experience with Chinese American, Korean American, and Pan-Asian churches and ministries and is an active member of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Dr. David C. Chao is director of the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary. He teaches courses on Asian American theology, organizes academic programming in Asian American theology and ministry, and mentors Asian and Asian American students. His research and writing focus on Asian American theology, the uses of Christian doctrine for liberation, the convergence and divergence of Protestant and Catholic dogmatics, and the theology of Karl Barth. Chao is a graduate of Yale University (BA), Regent College (MDiv), and Princeton Theological Seminary (ThM, PhD).

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Location: Cooper Room, Erdman Center, 20 Library Pl, Princeton, NJ 08540. Parking is free at the Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library, 25 Library Pl, Princeton, NJ 08540. Click here for more details.

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Schedule

All times are Eastern Time

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Time (ET)

Session

Location

3:30–4:30PM ET

Lecture by Dr. Melissa Borja

Cooper Room or Airmeet Session

4:30–5:00PM ET

Q&A

5:00PM ET

Lounge Table Discussions

Airmeet Virtual Social Lounge

Center for Asian American Christianity

The newly expanded Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary comes at a critical time in the life of Asian America. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial-ethnic demographic in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the persistence of anti-Asian racism. Moreover, minority and immigrant churches are poised to transform the face of Christianity in the United States in the next few decades. The Center for Asian American Christianity seeks to equip and empower the next generation of Asian American leaders for service in church, society, and academy.

Princeton Theological Seminary has been a leading voice in Asian American theology and ministry through the work of Professor Emeritus Sang Hyun Lee, the Center for Asian American Christianity, and the establishment of the Kyung-Chik Han Chair of Asian American Theology.