The Asian/Pacific Islander American Program congratulates Carlina Duan, one of the recipients of the American Culture Undergraduate Writing Awards awarded by the Undergraduate Committee of the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan. 

Carlina Duan, currently an English honors student and a minor in the Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies program, wrote a memorable reflection entitled "I am Not a Geisha." Carlina thoughtfully considered how some of her own experiences have been informed by the larger discourses on race and gender that circulate in the United States. The interconnections that she made between representations of Asians and Asian Americans in consumer culture, media, and local campus events showed admirable scope. The essay had a compelling trajectory that ran from Carlina's memory of a difficult adolescent Halloween to the condescension and micro-aggressions that all too often continue to occur at most universities today.  

Congratulations to Carlina and fellow recipient Kavitha Iyengar! They represent the amazing talent of all the Department of American Culture's undergraduate students and the ongoing mission of the department to produce critically engaged scholarship.