AAC Fellows Talk: Dr. Sean Metzger

Dr. Metzger’s talk examines Qui Nguyen’s play Vietgone in order to highlight the stakes of Asian American studies as well as efforts in the field that have focused on violence against Southeast Asian diasporas in particular. These critical moves facilitate an interrogation of the category of liminal personhood called the refugee. How do the spectacles and narratives of refugees help us to understand the human? This presentation is excerpted from Metzger’s book in progress on Asian American theatre. The example serves as one illustration of a research process that excavates theory from theatre making; it offers ways to consider how race is embodied and enacted.