April 2003

On April 12th, American Studies major Jayna Huot presented a paper at the Five-College Crossroads In the Study of America (CISA) Symposium, held at Smith College. Jayna spoke on Rea Tajiri's film, History and Memory, and analysed how the film understands the intertwining of history and memory as the basis of personal as well as community identity. As Tajiri tells of her quest to discover the forgotten past of her family's experience as Japanese internees during World War II, she comes to know, and to participate in, larger communal histories of family and nation, and thus offers a means to understand a hybrid identity between Japanese and American. Says Jayna, "the CISA Symposium is a fabulous thing to be involved in. Not only is it a rich experience to be able to hear the various interests and pursuits of other students in the five-college area, but also to be able to share your own work with others."