Toward HMoob-centered Inquiries: Reclaiming HMoob American Educational Scholarship and Curriculum

As the intersecting field of HMoob (Hmong/Mong) Studies/Hmong American Studies, Southeast Asian American Studies, and Education Studies grow, there is also an increased desire to learn, read, and produce scholarship by HMoob people. Throughout our graduate journeys and as early career scholars and educators at the intersections of Critical HMoob Studies and Education Studies, we—Choua and Kaozong—have yearned for scholarship on HMoob that is not just about representation but includes research that recognizes HMoob strengths and assets. Specifically, we craved scholarly knowledge that employed HMoob assets to interrogate racist, colonial discourses and decenter whiteness. This special issue centers HMoob (Hmong/Mong) epistemologies and ontologies in HMoob American education research to produce “new narratives and imaginaries” (Vue & Mouavangsou, 2021, p. 273). We aim to provide empirical, theoretical, epistemological, ontological, and methodological HMoob-centered approaches in scholarship and curriculum building. While there are existing scholarships that aim to understand and advocate for HMoob American education, we call for a critical analysis of this genealogy. HMoob scholarship, especially those that seek social justice change, should not be grounded nor should it produce deficit and/or damage-centered discourses on the communities it is advocating for

Building a Better Phospholamban: Using Structure and Dynamics-Based Design to Engineer Therapeutic Mutants for Treating Heart Failure

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Heart failure, one of the chronic conditions of heart disease, is marked by a loss of strength in muscle contractility. Impairment in calcium signaling in cardiac muscle cells has a direct impact on the development of heart failure. Interactions between an enzyme, the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA), and its regulatory inhibitor, the membrane protein phospholamban (PLN), play an important role in the regulation of cardiac muscle relaxation and contraction. PLN is a membrane protein that inhibits SERCA, an enzyme that facilitates transport of calcium ions into the sarcoplasmic reticulum to allow relaxation to occur. Several naturally occurring mutations in PLN lead to inherited heart diseases. In order to augment SERCA activity and increase cardiac relaxation, we are designing PLN mutants which will be able to selectively increase SERCA activity by down-regulating PLN inhibition. The ultimate goal is to identify the most promising PLN mutants, deliver them into animal models using gene therapy, and test whether they improve cardiac relaxation. Based on the known structure of PLN, we have designed, cloned, and isolated new generation of PLN mutants for study and explored the interactions between PLN mutants and protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), one of the main enzymes that dephosphorylates PLN and controls PLN inhibition activity. We have successfully completed preparation of PLN mutant samples for activity assays. These interactions will eventually be correlated to changes in SERCA activity to determine if the therapeutic mutants can deliver expected results

The Model Minority Maze: Hmong Americans Working Within and Around Racial Discourses

Whether framed as model minorities or used as evidence that the model minority is a myth, Hmong Americans and other Southeast Asians are constrained by the model minority stereotype. As a disciplinary tool, the model minority stereotype controls Asian American experiences and identities. This paper explores the complex and diverse ways that Hmong Americans in a community in Wisconsin are making sense of and responding to the model minority stereotype and the racial positioning of the Hmong American community. Our paper will illustrate the persistent power of the model minority stereotype to frame Asian American experiences, identities and actions

“Greening up”: A Multistep Synthetic Transformation

Green Chemistry is an experimental design theory that aims to reduce the use and generation of hazardous substances in order to address problems we face in the world today like water contamination, global warming, ozone depletion, and pollution. When hazardous substances are replaced with less hazardous substances, both risk and cost can be reduced. Teaching the importance and relevance of green chemistry is imperative to the future of chemistry and the environment. Since most useful organic chemical targets require more than one synthetic step, it is important that undergraduate organic chemistry students be exposed to labs that require multiple transformations. This will allow students to understand how reactions work after observing them first-hand. Additionally, since the ‘traditional’ synthesis of most chemical substances utilizes solvents, reagents, and conditions that are harmful and hazardous to the environment, students had to propose their own green alternatives by completing a 3-step synthesis and determining a greener route. The products were purified, characterized and then a metric system was used to compare the greenness of the reactions. A reaction was considered more green if there were relative decreases in the combination of factors that include cost, environmental toxicity, and waste produced. In total, 22 different targets were attempted to be synthesized

Analysis of a Hmong Mythical Figure : Chi You (Txiv Yawg)

Color poster with text and photographs.Hmong diaspora and transnational situation has created a search for "the Homeland," and the story of the Hmong mythical king Chi You (Txiv Yawg) has offered a sense of "origin" for the Hmong people (Yang 2009). Because the history of the Hmong has been passed down orally, scholars and Hmong communities' continuously debate on the validity of Chi You's origin story (Lemoine 2008). The purpose of this study was to analyze the validity and complex story of Chi You.AsiaNetwork Freeman Foundation Student-Faculty Fellowship; University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Exploration of the Value of Hmong-Related Curricula to Hmong American Postsecondary Students

Color poster with text and photographs.Critical race theory (CRT) recognizes race and racism as deeply embedded in all aspects of institutional life, including education. It encourages contextual, interdisciplinary knowledge and experiential knowledge as counter to dominant narrative. CRT challenges race neutrality and colorblindness (Yosso 2005). The purpose of this study was to employ the critical race theory to explore the significance of and value of Hmong-related curricula to Hmong American postsecondary students.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

High School Blugold Beginnings Program : an Investigation of Program Impact

Color poster with text and graphs.The Blugold Beginnings College and Career Readiness High School Program works with local schools to provide a comprehensive college connection for high school students. The program now assesses students' level of self-efficacy to determine whether students tend to increase in feelings of self-efficacy after participating in the Blugold Beginnings program. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students in the Blugold Beginnings College and Career Readiness High School Program significantly increase their knowledge about post-secondary education and to assess whether this increased awareness coincides with an rise in students' feelings of self-efficacy and academic aspirations.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs