UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Eileen Cheng-yin Chow, associate professor of Asian and Middle Eastern studies at Duke University and one of the founding directors of Story Lab at Duke, will deliver the inaugural Janssen Lecture at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 28 in Paterno Library’s Foster Auditorium on Penn State’s University Park campus. The lecture, sponsored by the Penn State Department of Asian Studies, is free and open to the public.
In addition to her Duke appointments, Cheng-yin Chow also serves as director of the Cheng Shewo Institute of Chinese Journalism at Shih Hsin University in Taipei, Taiwan. She also co-directs the Biographical Literature Press and its companion journal, Biographical Literature; serves on the executive board of the LA Review of Books; and is co-editor of the Duke University Press book series, Sinotheory. She received her bachelor of arts degree in literature from Harvard University and her doctoral degree in comparative literature from Stanford University.
Cheng-yin Chow’s 2025 Janssen Lecture, titled “The Bones of Strangers: Asian Americans and Kin-making” explores how modern Asian immigrant storytelling can be done more meaningfully and empathetically, starting with asking the question “How did you get here today?” rather than “Where are (really) from?” By shifting attention to others’ (and our own) stories of transit, arrival, and becoming rather than fixating on points of origin, Chin-yin Chow suggests individuals might set forth new pathways to care for ourselves and each other — and how not to be strangers.
The Janssen Lecture is named to honor Ernest Janssen (Penn State class of 1965 in history) for his longstanding support of the Department of Asian Studies and his generous contributions to the health and vitality of student and faculty research, travel, and associated intellectual pursuits. The event is co-sponsored by Penn State University Libraries.