Before and After War: Post-show panel discussion

On Friday, March 21st,  our Winter 2014 Artists in Residence will be joined by four experts who will discuss the larger themes both works have in common.

About the panelists:

Susan Maxwell, Mental Health Expert – Susan Maxwell works as a Clinical Psychologist employed in the Posttraumatic Stress Disorders Clinic at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the PTSD clinic. She provides individual and group psychotherapy for veterans coping with post traumatic stress disorder and comorbid disorders. She holds a Psy.D. in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley. Prior to becoming a psychologist, she earned a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and an MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her first book, Passenger, was published by the University of Georgia Press in 2005 through the Contemporary Poetry Series. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and her work has appeared in numerous literary journals. She has collaborated with Krista Denio previously as a writer for an evening length piece, and Krista has used her poetry in her workshops and performances as source material.

Khatharya Um, Professor of Asian American Studies, UC Berkeley – Professor Khatharya Um is Associate Professor in the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program, Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies, and Faculty Academic Director of Berkeley Study Abroad at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also an affiliated faculty with Gender and Women’s Studies, the Human Rights Center, the Center for Race and Gender, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Berkeley. Professor Um received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley where she was also the Chancellor’s Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research and teaching interests center on Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian American communities, and on migration, refugee, and diaspora studies. She has written extensively on Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian American communities. Her current research is on the politics of memory. In addition to her research and teaching, Professor Um is a long-standing community advocate and has received numerous awards, including congressional recognitions, for her work in the community. She has served on numerous boards including as Chair of the two national Southeast Asian American organizations, the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center and the National Association For the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans. She was also Chair of the Cambodian Network Council, and of the National Cambodian American Organization, and was on the Board of Directors of the National Coalition of Advocates for Students, and the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. In 2006, she served as a Commissioner for the National Cambodian American Health initiative. Professor Um is a Chancellor Public Scholar.

Misty Snyder, veteran and performer – Misty Snyder is an ensemble performer in the CONTACT project and veteran. Before joining the Contact Project she was in the Coast Guard for eight years and rcently got out in in July 2013. She has interned with the U.S. Marshalls during college and has a BS in Criminal Justice from San Fracisco State. She is currently going back to school to become an electrician.

Thida Buth Mam, author and survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide – Thida Buth Mam (pronounced Teeda) is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge Genocide and is now a Cambodian American, a software engineer at Hewlett Packard Inc. in Silicon Valley, California. Thida has 2 children, Laura Mam and Andrew Mam. Her powerful story under the Khmer Rouge regime has been told in various books including: “To Destroy You Is No Loss” (autobiography), “Children of Killing Fields” with Dith Pran, “Bamboo and Butterflies: From Refugee to Citizen” and “Vanished.” Thida has also been featured in 3 films on the subject of Cambodia: “Out of The Poison Tree,” “Rain Falls From Earth” and “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten – Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll.” Finally in 2003, Thida appeared on Oprah and was asked to share her inspiring perseverance in the face of death and her experiences as a refugee in America.