Let’s Talk! Launches 2020-2021 Virtual Series

Last Friday, the Let’s Talk! Conference launched its 2020-2021 virtual series with a film screening of the documentary Maineland and a panel discussion featuring the director Miao Wang and the leading character in the film Harry He. More than 300 people, mostly parents and students, registered for the event. Comments and questions raised by the audience opened conversations among parents, students, educators, and mental health professionals.

Maineland follows the experiences of two Chinese international students who board and study in rural Maine for over three years, detailing their everyday lives: the conversations they have with teachers, friends, and parents, the activities they participate in, and the emotional transitions they go through. Many audiences resonated with the characters’ experiences. One commented, “There were many moments throughout the film that took me back to my high school years, and the insecurities and struggles I faced.”

“I think many Asian Americans can relate to the tension that can arise between parent and second generation or international students,” shared the film director Wang. “Parents often provide for their kids to have more and experience more, but this also can create schisms between their perspectives of the world.” The tension between parents and their children along with other challenges faced international students and ways to support them were the main issues addressed by panelists Juliana Chen, M.D., Associate Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness (CCCSEW), Josephine Kim, Ph.D., the founder of Let’s Talk from Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), psychologist and CCCSEW Director of China Psychoeducation Yi Yang, Ph.D., and Yinan Liang, an international student at Columbia University.

Following the event, this year's reconceptualized Let's Talk Conference will bring a free year-long virtual Students and Parents Series as well as a new Professionals Conference in partnership with CCCSEW, aiming to promote the success and well-being of Asian and Asian-American students by increasing their social and emotional supports. HGSE’s Dr. Kim designed this intentional space for professionals, parents, and students to explore and to have open discussions.

Learn more about Let’s Talk! at http://talkhgse.org/ or on our Center’s Conferences page.