Every year an SAIC student is awarded a grant in the amount of $10,000 each to implement a “Project for Peace,” anywhere in the world, typically over the summer. Projects for Peace are grassroots activities that address root causes of conflict and promote peace. Proposals may be submitted by any U.S. or international undergraduate student at SAIC and you may implement the project alone or with others; the project may take place anywhere in the world, including in the U.S. Learn more about how to apply and hear from the 2022 winner, Ameya Marie Okamoto about their project. This past summer, as the recipient SAIC's 2022 Project for Peace Grant, Ameya journeyed across the country via Amtrak with the intention of using the country’s geographic landscape and the confinement of train travel to research, memorialize, and reveal the Asian American diaspora's most violent and hidden histories. Through diaristic documentation and storytelling shared via her popular social media accounts on both TikTok and Instagram (@ameyaokamoto), she deconstructs dominant beliefs and presumptive narratives around the Asian American experience; negotiating public perception and challenging Anti-Asian sentiment and xenophobia by elevating the untold stories of the Asian American diaspora. In this talk, Ameya will take you with her as she travels across America and share how her time on the road might've answered some of her most personal questions about the construction of Asian American identity, exclusion, and belonging: What does it mean to be seen, heard and understood as Asian American? What (is) Asian American? And (when) are (we) important? Why now? And where do we go from here? Ameya is a painting student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and studies Sociology at Tufts University. She is also an avant-garde sculptural nail artist and cosmetology student at A Plus Nail School, working towards her nail tech license. To learn more about her work go to: WWW.AMEYAMARIEOKAMOTO.COM @AMEYAOKAMOTO #GoingHomeAgainProject