TEDxDuke 2022: “How Did You Get Here Today? On caring for strangers, and other Chinatown Stories”

TEDxDuke 2022 poster

TEDxDuke 2022: The Bones of Strangers and other Chinatown Stories with Eileen Cheng-yin Chow

Instead of asking a stranger, “Where are you (really) from?”, Eileen Cheng-yin Chow suggests that “How did you get here today?” might yield a more meaningful exchange. Learning about the histories of Chinatowns and their inhabitants is to see how people who have been perceived as perpetual outsiders developed powerful strategies for survival and mutual care, in life and in death. And in turn, by shifting our attention to each other’s stories of transit, arrival, and becoming, rather than fixating on points of origin, we might set forth new pathways for all of us to care for ourselves and for one another - and how not to be strangers.

You can find Eileen Chow's talk here, and an overview of TEDxDuke 2022 here.