Bunker Hill Community College

BHCC in the News

2008-03-25 - Award-winning Author Gish Jen Visits BHCC

Boston, March 25, 2008 – Award-winning author and short story writer Gish Jen spoke to a group of more than 200 at Bunker Hill Community College on Tuesday, March 25, 2008. Her lecture addressed second-generation immigrant issues, intergenerational conflicts and cultural diversity, and was followed by a book signing and reception.

“The melting pot has gone out of fashion, and thank goodness,” Jen said. “Being American and being ethnic are no longer at odds.” Speaking about how she views America in regard to her children Jen said, “I care very much about making this a country where my children are welcome and where they are understood. The desire to do something to change the world so that my daughter is welcome in it is very strong with me.” 

Ms. Jen, a second-generation Chinese American, is the author of numerous books including the recently published The Love Wife—which explores the realities of mixed heritage families—and Typical American, Who’s Irish? and Mona in the Promised Land.  Her work has also been published in the Atlantic Monthly, the New Yorker, the New Republic, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.  She is also featured in the upcoming PBS Masterworks series, The American Novel.  Her name—“Gish”—was adopted in tribute to the actress Lillian Gish, with whom she shares her birth-given first name, Lillian.    

“Gish Jen has a warm and funny way of telling a story that is appealing to everyone who hears it. Her personal journey—as a child of immigrants—is one that is familiar to so many Americans that she immediately feels like an old family friend who’s come for a visit,” said Subrina Smith Taylor, Vice President, Student Services and Enrollment Management, BHCC. “Her visit was the perfect conclusion to this year’s Compelling Conversations Speaker Series.”

The BHCC Compelling Conversations Speaker Series offers diverse guest speakers a chance to share their thoughts and experiences in hopes that they will challenge the thoughts and beliefs of our students and the community at large.  In the past, the series has featured, among others, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, international journalist and author Mariane Pearl, Academy Award-winner Richard Dreyfuss, civil rights activist Mary Frances Berry, best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich, newscaster Ray Suarez and the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson.

Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts, enrolling more than 8,800 students on two campuses and at five satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of BHCC’s students are women. The College also enrolls more than 600 international students who come from more than 95 countries and speak 75 different languages.

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