Asian and Asian American Studies Institute

Join us for an open classroom discussion of "Shattered: the Asian American Comics Anthology"

Sponsored by the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute

Asian American Activism event featuring Douglas Ishii, Assistant Professor of English at Emerson College

AsACC opens April's Asian American Heritage Observance with well known baker JASMINE CHO.

Jasmine M. Cho is the Founder of Yummyholic, an online bakery specializing in adorably delicious small treats, but she considers herself a baker turned artist turned cookie activist. In 2016, she began to create portrait cookies as a way of uncovering and sharing the hidden histories of underrepresented and marginalized communities. Her cookie activism has since been featured internationally on various media outlets that include NPR, HuffPost, CBS This Morning, and The Korea Daily. Jasmine also had the opportunity to give a TEDx talk on her work which immediately went viral and has since reached over 47K views.

Jasmine expanded her edible artwork to traditional fine art while pursuing art therapy studies in college. In 2019, she wrote, illustrated, and published the children’s book Role Models Who Look Like Me: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Made History. She is also a contributing artist for an aluminum and glass panel mural that surrounds the top floor of the University Commons Building on Carlow University’s campus in Pittsburgh, PA.

While managing the stressors of owning a small business, Jasmine became more aware of the therapeutic impacts of baking. Believing that mental health services should be as diverse as the communities they serve, she is now exploring the frontiers of research-based bake therapy with hopes to make the kitchen a more accessible and empowering space for creativity and healing for all people.

Jasmine has received numerous accolades including CREATOR of the Year by the Pittsburgh Technology Council, the Small Business Community Champion Award by Citizens Bank, and was also awarded a Mayor’s Proclamation declaring Jan. 28th, 2020 as “Jasmine Cho Day” in the City of Pittsburgh. She is also a Food Network Champion, taking the win on Season 3, Episode 8 of the show, Christmas Cookie Challenge.

Jasmine was born in Los Angeles, California to parents who immigrated from South Korea. Her lived experience as someone who identifies as an Asian American woman has been uniquely shaped by her time living throughout the country from New Mexico to Hawaii before settling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition to her passions in baking and social justice, Jasmine holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and loves to indulge in martial arts films and Korean variety shows.

This event is sponsored by the Asian American Cultural Center, Dining Services, and the Resident Hall Association and is free and open to the public.

Our UCHI Fellow will be presenting their research talk on “Disunion: Anticommunist Nationalists in the Republic of Vietnam, 1954-1963” followed by a light reception. For more information, please visit https://humanities.uconn.edu/fellowships/current-and-previous-fellows/. If you require accommodation for this event, please contact uchi@uconn.edu at least one week prior to the event.