SIUC’s observance of Asian American Heritage Month looks to expand its focus to the whole continent this year.

Events throughout April range from a viewing of the films “Ju-On” and the original version of “The Grudge” to an annual Iron Chef competition. Presentations on the Middle East are scheduled throughout April.

For a complete calendar of April’s events, go online to www.siuc.edu. Abed Abukhdair, a graduate assistant in Student Development, said programmers attempted to include all of Asia in this year’s observance, moving beyond an eastern Asia focus.

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“During the last week of the month there will be a Middle Eastern week,” he said. “In my four years at SIU I’ve never seen that aspect of Asian culture.”

He said he hoped as many people as possible would get out and participate in the events, and the first 50 to attend the screening of “Ju-On” would receive free T-shirts that list the month’s events.

The month will also feature the speaker Xiaosi Yang, who is a teacher in the humanities department at Harold Washington College in Chicago. He was also the former director of the Asian Studies Center at Lake Forest College.

His discussion is titled “The Global Significance of China’s Rise.”

There will also be a panel at another event called “Asian Myth Busters” led by associate professor Alan Kim, which will discuss the culture, facts and myths about Asian people.

Yuki Nakayama, a senior studying speech communication, said planning the month was hard work, and diversity was the goal.

“Last year, it was much more focused on the east side of Asia,” she said. “Now – it’s the whole thing.”

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