Ms. Kanara Ty
Mentor: Prof. Thu-huong Nguyen-vo
Funding: Wasserman Research Scholarship

Title: Keepin' it Real: The Representations of the Khmer Genocide Through Khmer Hip-Hop
Kanara Christina Ty is a fourth year undergraduate pursuing her BA in Asian American Studies. She hails from Long Beach, California. Since her arrival at UCLA, Kanara has been actively involved with numerous campus organizations, such as the United Khmer Students, Asian Pacific Coalition, Student Welfare Commission, Office of Residential Life, and the Career Based Outreach Program (CBOP). She keeps herself pretty busy by juggling her activities, work, school, and her research project. After completing her undergraduate studies, Kanara wants to pursue a Master's in Asian American Studies, as well as a PhD in World, Arts and Culture, with a focus on Culture and Performance. Kanara's research interests include the performing arts in the Khmer American community. Her extracurricular activities and academic experiences at UCLA have served as influences in her passion for outreaching to the Khmer American community. As a native of Long Beach, (the largest Khmer population outside of Cambodia), she strives to give back to her roots. One day, she dreams of becoming a professor and developing the Khmer American Studies Department at a large research institution. She also dreams of establishing a Khmer American performing arts center in Long Beach as well as become a producer in future Khmer American art showcases.

Kanara's research is focusing on the development of Khmer hip-hop, as it has been expressed through the tales of the Khmer Genocide. In the years following the Khmer Genocide of the late 1970s, there have been a number of ways that the stories of the tragedy have been told. Survivors of the genocide have told their experiences through film and books, but never before has the story been told through performance. Prach Ly, a native of Long Beach, unfolds the experiences through rap lyrics. However, Ly himself did not experience the genocide, but depicts the genocide under various lights. This research project will analyze the different ways that Ly portrays the genocide, as well as see how his own work falls under the realm of fiction and non-fiction. This project advocates for a development of research in the field of the Khmer performing arts after the Khmer genocide, as well as bring more awareness to the issue of the performing arts ceasing in the Khmer American community.

link : http://www.college.ucla.edu/ugresearch/pro_scholars0506m-z.html