University News

Ada Cheng Visiting WIU for "Our Words, Our Truths" Presentation

February 13, 2025

Printer friendly version

MACOMB, IL - - The Western Illinois University Women's Center and the WIU Justice, Inclusion Diversity, and Equity Office (JIDE) will host Ada Cheng, an educator turned artist, storyteller and creator who can awaken the possibilities within us all.

Cheng will present "Our Words, Our Truths: Storytelling for Collective Identity and Community Engagement" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 5 in the WIU Multicultural Center. The event is open free to the public and great for audiences of all ages.

"The Women's Center is dedicated to raising awareness on women's challenges and triumphs," WIU Women's Center graduate assistants Erbenita Zejnul and Patience Thomas said. "We're so excited to have Dr. Cheng here at WIU to give us a beautiful presentation on the importance of storytelling and advocacy."

Cheng will show the power of storytelling to engage individuals, create understanding and promote change. As an immigrant, a woman and a person not afraid to reach for the sky, Cheng has a rich background of experiences from which to draw her stories. She will demonstrate the importance of listening, creating pictures with words and connecting with others.

"Storytelling has been used for millennia to share beliefs, traditions, and ways of making meaning," Carl Ervin, WIU JIDE director said. "This Women's History Month speaker will show us how to use this proven communication technique to get a message of hope across to others."

Cheng has utilized storytelling to illustrate structural inequities, raise critical awareness and build intimate communities. Committed to amplifying and uplifting marginalized voices, she has created numerous storytelling platforms for underrepresented and LGBTQIA community members to tell difficult and vulnerable stories. Since she resigned from her tenured position in sociology at DePaul University in 2016, she has been featured at storytelling shows and performed her two solo performances at theaters, universities and conferences across the nation.

Cheng has partnered with numerous community and cultural organizations across the state for her storytelling platforms, including the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, National Cambodian Heritage Museum, Japanese American Service Committee, i2i: Invisible to Invincible Asian Pacific Islander Pride of Chicago, Center on Halsted, DeKalb County History Center and Ellwood House Museum. She features community members as tellers and brings these events to community spaces for critical engagement and alliance building.

The WIU Women's Center supports a welcoming and gender-inclusive campus community. Student development is at the core of its work, advocating for gender equity through examinations of feminism, sexism, patriarchy and misogyny. The Women's Center leads the campus community in explorations of how gender is a social construction that influences power dynamics and intersects with all other identities, such as, but not limited to: ability, age, citizenship status, ethnicity, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and socioeconomic class. We promote opportunities to celebrate women, collaborate in programming and outreach and seek unity and understanding.

The WIU JIDE office's vision is to shape and implement appropriate strategies, policies and procedures for creating a campus where individuals are permitted and encouraged to live up to their potential.

Illinois Humanities is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants and educational opportunities that spark conversation, foster reflection, build community and strengthen civic engagement for everyone in Illinois. Founded in 1974, we are the state partner for the National Endowment for the Humanities and supported by state, federal and private funds. Stay connected with Illinois Humanities on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn @ILHumanities.

For more information on WIU's Women's Center, visit wiu.edu/wc.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing