UPCOMING EVENTS
Mahjong & Mingling at Modern Citizen
October 22, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Modern Citizen, 2505 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA
Cost: Tickets are $10 to reserve your spot, which you can apply toward the purchase of any item during the event.
Register: https://groups.stanford.edu/topics/9361/events/142943Â
Join us at Modern Citizen for an evening of shopping, mingling, and mahjongâperfect for both beginners and seasoned players (weâll teach you if youâre new!). Enjoy drinks, hors dâoeuvres, and great company in a warm, welcoming setting. Originating in 19th-century southern China, mahjong blends strategy and luck, much like gin rummy. Once a classic pastime, itâs now making a stylish comeback in cities across the countryâcome see why itâs becoming popular all over again in cities around the country.
Founded by Stanford alumna Jess Lee, â08, Modern Citizen is known for its chic, versatile womenswear designed to move seamlessly from day to night. This event is brought to you by the Stanford Women's Club of San Francisco, SAPAAC, and Stanford Young Alumni Bay Area. Contact: Karen Nga, [email protected]Â
Stanford Alumni in Sustainability x Climate FreskÂ
October 24, 12:30 - 3:30 pm
Stanford, CA
Register: https://luma.com/0dtycykd
Rattled by layoffs, tariffs, AI boom? What an unpredictable year this has been. âJoin Stanford Alumni in Sustainability to turn your Climate Week learnings into action and meet students, alumni, and climate ecosystem builders through a fun, interactive game called Climate Fresk!
This participatory climate science workshop is designed from IPCC's latest report to refresh your foundation while deepening your connection to the SF Bay community. Led by the Stanford Alumni in Sustainability, in partnership with Stanford Energy Club, we intend to foster informal mentorship and share insights and ideas.
Mistress Dispeller Film Screening at the Roxie
October 31, 8:40 pm
Roxie Theater, 3125 16th Street, San Francisco, CA
Cost: GA tickets starting from $16.62, $12.62 for senior citizens
Buy tickets: https://roxie.com/film/mistress-dispeller-2/Â
Attend a screening of Mistress Dispeller at the Roxie Theater in SF, directed by Hong Kong-based Elizabeth Lo, Stanford MFA '15, who will appear in person for Q&A with Pete Nicks following the screening.
About the film: In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession and is hired to go undercover and break up affairs by any means necessary; a âmistress dispeller.â Offering strikingly intimate access to a real, unfolding love triangle, Mistress Dispeller documents all sides of what is usually kept behind closed doors. As Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis, sympathies shift between husband, wife and mistress while emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms collide in this spellbinding look at modern love.
Author Talk: Professor Gordon Chang's War, Race, and Culture
November 2, 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET
Virtual
Register: https://groups.stanford.edu/topics/9361/events/143663Â
Join us for a virtual book discussion with Stanford Professor Gordon H. Chang, PhD '87, and longtime SAPAAC member on his latest book, War, Race, and Culture: Journeys in Trans-Pacific and Asian American Histories, moderated by Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, BA '92, MA '93, PhD '98, SAPAAC member and professor of history and Asian American Studies at UC Irvine.
Writing history, the systematic effort to understand the human past, is a demanding intellectual endeavor. For historian Gordon Chang, it has also been a personal and moral enterprise intimately connected to his commitment to realizing a better world. This career-spanning anthology brings together significant essays, developing conversations across his broad-ranging research interests and personal history and engaging a range of topics, from diplomatic history and Asian American history to art history.
Asian Glow & Cancer Risk: Asian Alcohol Intolerance and Health - What Every Asian Adult Should Know
November 5, 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET
Virtual
Register: https://groups.stanford.edu/topics/9361/events/144328Â
That âAsian glowâ isnât just a funny side effect. For more than 560 million Asians, itâs a sign of a genetic mutation (ALDH2) that makes alcohol far more dangerousâmultiplying the risk of digestive tract cancers. Asians already face the worldâs highest alcohol-related cancer burden, and many donât even know why. Join SAPAAC for a virtual talk with Stanford research scientist Dr. Che-Hong Chen on Asian Alcohol Intolerance to understand:
- The science behind alcohol flush and the ALDH2 gene
- Why Asians are more vulnerable to alcohol-related disease
- What current medical guidelines say about safe drinking
- How awareness can protect you and your family
Like a Wave We Break: Jane Chen on Healing and Leadership
November 6, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
d.school, 550 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA
Register: https://www.sapaac.org/upcoming-events/2025/11/6/like-a-wave-we-break-jane-chen-on-healing-and-leadership
Join us for an intimate fireside chat with Jane Chen, co-founder of Embrace Globalârecognized by President Obama and funded by BeyoncĂ©âand author of Like a Wave We Break. Hear how she transformed personal trauma and near-burnout into a new vision of compassionate, authentic leadership.
Sijo (Korean) Poetry Workshop
November 9, 2 - 4 pm
Stoel Rives LLP conference room, 760 SW 9th Ave, Portland, OR
Register: https://groups.stanford.edu/topics/9361/events/138261Â
Write your first sijo! Sijo is a Korean verse form, consisting of three lines of 14-16 syllables each. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Join presenter Sarah Taylor, â97 for this workshop and draft your first sijo poem. The sijo poetry workshop will introduce attendees to this Korean poetry structure, while offering a hands-on opportunity to write a three-line sijo, concluding with a short read-aloud for those participants who want to share their poems. This workshop not only introduces seasoned poets to Korean literature and the history behind this poetic form, but offers new poets and writers a chance to begin their craft with a shorter structure that is less intimidating than other poetic structures.
There will be food and beverage, as well as a sijo book giveaway as a door prize. This event is co-sponsored by the Stanford Association of Oregon Club (SAO) and Stanford Asian Pacific American Alumni Club (SAPAAC). For more information, please contact Sarah at [email protected].Â
Open Minds, Vibrant Communities: Los Angeles Alumni Meetup
November 15, 2:30 - 3:45 pm
InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, 900 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Register: https://groups.stanford.edu/topics/9361/events/144871Â
Are you ready to reconnect, share stories, and celebrate what makes our communities vibrant and unique? Weâre thrilled to invite you to a gathering immediately before the main Stanford Open Minds Los Angeles event. This is a chance to mingle with fellow graduates from diverse backgrounds, swap memories, and forge new connections in a relaxed atmosphere.Â
This gathering is brought to you by the Stanford Alumni Association in partnership with: First-Gen and/or Low-Income Alumni Network (FLAN), Stanford Asian Pacific American Alumni Club (SAPAAC), Stanford Black Alumni Association of Southern California, Stanford Indigenous Alumni Association (SIAA), Stanford Jewish Alumni Network (S-JAN), Stanford Latino Alumni Association (SLAA), Stanford Latino Alumni Association of Southern California, Stanford Muslim Alumni Association, Stanford National Black Alumni Association (SNBAA), and Stanford Pride.
Save the Bay x Stanford Alumni in Sustainability
November 21, 10 am - 1:30 pm
Palo Alto, CA
Cost: $10
Register: https://luma.com/gndikl8m
âAs we approach Thanksgiving, this is the time to appreciate the abundance of this year and give back. âJoin students and alums to discover how nature-based solutions, like horizontal levees, can prevent sea level rise and revive biodiversity. The Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project by Save the Bay is the first levee in the San Francisco Bay to reuse treated wastewater to restore native habitat on its slope.
âLet's celebrate Save the Bay's brand new levee site and help them put down new roots. We will learn more about the project, plant native species, and finish our service hours by having lunch together and learning about what the Students for a Sustainable Stanford have accomplished this year in climate policy, zero waste, green transportation and more.
"The Monkey King" at San Francisco Opera - Pre-Performance Reception and Talk
November 22, 6:30-7:30âŻpm
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Purchase your ticket here: https://www.sfopera.com/OFFERS Enter code STANFORDNIGHT30 to receive a discount price.
RSVP: https://groups.stanford.edu/topics/9361/events/132680Â
Join us for an exclusive pre-performance reception before the Nov. 22, 2025 performance of San Francisco Opera's exciting world-premiere opera, The Monkey King. We'll meet on the Loggia of the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House to enjoy hosted wine and remarks by Dr. Clifford "Kip" Cranna, PhD '84, San Francisco Opera's Dramaturg Emeritus, about the creation of this brand-new opera.
Based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, this action-packed opera combines high-energy music and text with puppetry, dance, Peking opera, and Buddhist sutras to tell the tale of the Monkey Kingâs beginnings.
Award-winning director Diane Paulus and puppeteer Basil Twist conjure up a whimsical world of gods, tricksters, superheroes, and rebels. Huang Ruoâs soaringly beautiful, energized score and David Henry Hwangâs, Stanford '79, incisive libretto blend traditional Chinese and contemporary Western styles into an extraordinary work that gives new voice to this enduring story. Carolyn Kuan makes her Company debut on the podium.
