William Wei – författare

Providing the most comprehensive examination to date of Asians in the Centennial State, William Wei addresses a wide range of experiences, from anti-Chinese riots in late nineteenth-century Denver to the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans at the Amache concentration camp to the more recent influx of Southeast Asian refugees and South Asian tech professionals. Drawing on a wealth of historical sources, Wei reconstructs what life was like for the early Chinese and Japanese pioneers, and he pays special attention to the different challenges faced by those in urban versus rural areas. The result is a groundbreaking approach that helps us better understand how Asians survived—and thrived—in an often hostile environment.Offering a fresh perspective on how cycles of persecution are repeated, Wei reveals how the treatment of Asian Americans resonates with the experiences of other marginalized groups in American society. His study sheds light not only on the Asian American experience but also on the development of Colorado and the greater American West.

The first history and analysis of the Asian American Movement

Copublished with History ColoradoIn Becoming Colorado, historian William Wei paints a vivid portrait of Colorado history using 100 of the most compelling artifacts from Colorado’s history. These objects reveal how Colorado has evolved over time, allowing readers to draw multiple connections among periods, places, and people. Collectively, the essays offer a treasure trove of historical insight and unforgettable detail.  Beginning with Indigenous people and ending in the early years of the twenty-first century, Wei traces Colorado’s story by taking a close look at unique artifacts that bring to life the cultures and experiences of its people. For each object, a short essay accompanies a full-color photograph. These accessible accounts tell the human stories behind the artifacts, illuminating each object’s importance to the people who used it and its role in forming Colorado’s culture. Together, they show how Colorado was shaped and how Coloradans became the people they are. Theirs is a story of survival, perseverance, enterprise, and luck.  Providing a fresh lens through which to view Colorado’s past, Becoming Colorado tells an inclusive story of the Indigenous and the immigrant, the famous and the unknown, the vocal and the voiceless—for they are all Coloradans.

För att bidra till kunskapsuppbyggnaden kring det här området, initierade Riksantikvarieämbetet forsknings- och utvecklingsprojektet Vibrationers påverkan på arkitekturbunden konst. Forskningsprojektet har undersökt vilken påverkan olika former av byggrelaterade vibrationer kan ha på fast konst i kulturhistoriska byggnader, isolerat från annan påverkan från omgivningen. Vibrationsprovning på historiska material i laboratorium visar en differentierad bild av vibrationers påverkan. Det bidrar till att riskanalyser i framtiden kan bygga på fakta relaterat till respektive material och vibrationsart. Som komplement till laboratorieprovning har regelbundna workshops genomförts och utgjort ett reflekterande och kreativt moment i ett forskningsområde som annars kan bli detaljfokuserat och tekniskt. En viktig erfarenhet från projektet är, att fakta om den arkitekturintegrerade konstens material och tillverkningssätt, är central för att hantera vibrationsrelaterade risker.