PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2006-current. Assistant Professor of Gender and Women's Studies and Asian American Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

2004-2006. Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Rackham School of Graduate Studies and Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Fall 2006. Gender and Women's Studies/Asian American Studies 490: The Politics of Fashion

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Winter 2006. Women’s Studies 698: Graduate Seminar on Transnational Feminist Cultural Studies

Fall 2005. Women’s Studies 483: The Politics of Fashion (Special Topic)

Winter 2005. Women’s Studies 253: Gender and Popular Culture (Special Topic)

Fall 2004. Women’s Studies 530: Graduate Seminar on Theories of Feminism

University of California, Berkeley

Summer 2002. Instructor, Women’s Studies 111: Bodies + Machines: Race, Gender, and Technology

Fall 2002, Graduate Student Instructor, Women’s Studies 131: Gender and Science

Fall 2001. Graduate Student Instructor, Women’s Studies 101: Representations of Gender

Spring 2001. Co-Instructor, Women’s Studies 10: Introduction to Women’s Studies

Fall 2000. Co-Instructor, Women’s Studies 20: Introduction to Feminist Theory

Spring 2000. Graduate Student Instructor, Asian American Studies 171: Asian American Film/Video

Fall 1998. Graduate Student Instructor, Women’s Studies 20: Introduction to Feminist Theory

San Francisco State University

Fall 1999. Lecturer/Instructor, Women Studies 151: Lesbian & Queer Perspectives on Literature and Media

AREAS OF SPECIALTY

Transnational feminist cultural studies and feminist theory
Visual cultural studies (Asian diasporic and American popular culture, queer subcultures)
Nationalism and transnationalism
Science and technology studies
Cultural representation and cultural production (esp. race, gender, and sexualities)

PUBLICATIONS

Representing Refugees, book manuscript under revision, contracted by Duke University Press.

Forthcoming. “Operation Homecoming: Memory, History, and the Production of the Vietnamese Refugee in U.S. National and Diasporic Imaginaries.” In "Topographies of Race and Gender," a special issue of Annals of Scholarship, edited by Patricia Hilden and Shari Huhndorf.

Spring 2007. Alien Encounters: Popular Culture in Asian America, co-edited collection with Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu. Durham: Duke University Press. Includes chapter, “Bruce Lee I Love You: Discourses of Race and Masculinity in the Queer Superstardom of JJ Chinois.”
 
Fall 2006. "Thoughts on Afropunk." In Youth Subcultures: Exploring Underground America, edited by Arielle Greenberg. New York: Longman.

2005. "Vietnam: Journal/Journey." In An Introduction to Women's Studies: Gender in a Transnational World, Second Edition, edited by Inderpal Grewal and Caren Kaplan. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 435-439.

2005. “'In the arms of Pirates, Under the bodies of Sailors:' Diaspora, Desire, and Danger in Nguyen Tan Hoang's PIRATED!” In Charlie Don't Surf: Four Vietnamese American Artists, an exhibition catalogue featuring Nguyen Tan Hoang. Curated by Viet Le for Centre A. Vancouver.

2004. “Orientalist Kitsch.” In Perspectives in Business Ethics, Third Edition, edited by Laura Hartman. New York: McGraw-Hill.

2003. “Queer Cyborgs and New Mutants: Race, Sexuality and Prosthetic Sociality in Digital Space.” In AsianAmerica.net, edited by Rachel Lee and Sau-Ling Wong. New York: Routledge Press. pp. 281-305.

2001. “Asiatic Geekgirl Agitprop from Paper to Pixels.” In Technicolor: Race, Technology and Everyday Life, edited by Thuy Linh Tu and Alondra Nelson. New York: New York University Press. pp. 177-190.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Untitled, manuscript-in-progress.

From sweatshops to couture, human rights to national sovereignty, the topic of fashion provides a window onto specific connections among liberalism, nationalism, political economy, and cultural formation. Engaging the liberal language of rights and empowerment, I argue that fashion is mobilized as a “technology” to produce kinds of citizens and other democratic subjects (which will include the nation as a “citizen” of the international community). I consider such subjects as the U.S. war on terror, global feminisms, NGOs such as Beauty Without Borders, and other similar projects through which "fashion" brings together geopolitical and biopolitical concerns. In considering how the “empowerment” of individuals, groups, and nations work through clothing discourses and practices in global and economic relations with corporations, NGOs, and nation-states, fashion emerges an emblematic site of contest over the meaning and practice of rights and citizenship.

Untitled, manuscripts-in-progress.

I am expanding upon several essays and papers I have published or presented elsewhere on punk rock, its feminist subculture of riot grrrl, and drag performances, in order to develop a monograph on the politics of affect in these subcultures. These papers include, “Boy Bands and Drag Kings: Boy Bands Against War and The Politics of Queer Pleasures,” stemming from an essay previously published in Punk Planet magazine (July/August 2003). I theorize drag king appropriations of “boy band” codes of public masculinity and the powerful affect of the break-up song, and examine in particular their usage by Boy Bands Against War to address the lack of democratic potential in the contemporary political moment. 

I am also working on an article called, “Where’s the Riot, Grrrls? Race, ‘Voice,’ and Feminist Futures.” This paper examines the ruptures in riot grrrl --the emergent punk feminism of the 1990s—centered on issues of race, ‘voice,’ and authenticity. Drawing upon an archive of fanzines produced by girls and women of color, this essay theorizes the failures of riot grrrl to grasp the racial politics of its own mantra: “Every girl is a riot grrrl.”

SELECTED INVITED PRESENTATIONS

2006. "Asian/American Technoculture," Guest Lecture, Asian/Pacific/American Studies, New York University

2006. "Beauty and the Burka: Global Feminisms and the Geopolitical Uses of the Makeover," McGill Centre for Research and Teaching on Women, McGill University (Montreal)

2006. "Napalmed Girl Goes to Washington City: Image, Affect, and Historical Justice," Sociology Colloquium Series: "Social Justice, Social Movements, Social Science," University of California, Santa Cruz

2006. "Drag Kings and Democracy," Festival of Queer Arts and Aesthetics, Lawrence University and Beloit University (Wisconsin)

2006. "Beauty Without Borders? Fashions, Global Feminisms, Neoliberalisms," Women's Studies, Bates College

2006. "Beauty Without Borders? Fashions, Global Feminisms, Neoliberalisms," Women's Studies Lecture Series, Duke University

2005. "Representing Refugees: Image, Affect, and Historical Justice in Transnational Feminist Practices," Gender Studies, Indiana University

2005. "Security States and Patriot Acts: New Directions for Asian American Studies," American Studies, State University of New York, Buffalo

2005. Public Lecture:  "Bruce Lee, JJ Chinois and the Queer Technologies of Celebrity," Presentation: "Dressing for Democracy," Workshop: Grrrls Writing Riots Workshop, Guest Lecture (Global Studies): "When States Hit the Runway: Vietnam," Lecturer-in-Residence, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York (Sponsored by Gender Studies, Global Studies, Film Studies, US Studies, Asian Studies Initiative)

2005. “'In the arms of Pirates, Under the bodies of Sailors:' Diaspora, Desire, and Danger in Nguyen Tan Hoang's PIRATED!” 11th Annual Gender and Sexuality Lecturer, University of Texas, Austin, Radio-Television-Film

2004. “Star Personas and Fan Fictions: Bruce Lee, JJ Chinois and Queer Technologies of Celebrity,”  Art, Technology, and Culture Lecture Series, University of California, Berkeley

2004. “Cultural Studies and Interdisciplinarity,” Cultural Studies Graduate Program Symposium, Series, University of California, Davis

2004. “Drags Kings and Democracy: Boy Bands Against War and the Queer Politics of Pleasure,” Queer X Girl, University of California, Los Angeles

2004. Keyword Discussant: “Diaspora,” Queer Locations: Race, Space, and Sexuality Symposium, University of California, Irvine, University of California Humanities Research Institute

2003. “The Underground Press: Zines, Self-Publishing, and Alternative Communities,” Roundtable Participant, University of California, Santa Barbara

2003. “Fan Fictions: Queer Asian American Cultural Production and Popular Culture,” Asian American Studies Lecture Series, Ohio State University

2003. “Postmodern Spaces and Asian/American Feminist Practices,” Asian American Studies Lecture Series, Scripps College / Claremont College, California

2002. “Where’s the Riot, Grrrls? Race, ‘Voice,” and Feminist Futures,” Center for Race and Gender Lecture Series, University of California, Berkeley

2002. “The Future of Asian American Studies,” Transcending Boundaries: Community, Crisis, and Resistance, Oberlin College, Ohio

2002. “The Problematic Politics of ‘Third Wave’ Feminism,” Practicing Transgression: Celebrating This Bridge Called My Back, University of California, Berkeley

2001. Guest lecture: “’Fair is Fair’: The Legend of Billie Jean and Feminist Popular Culture,” Film Studies 85A: Approaches to the Study of Popular Culture, University of California, Irvine

2001. “Where’s the Riot, Grrrls? Skinny Ties and New Wave Challenges for Feminist Futures,” Popular Culture and Third Wave Feminism MIT Symposium, MIT, Boston, Massachusetts

2001. Workshop Participant, Sexualities, Medias, Technologies, University of Surrey, UK

2001. “Drag Racing in Digital Space: Prosthetics, Performativity, and the Phantasmatic Analogy,” Race in Digital Space MIT Conference, MIT, Boston, Massachusetts

2001. “Drag Racing in Digital Space: Prosthetics, Performativity, and the Phantasmatic Analogy,” At The Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism Conference, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts

SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

2006. "Missing Persons: Race, Sex and Reimagining Punk Rock's Archive," Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, Vancouver, Canada, March

2005. "'Operation Homecoming:' Militarisms, Masculinities, and the Commemorative 'Origin' of the Vietnamese in America," American Studies Association Annual Conference, Washington DC, November

2005. "Calendar Girls," Association of Asian American Studies Annual Conference, Los Angeles, California, April

2005. “Fashioning Transnationality: Gender, Dress, and Modernity in Vietnam,” Trans/Positions: A Conference on Feminist Theory in Transit, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, April

2005. “Bruce Lee I Love You: Discourses of Race and Masculinity in the Queer Superstardom of JJ Chinois,” National Popular Culture/American Culture Associations Conference, San Diego, California, March

2004. “Patriot Acts: Human Rights, Multiculturalism and Cold War Knowledge Production,” American Studies Association Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, November

2003. ROUNDTABLE: “Changing Paradigms of Asian/American Studies: Confronting the American Security State and its Subjects," American Studies Association Annual Conference, Hartford, Connecticut, October

2003. “Queer Cyborgs and New Mutants: Race, Sexuality, and Prosthetic Sociality in Digital Space,” Association of Asian American Studies Annual Conference, San Francisco, California, May

2000. “Bodies in Space: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Prosthetics,” American Studies Association Annual Conference, Detroit, Michigan, October

1999. “On Operation Homecoming: An Exercise in Phantoms & Amnesia,” Association of Asian American Studies Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April

1998. “Asiatic Geekgirl Agitprop from Paper to Pixels,” Public Displays of Asian-ness, New York University, November

1998. “Burn Baby Burn: Mediations on Haunting & Historical Amnesia,” American Studies Association Annual Conference Seattle, Washington, November

SERVICE

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

2005-2006. Second Reader, Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Yasmin Nagash (Political Science)

University of California, Berkeley

1998-2004. Queer Ethnic Studies Working Group Coordinator, Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities

1998-1999. Executive Planning Committee for Queering Ethnic Studies Conference

Manuscript Review (Articles) Women’s Studies International Forum

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Studies Association
Association of Asian American Studies
National Women’s Studies Association
Society for Cinema and Media Studies

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

2004-2006. Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

2002 Spring. Dean’s Normative Time Grant, University of California, Berkeley

2000-2001. Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, Women’s Studies, University of California, Berkeley

2000, 2001. Ethnic Studies Block Grant, University of California, Berkeley

1997-2003. Graduate Opportunity Program Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley

JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCE

1999-2004, Reviewer, Maximumrocknroll Magazine, Review academic publications and self-published 'zines for twenty year-old independent music magazine.

Writer, Freelance, Contributed essays of cultural criticism to various publications and wire services, including the San Jose Mercury News, Venus, Pacific News Service, alternet.org, popmatters.com and poppolitics.com.

Click here for more information