San Fernando Valley HongwanJi BUddhist Temple Centennial Documentary
Collaborating with other temple members, I conducted several oral histories and researched and wrote the script for a 25-minute documentary that narrates the 100-year history of the San Fernando Valley Hongwanji, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in the Los Angeles area.
ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY DIGITAL ARCHIVE AND IMMIGRATION POP UP MUSEUM
Working closely with UCLA Powell Library librarians my Asian American history students and I developed a pop up immigration museum and companion digital archive in the summers of 2017, 2018, and 2019. Drawing from family archives this exhibition uncovered the dynamic processes of immigration and settlement, power and resistance, and the various nodes of social identity that Asian Americans have experienced and crafted for generations. I argued for the pedagogical merits of this type of project-based learning in a peer reviewed article in The History Teacher. Learn more...
MOUNTAIN MOVERS: ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES AT UCLA, 1969-2019
As a longtime affiliate of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, I contributed to the award-winning anthology Mountain Movers: Student Activism and the Emergence of Asian American Studies, which charts the history of the field at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and UCLA. My chapter, based on extensive archival research and oral histories, provided the historical overview of UCLA's Asian American Studies Center. Learn more...
TUNA CANYON DETENTION STATION COALITION
Over the past few years I have worked with the members of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition, a group of civil rights activists, local historians, and residents dedicated to uncovering the histories of TCDS, an alien detention camp that operated in the Sunland-Tujunga corridor during World War II. I have helped with efforts to place the site of TCDS on the LA Register of Historic Cultural Monuments (approved by the LA City Council in 2013), educate the wider public about the camp, and work on a commemorative plaque. Learn more...
THE CITY AND INSTAGRAM
Using Lynch's classic The Image of the City and recent critical works on race and cities, I require students to curate their digital archives of the city. You can view my UCLA students's work here, and my CSULB student's work here.
TEACHER TRAINING
As a consultant for UCLA's Center X, I have led workshops for public high school teachers interested in incorporating Ethnic Studies into their classrooms. The topics I have covered include the praxis of oral history as well as the nexus of arts and activism in Los Angeles's communities of color. These presentations incorporate practical knowledge and tips for the classroom in addition to theoretical and historical insights. Learn more...
KABABAYAN TODAY
I occasionally served as a contributor to Kababayan Today, a community-based television show for and about the Filipinx diaspora, on KSCI-LA 18. In the past, I have sat down with host G. Töngi to discuss topics such as Filipino immigration to the US, the history of anti-Filipino racism, the significance of the #BlackLivesMatter movement for Filipino Americans, and, in July 2015 I participated in a 4-part roundtable on the "Americanization" of Filipinos.
KATAROU HISTORIES
I have had the privilege of working with the Pacific Southwest District office of the Japanese American Citizens League to facilitate workshops on local history and historical research methods for community members (from teens to nonagenarians) at the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center in Pacoima, CA. Learn more...
GUIDED TOURS OF HISTORIC LA
I am available to lead guided walking group tours of different portions of LA history. These tours are informed by both Ethnic Studies and urban history, paying attention to the interplay between race, class, gender, sexuality, and the city. Recent tours have included Downtown Los Angeles and Judy Baca's mural, The Great Wall of Los Angeles, located in the Valley Glen neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. I have lead tours for groups such as the Bike to Japan crew of the Asian Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance and the San Fernando Valley Hongwanji Buddhist Temple.
TELLING OUR STORIES ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
Funded through the California Civil Liberties Education Program and administered through the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center and the CSUN Department of Asian American Studies, the Telling Our Stories Oral History Project captured the stories of dozens of Nisei (2nd generation) and Sansei (3rd generation) Japanese Americans, who shared stories of the first Nikkei in the San Fernando Valley. I served as an oral historian and my work with the project laid the ground work for my book project. Learn more...