RESEARCH SPECIALIZATIONS
20th C. U.S. history | Comparative race studies | Asian American history | Urban Studies | Immigration | Los Angeles | Public history | History pedagogy | American Buddhism
Book Project: A TOUCH OF DANGER
I am currently working on a book project tentatively entitled A Touch of Danger: Southern California's San Fernando Valley and the Racial Politics of an American Dream. Grounded in a variety of sources that range from planning documents to oral histories and from ethnic media to material culture, this project constructs a new history of the San Fernando Valley, also known as "The Valley," "The 818," or according to one popular history, "America's Suburb." Each chapter illustrates how communities of color grappled with various forms of exclusion and White supremacy over the long 20th century. Scholars, observers, and residents themselves have taken for granted the notion that the San Fernando Valley has its own identity, culture, and history distinct from the City of Los Angeles. However, this project traces the different contexts that led communities of color, through different forms of oppositional politics, to identify as suburban residents, constituents of the metropolitan body politic, and/or members of their respective ethnic and racial groups. This project offers insights about race, politics, and spatial identities to scholars, policymakers, and community activists as erstwhile suburbs across the nation grow and become "majority-minority" spaces. The manuscript has been funded by the UC Center for New Racial Studies, the Haynes Foundation, and various intramural institutions.
PAST AND FUTURE PROJECTS
Beyond my primary project, I have also published articles on the genesis of boba cafes, the historiography of the 1992 Los Angeles Uprisings, Pacific Islander Studies (a collaborative effort with UCLA colleagues), Asian American students and Critical Race Theory, and the unanticipated consequences of archival research.
A future project, funded in part by the Institute of Buddhist Studies of the Graduate Theological Union, explores the genesis of Buddhist modernity and racial justice.
A future project, funded in part by the Institute of Buddhist Studies of the Graduate Theological Union, explores the genesis of Buddhist modernity and racial justice.