religion— I explore how religion is an expansive term that addresses much more than institutional religion, and how spirituality is tangibly experienced and negotiated by “religious” and “secular” people alike. In particular, I argue that Asian American women challenge and reshape popular ideas of “religion” and “spirituality” in U.S. history and culture.

race— I excavate the history of race and am fascinated by (1) race in U.S. history, (2) the inconsistencies of race over time and across global contexts, and (3) the spiritual, biological, and environmental facets consciously and subconsciously connoted within this term. My creative and scholarly writing explore and theorize life through, despite, and beyond constructions of race.

history— A historian by training, I am rooted in studies of the past in order to explain the present and envision new futures.

indigeneity, diaspora, and settler colonialism— Born, raised, and currently living on North American land, I explore scholarly and creative ways of addressing the complicated pathways between North America and Asia that lead to Asian American communities in a nation based on Native American dispossession. I follow conversations on Asian settler colonialism and particularly acknowledge the politics of East Asian American positionalities.

gender— I specifically consider the experiences of women, first-generation and onward, in Asian American diasporas.

sensory studies— I previously intertwined historical analysis and memory studies to illuminate narratives of multicultural U.S. military dependents on Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, South Korea. Current methods and interests include affect theory, visual culture, and the history of art as such approaches pertain to better understanding Asian American diasporic lived experiences and the affective dimensions of racial capitalism.

literature, media, and popular culture— I draw from cultural history and performance studies to study sources such as photographs; films; private archives of written work; novels, plays, memoirs, and poetry; music and visual art; and social media.

community engagement— I believe in scholarly work that partners with communities, has applicable relevance, and serves a public audience. My undergraduate work incorporated the interviews and oral testimonies of Yongsan Garrison military dependents, and was supported by the Royce Fellowship from the Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University.