New Books in Asian American Studies

Vanita Reddy, “Fashioning Diaspora: Beauty, Femininity and South Asian American Culture” (Temple UP, 2016)

Vanita Reddy
Fashioning Diaspora
Beauty, Femininity and South Asian American Culture
Temple University Press, 2016

Mobilities and Methods New Books in Anthropology New Books in Arts & Letters New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in Literary Studies New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Performing Arts New Books in Politics & Society New Books in South Asian Studies July 30, 2020 Lakshita Malik

Vanita Reddy, in her book Fashioning Diaspora: Beauty, Femininity and South Asian American Culture (Temple University Press, 2016), locates diasporic transnationality, affiliations and intimacies through the analytic of beauty. Through her analysis of Asian American literary fiction and performance artwork and installations, Reddy lingers on moments, objects and subjective positions that reveal the potentiality of beauty. Not just... Read More

Crystal Mun-hye Baik, “Reencounters: On the Korean War and Diasporic Memory Critique” (Temple UP, 2020)

Crystal Mun-hye Baik
Reencounters
On the Korean War and Diasporic Memory Critique
Temple University Press, 2020

New Books in American Studies New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in Critical Theory New Books in East Asian Studies New Books in Military History New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books Network July 10, 2020 Laura Ha Reizman

This interview coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, a war that, as Baik reminds us, has not officially ended. How are the particularities of the Korean War, as an unended war, expressed in the lives of survivors and their descendants? This work explores how violence is narrated... Read More

Tamara Venit-Shelton, “Herbs and Roots: A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace” (Yale UP, 2019)

Tamara Venit-Shelton
Herbs and Roots
A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace
Yale University Press, 2019

New Books in American Studies New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in East Asian Studies New Books in History New Books in Medicine New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Science & Technology New Books Network June 8, 2020 Ian Shin

The modern popularity of acupuncture and herbal medicine belies the long history of Chinese medicine in the U.S. In Herbs and Roots: A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace (Yale University Press, 2019), Tamara Venit-Shelton (Claremont McKenna College) examines the historical contexts that shaped perceptions of traditional... Read More

Sarah M. A. Gualtieri, “Arab Routes: Pathways to Syrian California” (Stanford UP, 2019)

Sarah M. A. Gualtieri
Arab Routes
Pathways to Syrian California
Stanford University Press, 2019

New Books in American Studies New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in History New Books in Middle Eastern Studies New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Sociology New Books Network May 20, 2020 Joshua Donovan

In her latest book, Arab Routes: Pathways to Syrian California(Stanford University Press, 2019), Sarah M. A. Gualtieri uncovers the dynamic and complex stories of Arabic-speaking migrant communities who came to call Southern California home. Rather than a simple story of departure and arrival, Gualtieri traces the surprising twists and turns of Syrian... Read More

Jia Lynn Yang, “One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924–1965” (Norton, 2020)

Jia Lynn Yang
One Mighty and Irresistible Tide
The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924–1965
W. W. Norton & Company, 2020

Mobilities and Methods New Books in American Studies New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in History New Books in Latino Studies New Books in Law New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books Network May 14, 2020 Ian Shin

In One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924–1965 (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), Jia Lynn Yang recounts the personalities and debates that brought about the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which forms the foundation for modern U.S. immigration policy. Undoing the xenophobic national origins... Read More

Pawan Dhingra
Hyper Education
Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough
NYU Press, 2020

New Books in American Studies New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in Education New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Sociology New Books in South Asian Studies New Books Network April 17, 2020 Michael O. Johnston

Pawan Dhingra‘s new book Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough (NYU Press, 2020) is an up-close evaluation of the competitive nature of the United States education system and the extra-curricular and co-curricular activities associated with them. Dhingra reveals the subculture of high-achievement in... Read More

Pankaj Jain
Dharma in America
A Short History of Hindu-Jain Diaspora
Routledge, 2019

New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in Caribbean Studies New Books in Hindu Studies New Books in History New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Religion & Faith New Books in South Asian Studies New Books Network April 15, 2020 Raj Balkaran

Pankaj Jain, Dharma in America: A Short History of Hindu-Jain Diaspora (Routledge, 2019) provides a concise history of Hindus and Jains in the Americas over the last two centuries, highlighting contributions to the economic and intellectual growth of the US in particular. Pankaj Jain pays special attention to contributions of... Read More

Franny Choi
Soft Science

Alice James Books, 2019

New Books in Arts & Letters New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in Gender Studies New Books in Literature New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Poetry New Books in Politics & Society February 25, 2020 Andrea Blythe

Franny Choi’s book-length collection of poetry, Soft Science (Alice James Books 2019), explores queer, Asian American femininity through the lens of robots, cyborgs, and artificial intelligence. As she notes in this interview, “this book is a study of softness,” exploring feeling, vulnerability, and desire. How can you be tender and still... Read More

Iyko Day, “Alien Capital: Asian Racialization and the Logic of Settler Colonial Capitalism” (Duke UP, 2016)

Iyko Day
Alien Capital
Asian Racialization and the Logic of Settler Colonial Capitalism
Duke University Press, 2016

New Books in American Studies New Books in Asian American Studies New Books in Critical Theory New Books in Literary Studies New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Sociology New Books Network February 17, 2020 Nancy Ko

In our efforts to comprehend the systematic dispossession of indigenous peoples in settler colonies such as the United States, Canada, Australia, or Israel, the notion that “invasion is a structure, not merely an event,” first articulated by Patrick Wolfe, has become something of a maxim for critical theorists. Part of... Read More