Courtney Demko

/in , , /by

Dr. Demko’s research focuses on older adult health and well-being. She is particularly interested in Alzheimer’s caregiver burden. Her research involves using national survey data and focuses on the multidimensional factors associated with caregiver burden among young adult caregivers.

Dr. Demko’s research experience includes both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and she has used her research skills on several grant-funded research projects at UCLA including grants from the Ford Foundation and Archstone Foundation. She was a member of the UCLA Latino Economic Security (LES) team, which researches the economic impact of a nation growing older and more diverse. Dr. Demko served as the Project Director for the team’s latest project which included conducting focus groups and surveying older white conservative adults to understand their attitudes and beliefs toward immigration and immigration policy. She has published her work in peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal of the American Society on Aging.  She also gained administrative and managerial experience as the Assistant Director for the Center for Policy Research on Aging at UCLA’s Department of Social Welfare and Public Policy.

Dr. Demko also has several years of teaching experience. She is currently teaching 211A Human Behavior in the Social Environment and 260A Research Capstone at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs Department of Social Welfare. She has also taught at California State University Los Angeles School of Social Work teaching both graduate and undergraduate Social Work Research Methods and Statistics courses.  Her teaching philosophy includes using a variety of teaching modalities to be inclusive of students’ varying learning styles.

She earned her B.A. in Political Science from Davidson College (2005), and an M.S.W (2013) and PhD (2021) from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, Department of Social Welfare with a specialization in Gerontology.

Brian Keum

/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Brian TaeHyuk Keum, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Broadly, Dr. Keum’s research focuses on reducing health and mental health disparities among marginalized and oppressed individuals and communities (specific areas listed below). As a social justice-oriented scientist-practitioner, Dr. Keum also draws from his clinical experience to conduct research that improves mental health practice and informs advocacy. He has been providing therapy to a diverse community- and college-based clientele for the past 8 years. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Maryland-College Park and completed his American Psychological Association-Accredited Doctoral Health Service Psychology Internship at the University of Maryland Counseling Center. Prior to his doctoral education, he earned his M.A. in Mental Health Counseling from Columbia University Teachers College and a B.S. in Anatomy and Cell Biology from McGill University.

Please visit his ResearchGate or Google Scholar for full list of publications.

Lab website: The Health, Identities, Inequality, and Technology (HI2T) Lab

  • Online racism

Using an interdisciplinary framework drawing from theories of racism, online communication, human-computer interactions, and violence, Dr. Keum’s primary research examines the biopsychosocial impact of online racism and racial violence in today’s digital society. He is particularly interested in exploring the mental health implications (e.g., loneliness, stress), risky behavioral outcomes (e.g., substance abuse, suicidal ideation), and negative social perceptual/worldview shifts linked to online racism among developmentally vulnerable and digitally-connected (e.g., Gen Z) youths and emerging adults of color. He ultimately aims to develop practical interdisciplinary coping interventions, digital tools, and prevention strategies for individuals, families, and communities, to mitigate the harmful costs of online racism, as well as promote a critical digital culture of anti-racism and advocacy. He is also working to expand his framework to examine other online discrimination experiences such as online sexism, and online heterosexism.

 

  • Intersectionality and Asian American mental health

Dr. Keum’s research also focuses on the mental health of Asian individuals in the United States using an intersectional lens. Specifically, he examines body image issues and gendered racism as risk factors for mental health issues and risky behaviors (e.g., suicidal ideation, risky alcohol use) among Asian men and women. He also examines the socialization process of Asian individuals (e.g., gendered racial socialization) in the United States to uncover ways to mitigate adversities and adjustment difficulties, and reinforce protective and flourishing experiences at the individual and institutional levels. He employs both quantitative and qualitative research methods to address these research aims.

 

  • Multicultural and social justice-oriented psychotherapy science

Additionally, Dr. Keum also conducts clinically-informed research on multicultural and social justice issues in clinician competence (e.g., therapist and agency effects on therapy outcomes for racial/ethnic minority and international individuals) and training (e.g., training program and peer norms related to social justice attitudes and advocacy). To elucidate factors contributing to disparities in therapy for minority clients, he focuses on understanding what leads to variability in therapist and agency effectiveness, as well as factors that promote the development of social justice attitude and advocacy action among trainees. In doing so, he employs dyadic (e.g., Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, Truth and Bias Model) and group level (e.g., Multi-level Modeling) analyses that better represent real world therapy and training dynamics compared to individual-level analyses.

 

  • Culturally valid and informed psychometrics

Last, Dr. Keum evaluates existing psychological measures/assessments for use with culturally-diverse populations and develops new measures that are culturally-informed and psychometrically rigorous. He focuses particularly on assessing discrimination and oppression experiences that require greater empirical attention. He has expertise in cutting-edge psychometric techniques (e.g., measurement invariance, bifactor analysis) to evaluate the reliability, validity, and cross-cultural utility of psychological measures.

Dr. Keum’s research has been funded and recognized by multiple divisions (General Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race; Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy; Advancement of Psychotherapy) of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Foundation, the Asian American Psychological Association, Society for Psychotherapy Research, Active Minds, and the highly competitive Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship from the Canadian government. Recently, Dr. Keum has been awarded a three-year grant ($~770,000) from the Tobacco Disease-Related Research Program to study links between online racism and high rates of smoking among Black young adults. The grant will also support Keum’s partnership with the California Youth Advocacy Network to conduct community- and campus-based anti-racism advocacy programs.

He is the recipient of the Rising Star Award given by the National Multicultural Conference and Summit which honors the efforts and significant contributions of early career psychologists in multicultural research, teaching, advocacy, policy, and/or clinical care; the 2022 Researcher of the Year Award given by the American Psychological Association’s Division 51 Society for Men and Masculinities; and the 2022 Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship on Race and Ethnicity Award given by the Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity of the American Psychological Association’s Division 17 Society For Counseling Psychology. He has published widely, including in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Psychology of Men and Masculinity, Asian American Journal of Psychology, Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, Computers in Human Behavior, and Psychology of Violence. He currently serves on the editorial board for Psychology of Violence, The counseling Psychologist, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Psychology of Men & Masculinities, Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Frontiers in Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology Review.

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

*Denotes student co-authors

Keum, B.T. & *Wong, M.J., *Salim-Eissa, R. (in press). Gendered racial microaggressions, internalized racism, and suicidal ideation among Asian American women. International Journal of Social Psychiatry

 

Keum, B.T., & Li, X. (in press). Online Racism, Rumination, and Vigilance: Impact on Distress, Loneliness, and Alcohol Use.The Counseling Psychologist

 

Keum, B. T., Li, X., Cheng, H.-L., & *Sappington, R. T. (2022). Substance use risk among Asian American men: The role of gendered racism, internalization of western muscularity ideals, interpersonal and body shame, and drive for muscularity. Psychology of Men & Masculinities. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000368

 

Keum, B.T. & *Ahn, L.H. (2021). Impact of Online Racism on Psychological Distress and Alcohol Use: Test of Ethnic-Racial Socialization and Silence about Race as Moderators. Computers in Human Behaviors. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106773

 

Keum, B.T., & Choi, A.Y. (2021). Gendered Racism, Interpersonal Shame, Depressive Symptoms, and Alcohol Use among Asian American Men. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000505

 

*Ahn, L. H., Keum, B. T., *Meizys, G. M., *Choudry, A., *Gomes, M. A., & Wang, L. (2021). Second-generation Asian American women’s gendered racial socialization. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000575

 

Keum, B.T., & *Hearns, M. (2021). Online Gaming and Racism: Impact on Psychological Distress Across

Black, Asian, and Latinx Emerging Adults. Games and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211039082

 

Keum, B.T., & Cano, M.A. (2021). Online Racism, Psychological Distress, and Alcohol Use among Racial

Minority Women and Men: A Multi-group Mediation Analysis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91(4), 524–530. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000553

 

Keum, B.T., Bartholomew, T.T., *Robbins, K.A., Perez-Rojas, A.E., Lockard, A.J., Kivlighan Jr., D.M., *Kang, E., *Joy, E.E., *Aguiniga, S.M. (in press). Therapist and Counseling Center Effects on International Students’ Counseling Outcome: A Mixed Methods Study. Journal of Counseling Psychology

 

Keum, B.T. *Kase, C.A., *Sharma, R.,* Yee, S.E., O’Connor, S., *Bansal, P., & *Yang, N.Y. (in press). Collective Program Social Justice Identity and Perceived Norms on Promoting Student Advocacy. The Counseling Psychologist

 

Cano, M. A., Schwartz, S. J., MacKinnon, D. P., Keum, B.T., Prado, G., Marsiglia, F. F., Salas-Wright, C. P., Cobb, C., Garcini, L. M., De La Rosa, M., Sánchez, M., Rahman, A., Acosta, L., Roncancio, A. M., & de Dios, M. A. (2020). Exposure to ethnic discrimination in social media and symptoms of anxiety and depression among Hispanic emerging adults: Examining the moderating role of gender. Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23050

 

Keum, B.T., & Wang, L. (2020). Supervision and Psychotherapy Process and Outcome: A Meta-analytic Review. Translational Issues in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000272

 

Keum, B.T., Morales, K., Kivlighan Jr., Hill, C.E., & Gelso, C.J. (2020). Do Therapists Improve in their Ability to Assess Clients’ Satisfaction? A Truth and Bias Model. Journal of Counseling Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000525

 

Keum, B.T., & Miller, M.J. (2020). Social Justice Interdependence among Students in Counseling Psychology Training Programs: Group Actor-Partner Interdependence Model of Social Justice Attitudes, Training Program Norms, Advocacy Intentions, and Peer Relationship. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(2), 141–155. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000390

 

Keum, B.T. & Miller, M.J. (2018). Measurement Invariance of the Perceived Online Racism Scale across Age and Gender. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 12(3), 3. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2018-3-3

Keum, B. T. (2018). Conceptual application of the group actor–partner interdependence model for person–group psychological research. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 4(4), 340–348. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000180 *Special issue: Quantitative Methods

 

Keum, B.T., Brady, J., Sharma, R., Lu, Y., Kim, Y., & Thai, C. (2018). Gendered Racial Microaggressions Scale for Asian American Women: Development and Initial Validation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(5), 571-585.https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000305

 

Keum, B.T., Hill, C.E., Kivlighan Jr., D.M., & Lu, Y. (2018). Group- and Individual-Level Self-Stigma Reductions in Promoting Psychological Help-Seeking Attitudes among College Students in Undergraduate Helping Skills Courses. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(5), Oct 2018, 661-668. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000283

Keum, B.T. & Miller, M.J. (2018). Racism on the Internet: Conceptualization and Recommendations for Research. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 782 – 791. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000201 *Special issue: Racism, Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Privilege, and Violence: Advancing Science to Inform Practice and Policy

Keum, B.T., Thai, C.J., Truong, N.N., Ahn, H.L., & Lu, Y. (2018). Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire Community Version Brief Across Race and Gender. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17542863.2018.1436578

Keum, B.T., Miller, M.J., Lee, M., & Chen, G.A. (2018). Color-blind Racial Attitudes Scale for Asian Americans: Testing the Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Generational Status. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 9(2), 149-157. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000100

Keum, B.T., Miller, M.J., & Inkelas, K.K. (2018). Testing the Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the PHQ-9 Across Racially Diverse U.S. College Students. Psychological Assessment, 30(8), 1096-1106. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000550

Morales, K., Keum, B.T., Kivlighan Jr., D.M., Hill, C.E., & Gelso, C.J. (2018). Therapist Effects Due to Client Racial/Ethnic Status when Examining Linear Growth for Client-and Therapist-Rated Working Alliance and Real Relationship. Psychotherapy, 55(1), 9-19. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000135

Keum, B.T. (2017). Qualitative Examination on the Influences of the Internet on Racism and its Online Manifestation.International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning, 7(3), 13-23. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCBPL.2017070102

Wong, S., Keum, B.T., Caffarel, D., Srinivasan, R., Morshedian, N., Capodilupo, C., & Brewster, M.E. (2017). Exploring the conceptualization of body image in Asian American women: Negotiating cultural standards of beauty, cultural identity, and the implications for eating disorder risk. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 8(4), 296-307. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000234* Special issue: Qualitative Methods in Asian American Psychology

Keum, B.T., & Miller, M.J. (2017). Racism in Digital Era: Development and Initial Validation of the Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS v1.0). Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(3), 310-324. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000205

Keum, B.T. (2016). Asian American Men’s Internalization of Western Media Appearance Ideals, Appearance Comparison, and Acculturative Stress. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 7(4), 256-264. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000057

Keum, B.T., Wong, S., DeBlaere, C. & Brewster, M.E. (2015). Body Image and Asian American Men: Examination of the Drive for Muscularity Scale. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 16(3), 284 – 293. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038180

Judith L. Perrigo

/in , , , /by

Professor Perrigo draws from her personal background as a Salvadoran immigrant and her 15 years of  applied clinical work with children and families to inform her scholarship. Specifically, Judy’s research focuses on the wellbeing of young children – birth to five years old – with emphasis on holistic and transdisciplinary prevention and early intervention (PEI) initiatives with underserved, vulnerable, and marginalized populations. Dr. Perrigo has worked on projects that involve international and domestic child welfare, developmental delays and disabilities, IDEA Part C early intervention services, neuro-cognitive development, early childhood education, and neighborhood wellness that intersect with underserved children, families, and communities of color. Dr. Perrigo’s work has been funded by the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), CSWE Minority Fellowship Program (MFP), Maternal and Child Health Bureau, as well as non-profit organizations like Whole Child International (WCI) and foundations like Tikum Olam Foundation. 

Dr. Perrigo is currently working on the Chicago Heights Early Childhood Center (CHECC) longitudinal and large-scale experimental study that is funded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Dr. Perrigo is exploring the role of parental involvement among low socioeconomic status (SES) students who close the low/high-SES achievement gap. Recently, Dr. Perrigo launched a research study to explore how CHECC families are coping with education-related parental involvement during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In community, Dr. Perrigo serves as an endorsement panel reviewer for the California Center for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health at WestEd Center for Prevention & Early Intervention. Dr. Perrigo also provides reflective practice supervision at El Centro de Amistad. She serves as a reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals, including Health Promotion Practice, Maternal and Child Health Journal, and Children and Youth Services Review Journal.

Professor Perrigo teaches both SW210B: Foundations of SW Practice II and SW231A: Advanced Social Welfare Practice.

Tranishia James

/in , , /by

Tranishia James is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Her interests are in cultural issue, eliminating racial disproportionately and disparity in the child welfare system, trauma informed social work practice and assisting at-risk adolescents with attaining higher education. 

 

As a Field Education Consultant with the California Social Work Education (Cal-SWEC) program, Tranishia works with first and second year students training them to become professional public child welfare social workers and is involved in recruiting child welfare candidates. 

 

Prior to coming to UCLA, Tranishia worked with children and families in L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) for 10 1/2 years. She was a supervisor in Emergency Response (child abuse investigations); as well as a Coach Developer, teaching skills development trainings for Supervisors and Children’s Social Workers. While at DCFS, Tranishia also worked as a Field Instructor training/supervising UCLA and USC social work interns. 

José Loya

/in , , , /by

José Loya is an Assistant Professor in Urban Planning at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs and faculty affiliate with the Chicano Studies Research Center. His research addresses Latino issues in urban areas by connecting ethno-racial inequality and contextual forces at the neighborhood, metropolitan, and national levels. His research discusses several topics related to stratification in homeownership, including ethno-racial, gender, and Latino disparities in mortgage access. José received his PhD. at the University of Pennsylvania in Sociology and holds a master’s degree in Statistics from the Wharton School of Business at Penn. Prior to graduate school, José worked for several years in community development and affordable housing in South Florida.

Veronica Herrera

/in , , , , , , /by

Veronica Herrera studies the politics of development in Global South cities with a focus on Latin America. Her research interests include urban politics, decentralization, civil society participation, social mobilization, and environmental politics and policymaking. Dr. Herrera is also an expert on water policy in international development. She is the author of Water and Politics: Clientelism and Reform in Urban Mexico (University of Michigan Press, 2017), which received the Dennis Judd Best Book Award from the Urban and Local Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. Dr. Herrera received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and her B.A. from Swarthmore College.

Dr. Herrera is the recipient of several national awards including the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the Postdoctoral Fellowship from the American Association of University Women, a Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and the Clarence Stone Young Scholars Award from the American Political Science Association’s Urban and Local Politics Section. She has been a visiting scholar at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard, and the Latin American Studies Center at UC Berkeley. Dr. Herrera’s work has been published or is forthcoming in Comparative Politics, Latin American Politics and Society, PS: Political Science and Politics, Perspective on Politics, and World Development.

Dr. Herrera is working on her next book project which examines the creation of urban environmental advocacy movements surrounding toxic exposure from wastewater-contaminated rivers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bogotá, Colombia and Lima, Peru. This book project, tentatively titled The Politics of Slow Harms: Environmental Degradation and Collective Action in Latin American Cities, examines the search for environmental justice and the diverse demand making strategies of citizens as they seek to influence policy change in resource scarce settings.

Before joining Luskin, Dr. Herrera was an assistant professor in the political science department of the University of Connecticut.

Helmut K. Anheier

/in , , , /by

Helmut K. Anheier is Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare and Public Policy, and Professor of Sociology at the Hertie School in Berlin, Germany. He served as President of the Hertie School from 2009 to 2018, held a Chair of Sociology at the Max-Weber-Institute of Heidelberg University and served as founding Academic Director of the Centre for Social Investment and Innovation. He is the Academic Co-Director of the Dahrendorf Forum, a joint initiative by the Hertie School and the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research centres on social innovation, nonprofits, civil society and philanthropy; governance; cultural policy; organisational studies; and indicator systems. Anheier was the principal academic lead of the Governance Report (Oxford University Press), and is editor-in-chief of Global Perspectives (University of California Press). Anheier is author of over 500 publications, many in leading journals and with top university presses. He has received various national and international awards. He received his PhD from Yale University in 1986, was a senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Policy Studies, Professor of Public Policy and Social Welfare at UCLA , Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University.  Before embarking on an academic career, he served as Social Affairs Officer at the United Nations.

Cindy C. Sangalang

/in , , /by

Cindy C. Sangalang, PhD, MSW, is an assistant professor of Social Welfare and Asian American Studies at UCLA. Drawing on theory and knowledge across disciplines, her research examines how race, migration, and culture intersect to shape health outcomes and inequities for migrant and refugee communities, especially for Asian Americans.

A primary concern driving Dr. Sangalang’s research is understanding how Asian migrant communities articulate and are affected by trauma and stress, over time and intergenerationally. Her work also explores how histories of oppression within migrant and other minoritized communities are relevant for identifying and disrupting mechanisms by which structural inequalities influence health. Dr. Sangalang uses quantitative and qualitative methods as well as community-based participatory research approaches to elucidate questions within these core areas of interest.

Currently, she is leading a study in partnership with Filipino American community organizers to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic-related stress and violence on Filipino American essential workers and their families.

Dr. Sangalang has been a principal investigator on research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the State of California. She earned her Ph.D. and Masters in Social Welfare from UCLA and trained as a postdoctoral fellow in health disparities research at Arizona State University. Previously she was on the faculty in Social Work at Arizona State University and at California State University, Los Angeles.

 

Visit Google Scholar for a full list of her publications.

 

Selected Publications:

 

Sangalang, C. C., Vang, C., Kim, B. J., & Harachi, T. W. (2022). Effects of trauma and post-migration stress on refugee women’s health: A life course perspective. Social Work, 67(3).

 

Mitchell, F. M., Sangalang, C. C., Lechuga-Peña, S., Lopez, K. & Becerra, D. (2020). Health   inequities in historical context: A critical race theory analysis of diabetes among African Americans and American Indians. Race & Social Problems, 12(4), 289-299.

 

Sangalang, C. C., Becerra, D., Mitchell, F. M., Lechuga-Pena, S., Lopez, K., & Kim, I. (2019). Trauma, post-migration stress, and mental health: A comparative analysis of Asian and Latino refugees and immigrants in the United States. Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health, 21(5), 909-919.

 

Sangalang, C. C., Jager, J., & Harachi, T. W. (2017). Effects of maternal traumatic stress on family functioning and child mental health: An examination of Southeast Asian refugee families in the U.S. Social Science & Medicine, 184, 178-186.

 

Sangalang, C. C. & Vang, C. (2017) Intergenerational trauma in refugee families: A systematic review. Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health, 19(3), 745-754.

 

Sangalang, C. C. & Gee, G. C. (2015). Racial discrimination and depression among Cambodian American adolescents: The role of gender. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(4), 447-465.

 

Sangalang, C. C., Ngouy, S., & Lau, A. S. (2015). Using community-based participatory research to identify health and service needs of Cambodian American adolescents. Families & Community Health, 38(1), 55-65.

 

Sangalang, C. C. & Gee, G. C. (2012). Depression and anxiety among Asian Americans: The effects of social support and strain. Social Work, 57(1), 49-60.

Lee Ann S. Wang

/in , , , , , , , /by

Lee Ann S. Wang is Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies and Social Welfare at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. Her current work is an ethnographic study of immigration law and enforcement at the site of gender and sexual violence, focusing on the work of service providers and legal advocates with Asian immigrant women and their communities. She examines how the law writes and maintains the meaning of protection under the Violence Against Women Act’s immigration provisions, the enlistment of the non-citizen legal subject towards policing, accumulative cooperation, and the visa petition’s role in neoliberal punishment practices. At its core, the work strives to take up the already gendered and racialized task of writing about people and life, without re-inscribing victimhood in legal evidence and the violences of legal archive. Dr. Wang is a former UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley School of Law and held faculty appointments in Law and Public Policy, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington Bothell and visiting positions at the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa.

Dr. Wang teaches the following courses: Asian Americans and the Law, Immigration Law and Public Policy, Gender Violence, Policing, and the Law, Foundations of Social Welfare Policy, and Critical Approaches to Emerging Issues in Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities.

Publications:

News: