Biography
Dr. Edith Chen
Professor Chen joined the department in 2001. Her teaching and research interests include Chinese American experiences; Chinese in the Americas; Asian American issues; Asian American women; Food, Culture & Identity; and Applied Research.
During her sabbatical leave in 2008-2009, she was busy editing (with Grace Yoo) The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today. She also extended her research interests in the Chinese in Latin America by visiting Barrio Chino in Buenos Aires. She spent the first half of 2009 by teaching in Shanghai, while gaining insights about U.S.'s influence on rapidly changing China. Previous to her appointment at CSUN, she taught at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa in Women's Studies.
Professor Chen can be found teaching AAS 100 (Introduction to Asian American Studies), AAS 340 (Asian American Women), AAS 361 C (Chinese American Experiences), and AAS 390 (Asian American Communities: Field Practicum.
Education
- Ph.D. Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1998.
- M.A. Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1992.
- B.A. Sociology and Zoology Double Major, University of Texas at Austin, 1989.
Scholarship Highlights
Edited Books
- The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today, co-editor with Grace Yoo, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group), in progress.
- Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans: Effective Activities, Strategies, and Assignments for Classrooms and Workshops, (lead editor, co-edited with Glenn Omatsu), (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2006).
Selected Articles, Book Chapters and Professional Reports
"Chinese Americans" (with Peter Kwong) in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today, co-editor with Grace Yoo, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group), in progress.
"You are like us, you eat platanos: Chinese Dominicans, Race, Ethnicity, and Identity." Afro-Hispanic Review vol. 27, no. 1, Spring 2008, (pp. 23-40). Special Issue Afro-Asia of Afro-Hispanic Review, Editors: Evelyn Hu-Dehart and Kathleen Lopez.
"Asian Americans in Sororities and Fraternities: In Search of a Home and Place." In Brothers and Sisters: Diversity in College Fraternities and Sororities, edited by Craig L. Torbenson and Gregory Parks). Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2008.
“Constructing a Non-Asian Identity: Asian American Sisters in ‘White’ Sororities,” in Changing Cultures from Within: Communication and Asian American Women, (ed.) Elizabeth Kunimoto (Kailua, HI: Patina Productions, LLC, 2006).
"Reclaiming a Forgotten Past: The San Fernando Valley Japanese American Oral History Project," in Promoting Social Justice: How Service-Learning Can Shape Positive Social Change, edited by Dr. Gerald Eisman, Stylus Publishers. 2007.
- “Deconstructing the Model Minority Thesis: Asian Pacific Americans, Race, Class, Gender, and Work,” in Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans: Effective Activities, Strategies, and Assignments for Classrooms and Workshops, (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).
Public Exhibitions
- "Telling Our Stories: Japanese Americans in the San Fernando Valley, 1910s-1950s,” an on-going exhibition including photos, oral histories. See www.discovernikkei.org/nikkeialbum/en/node/8520.
- Haynes Foundation Faculty Fellowship, 2006.
Professor Chen's latest book pick:
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, by Jennifer 8. Lee (New York: Twelve Publishing).
