UCLA Asian American Studies Center

The 2nd edition of “Rockin’ the Boat: Flashbacks of the 1970s Asian Movement” by Mary Uyematsu Kao is available through UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press now! We have limited copies, so get yours before we sell out!

“ROCKIN’ THE BOAT” is a photographic journey into the Asian American Movement from 1969 to 1974 by photojournalist Mary Uyematsu Kao. Never-before seen photographs help tell the story of the beginnings of Asian America from immigrant demonstrations in Chinatowns to Japanese American youth and multigenerational community activism in California and New York.

Link to purchase in our bio!

UCLA AASC is pleased to announce that longtime Lecturer Dr. Jean-Paul (JP) Contreras deGuzman is the 2025-26 recipient of the C. Doris and Toshio Hoshide Distinguished Teaching Prize in Asian American Studies. 🎉

Dr. deGuzman is being recognized for his high impact teaching practices and student engagement work that has inspired students to pursue degrees in Asian American Studies and in many ways transformed the lives of our students. His students spoke about his contagious passion and excitement in making Asian American Studies and history come to life. A student mentioned how he made Asian American Studies more approachable and created a solid foundation for learning. His colleagues wrote how they greatly benefitted from him sharing resources, teaching materials, and discussing best practices for everything from new methods, reading material, approaching remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, and currently how to navigate higher education in the age of AI. He received his Ph.D. in history and an M.A. in Asian American Studies from UCLA. 🤩

Samantha Leong is a rising Senior who is double majoring in Asian American Studies and Political Science. She was selected for the Nakanishi Award because she connects learning with service, strengthening communities, and creating opportunities for increased representation and visibility for AAPI communities especially in electoral politics. One of her nominators appreciated how she took Asian American Studies knowledge with her to various positions and found ways to uplift and advocate for AAPI communities whenever possible.

Samantha completed an honor thesis this past year that examines the role of Christian churches in providing support and belonging for the Chinese immigrant community. Her research aims to better understand Chinese churches and community engagement, especially regarding its role after immigration, using sociological analysis to understand the individual impacts of the church as well as the broader meaning it holds in the community. Her research explores the importance of churches as effective community institutions in providing a place of faith, support network, and space of connection for Chinese immigrants.

Corina Penaia is a Doctoral Student in the Health Policy and Management Department. She was selected for the Nakanishi Award for her extraordinary ability to translate research into meaningful action that has improved access to resources and empowered NHPI communities to advocate for their own health and well-being. Colleagues shared that her work reflects the very best of community engagement—grounded in cultural humility, informed by evidence, and driven by an unwavering commitment to social justice.

Corina is also the Co-Founder of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander COVID-19 Data Policy Lab at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Since March 2020, she has led efforts to disaggregate and disseminate COVID-19 data for NHPI communities—populations often rendered invisible in aggregated public health statistics. Her work directly influenced Los Angeles County’s data reporting practices, enabling NHPI-specific data to inform culturally grounded public health campaigns. Moreover, her data analysis helped identify NHPI COVID-19 hotspots in Arkansas, supporting Marshallese leaders in securing CARES Act funding for uninsured residents. She is the lead author for an article in the American Journal of Public Health, “Disparities in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander COVID-19 Mortality: A Community-Driven Data Response” a landmark publication that centers NHPI voices in national health equity discourse.

Congrats to Corina! 🤩💛

UCLA AASC is very pleased to announce that Dr. May Sudhinaraset is the 2025-26 recipient of the Don T. Nakanishi Faculty Award for Outstanding Engaged Scholarship in Asian American Studies at UCLA.

Professor Sudhinaraset is being recognized for her extraordinary contributions to community-engaged research, mentorship and the advancement of health equity for Asian American, immigrant, and refugee communities. Community partners expressed how her dedication to creating opportunities for communities not only to be heard, but to shape decisions and drive action has led to meaningful change. As the daughter of Thai, Chinese, and Indonesian immigrants, she understands that the issues she studies are not academic questions, but lived realities that shape families and communities every day. She brings this personal connection to her work with deep reflexivity, humility, and respect for the knowledge held within communities.

We are honored to present this well-deserved recognition to Dr. May Sudhinaraset for her outstanding contributions as an engaged scholar, researcher, mentor, and advocate.

Through the generosity of UCLA faculty, students, staff, and alumni as well as community leaders, an endowment was established that honors the late Professor Emeritus Don T. Nakanishi, who served on the UCLA faculty for thirty-five years and who ably directed the Asian American Studies Center (1990-2010).

Tālofa lava and warm Pacific greetings!

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Natasha Saelua as the inaugural Director of the Pacific Islander Center for Student Excellence (PICSE). PISCE is made possible by the efforts of students, staff, and faculty in conjunction with the Chancellor’s UCLA Native American and Pacific Islander Bruins Rising Initiative. The Initiative has three main components: enhancing UCLA’s intellectual community devoted to Native American and Pacific Islander peoples, supporting inclusive and equitable student experiences, and providing meaningful support for Native American and Pacific Islander staff.

Dr. Natasha Saelua is a Samoan educator, researcher, and community advocate committed to advancing equity and inclusion in higher education. Natasha graduated from Vanden High School in Fairfield, California, earned her B.A. in History and Political Science and M.A. in Asian American Studies from UCLA, and completed her Ph.D. in Higher Education and Affairs from Indiana University. She has worked as a researcher, evaluator, and trainer for several years, serving local, regional, state education agencies and institutions of higher education in the continental U.S. and in the Pacific jurisdictions. Natasha was a founding board member for Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC), and currently serves as the assessment lead for the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Educators Network (NPIEN).

An experienced scholar in her own right, Natasha remains a vital alumna to UCLA’s Pacific Islander community and has mentored and fostered emerging Pacific Islander leaders throughout the years. We are honored and thrilled to have her knowledge and expertise to spearhead such an historic position and look forward to working with her and many others to grow efforts on campus and beyond. Please help us in congratulating and warmly welcoming inaugural PICSE Director Natasha Saelua!

Fa’afetai,

UCLA Asian American Studies Center

Dr. Sean Metzger has been selected to receive a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The new fellows were chosen from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants. Dr. Metzger was awarded the fellowship for this fourth book project focusing on law, performance, and refugees from the Asian diaspora.

The prestigious awards, now in their 101st year, recognized scholars in 55 disciplines across the creative arts, social sciences, natural sciences and humanities who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in their fields and show great promise for the future.

Congrats Dr. Sean Metzger! 🥳

Happy Juneteenth! ❤️💚💛🖤

Today, we honor and commemorate the emancipation of the last enslaved African Americans in the United States and celebrating Black freedom, resilience, and the ongoing pursuit of justice.

Juneteenth reminds us that freedom is a continuous struggle shaped by generations of organizers, educators, artists, scholars, and community leaders. The fight for racial justice led by Black communities has transformed our nation, opening doors for broader movements for civil rights, equity, and liberation across communities.

At the UCLA Asian American Studies Center & Foundations and Futures, we recognize that our histories are deeply interconnected. The field of Asian American Studies was built through solidarity with Black, Indigenous, Latino, and other communities of color, reminding us that lasting change is achieved through collective action!

We are honored to be a community partner for “Commemorating Vincent Chin” on June 23, 2026

Join us for Commemorating Vincent Chin on Tuesday, June 23, from 7 PM to 8 PM at the Rosemead Community Recreational Center (3936 Muscatel Ave, Rosemead). The Chinese American Museum annually dedicates this evening in honor of the life and legacy of Vincent Chin, whose senseless murder in 1982 became a pivotal moment that galvanized the Asian American civil rights movement. This commemoration allows for the reflection of racial inequality and discrimination that continues to persist in today’s highly polarized social climate, just as it did decades before.

The evening’s program will include special remarks from Frank Wu, President of Queens

RSVP here: https://camla.org/commemoratingvc

We are proud to share that Ninez A. Ponce has been selected as the recipient of the Gail Wilensky Award for Impact in Health Policy, a national honor recognizing outstanding contributions to health policy and research.

Established in memory of Dr. Gail Wilensky, the award recognizes leaders whose work has positively shaped U.S. health policy through the development and application of rigorous evidence. Sponsored by NORC at the University of Chicago, the award pays tribute to the legacy of Wilensky, who dedicated her life to advancing health care reform and served as a health economist and senior fellow at Project HOPE for more than 40 years.

Throughout Ponce’s career as a researcher and scholar, she has advanced health equity in public policy by championing data disaggregation to demonstrate how population averages too often mask the needs of underrepresented populations.

Read the full announcement here: https://tinyurl.com/mtswr6e9