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Pawan Dhingra
Place of Birth
New Delhi, India. Grew up in the United States
Current Home
Amherst, MA
Education
B.A. in Psychology, Carleton College; Ph.D. in Sociology, Cornell University
Why did you choose to come to Amherst?
I have been a professor at various colleges. After two years at Bucknell University, I moved to Oberlin College where I first received tenure. I then took a leave and served as a curator at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. After almost two years there, I became Professor of Sociology and Department Chair of Sociology at Tufts University. After six years there, I was recruited to join Amherst. It was enticing to be back at a liberal arts college of such impressive reputation and commitment to educational excellence for our students and research opportunity.
Which classes are you teaching at Amherst?
I teach the Social Construction of American Society and also the Asian American Experience. I’m happy to be a Faculty Equity and Inclusion Officer, working to advance the college’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, which involves a reduction in teaching opportunities.
Research Interests
Education, inequality, Asian American Studies, anti-racism
Book Awards
Life Behind the Lobby: Indian American Motel Owners and the American Dream (Stanford University Press)
- Awarded Best Book in the Social Sciences, 2012, Association for Asian American Studies
- Awarded Outstanding Book on Asian America, American Sociological Association, 2012, Section on Asia and Asian America
Managing Multicultural Lives: Asian American Professionals and the Challenge of Multiple Identities (Stanford University Press)
- Awarded Honorable Mention for the Best Book in the Social Sciences 2007 by the Association for Asian American Studies.
General Research Awards
- Contribution to the Field Award, from the American Sociological Association, section on Asia/Asian America. It recognizes “those professors who have worked to build up the fields of Asian and/or Asian American Studies within their universities/colleges and the discipline at large, such as through curriculum building, institution building, critically engaged pedagogy, grassroots organizing, mentoring, and the like.”
- Honorable Mention Award for Public Sociology from the American Sociological Association, Section on International Migration
- Early Career Award from the American Sociological Association, section on Asia/Asian America. It recognizes “a scholar in the early stage of her/his career ... who is conducting exemplary research on the sociology of Asia or Asian American communities.”
Teaching Awards
- Professor Props, Oberlin College, recognizing “outstanding teachers who had an impact on first-year students … as favorite instructor.”
- Excellence in Teaching Award, Department of Sociology, Cornell University
Article Award
- “Being American Between Black and White: Second Generation Asian American Professionals’ Racial Identities,” Journal of Asian American Studies, v.6, 2:117-147.
- Awarded “Research Paper Award” by the American Sociological Association section on Asia/Asian America for best article, for articles published 2004-2006.
Favorite Book
My favorite book is typically the one I’m reading at the moment. So, it is Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is a treasure.
Favorite Author
Amitav Ghosh. I also have to mention Steve Martin.
Tips for aspiring writers?
Find what works to help you write and make time for that. If it’s writing every day, then write every day. If it’s getting away for a week with no distractions, work towards that. And know that writing is hard. Even when you’ve written much before, it’s still hard. But, the end result is worth it when people tell you what they enjoyed from it.
Tell us a bit about your path to becoming an author
For Hyper Education, I made a point to not just write a book but to be an author, that is to write with the explicit intent to make the reader feel welcomed and brought along on a journey. That is different than just making an argument in a book, which is how academics tend to write. I enjoyed the process immensely and believe it’s why people have felt drawn to the book. My path has been to realize that the stories and voices of the people should stand out, and I provide the vehicle for that.