Ph.D. English, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2002)

M.A. American Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2000)

M.F.A., Creative Writing, Cornell University (1989)

B.A. English, Denison University (1985)

 

My work bridges scholarly and creative registers and explores public and personal narratives of American places and the consequences of these narratives in shaping identity and historical perspective. I am the author of Haunted by Waters: A Journey through Race and Place in the American West (University of Iowa Press, 2007), which was awarded the National Council on Public History Book Award in 2008 and nominated for Orion Magazine's 2008 Book Award. In my forthcoming book project, Fields of Play: Sport, Race, and Memory in The Steel City (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023), I use sport as a lens to explore the social and cultural history of the greater Pittsburgh region from the turn of the nineteenth century to the present. I have also published poetry, as well as articles on Japanese American relocation and ecocriticism and from 2014-2017 served on the National Park Service Asian American Pacific Islander Theme Study Scholars Panel. I am currently working on a collection of essays and poetry.

Since coming to Amherst in 2008, I have taught courses in Asian American studies, ethnic literature, research methods, creative nonfiction, sports studies, and public history.

I am also affiliated with and recently co-chaired the Five College Asian Pacific American Studies Program.

I spend my life away from Amherst watching Pittsburgh sports, fly-fishing (not often enough), kayaking, biking, reading, gardening, and trying to keep up with my winsome and increasingly sagacious kids.