Research

Where do you belong? How do you know? How do people create belonging – whether through individual or collective meaning-making – especially when they are assumed to be out of place?

My research examines some of the relationships, groups, and spaces where belonging is created and contested in our daily lives. 

Books

Selected Published Work

“‘I don’t say that I’m a who’s who’: Negotiating Identity through Humility Work.” Symbolic Interaction 45(2):237-256.

Anti-Asian and Asian American Violence and Discrimination.” Social Problems Virtual Issue.

with Carla Goar. “‘In My Heart, I Am Cambodian’: Symbolic Ethnicity among Parents who Adopt Transracially.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 8(1):145-159.

“Adopting the Model Minority Myth: Korean Adoption as a Racial Project.” Social Problems 68(1):118-135.

Behind the Model Minority Myth.” Blog post for Uplift Memphis, Uplift the Nation.

with Carla Goar. “Abby Johnson’s comments about her adopted Black son are problematic. Here’s why.” Op-Ed for Brookings.