8Asians | An Asian American collaborative blog

APA Spotlight is a weekly interview of Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) community leaders. It is a spotlight on individuals who have dedicated their careers to issues surrounding the APIA community with the goal of bringing much deserved recognition to their work and cause(s).

Dr. Cathy J. Schlund-Vials is an Assistant Professor in English and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. She is the Interim Director of the UConn Asian American Studies Institute and the Faculty Director of Humanities House, a campus living/learning community. Her research interests include refugee cultural production, critical race theory, immigration law, human rights, and contemporary ethnic American literary studies.

Dr. Schlund-Vials is the author of Modeling Citizenship: Naturalization in Jewish and Asian American Writing (Temple University Press, 2011) which examines the interplay between citizenship, performance, and immigration policy in the literatures of two “model minority” groups. She has published and forthcoming articles and pieces in Life Writing, Journal of Asian American Studies, MELUS, Modern Language Studies, American Literary History, and positions. She has recently completed her second book, Cambodian American Memory Work: Genocide Remembrance and Juridical Activism (forthcoming, University of Minnesota Press), which is focused on genocide remembrance and juridical activism in Cambodian American literature, film, and hip hop.

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