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The Department of Transnational Asian Studies and the Chao Center for Asian Studies welcome our return to campus with a look back at the very productive 2024-25 academic year. 005B50 emerald C04829 brick
This is an exciting time of growth for the department and Chao Center. Starting in the fall of 2025, the Department of Transnational Asian Studies has doubled in size, with the inclusion of the entirety of the faculty and curriculum in Asian languages. We now offer Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language studies as a central component of our major, which has been divided into two concentrations. The first is our long-standing and popular research-based Major Concentration in Transnational Asian Studies. The second is the Major Concentration in Asian Language.
Our department is growing even larger with the addition of our new Assistant Professor of Transnational Asian Studies, Sourav Chatterjee, who is joining us as a recent PhD from Columbia University. A scholar of comparative literature, Chatterjee explores the Bengali literary response to British efforts at moralizing and censorship, a response, he argues, that centered cynicism, mockery, and irreverence against both British imperialism and contemporary Indian society. Exploring otherwise neglected ephemeral texts, such as the widely popular Bengali print media of illustrated periodicals, proto-comics, cartoon albums, gags, joke books, and political caricatures, Chatterjee focuses on themes of caste and gender, nationalism and colonialism, self-representation and legitimacy. We are very excited to have him joining our department at Rice University, where he will be teaching classes on literature and film, intellectual history and cultural studies of South Asia.
2024-25 was a banner year for events at the Chao Center for Asian Studies and the Department of Transnational Asian Studies. We kicked off the year by co-hosting a talk by Shashi Tharoor, the Indian literary star and politician, representing the state of Kerala in the Indian Parliament, who offered a rousing synthesis of India’s moment in global politics. Immediately afterwards, the Chao Center was recognized by the Asia Society-Texas, as the recipient of their inaugural Game Changer Award, for its significant impact on the Houston community, in particular noting the years of successful outreach to Asian and Asian American communities. We thank the Asia Society for this very great honor.
Marking the fiftieth anniversary of America’s war in Vietnam, the Frank and Cindy Liu Distinguished Visitor Series sponsored a series of speakers, offering a historical retrospective. Each of our speakers offered a very different perspective, including the impact of the American secret war in neighboring Laos, the post-war experience of the Vietnamese in diaspora, and a close study of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, its context and repercussions.
We ended the year with a hybrid international conference-workshop organized by Professor Sonia Ryang, on Race in Transnational Asia, which identified and explored the ways in which historical factors such as imperialism and national identity-building have impacted and redefined racial dynamics, with a focus on Korea and Japan. Our student-run affiliate, the Rice Asian Diasporic and Asian American Research (RADAAR) Collective co-hosted the first annual Texas Association for Asian American Diaspora Studies (TAAADS) Symposium with Texas A&M in College Station in the spring of 2025. We are excited to confirm that they will repeat that success with another collaborative graduate student-led conference, on Rice campus this time, in the spring of 2026.
Another stand-out event included the finale to the Robert Ho Artist-in-Residence-Grant, with the performance of Vibrant Voices: Musical Portraits from the Houston Asian American Archive. Three young artist composers created original work for the event, inspired by their research in the HAAA on the experiences of Houston’s Asian American diasporic community.
Finally, our accomplished senior majors in Asian Studies at Rice presented their research in a compelling poster presentation, only a few weeks before graduation, many with honors—listed below! We will miss them but are confident that these extraordinary young scholars will lead interesting and meaningful lives.
Upcoming:
As we kick off the new academic year, please make a note on your calendars of our upcoming events. On October 29 at 4 pm, our former colleague and good friend, Dr. Lan Li, now of Johns Hopkins, will be returning to Rice campus to discuss her new book, Body Map: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine (Johns Hopkins University Press, April 2025), described by her publisher as: “A rich history of the hidden landscapes of the human body… Drawing on case studies across time and place, from Kaifeng to Dejima and from Beijing to Berlin, Li expertly navigates the complex interplay between Eastern and Western medical traditions…By bringing together insights from the history of science, postcolonial studies, art history, Chinese studies, critical cartography, and medical anthropology, Li offers a fresh perspective on the cultures of objectivity that have defined our approach to the human body.”
Other upcoming talks include those of the Transnational Asia Speaker Series:
Andrew Schonebaum, Associate Professor of Chinese Studies, Department Head of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and Director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Maryland, will give a talk on October 16 entitled, “ Water, Connoisseurship, and Curiosity in Early Modern China,” illuminating the intersection of natural philosophy, medical practice, popular culture, and literary imagination in early modern Chinese approaches to understanding the relationship between environment, body, cosmos and unseen realms.
Eric Schluessel, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and Co-Director of the East Asia National Resource Center at The George Washington University, will visit on October 24 to present his research on “ Piety and Capitalism in Chinese Central Asia.” During the period 1877–1918, the agrarian economy of the Uyghur region (Xinjiang, East Turkestan) became integrated into the Eurasian economy in new ways, resulting not only in the immiseration of local people, but in innovations in local economic organization. This talk explains the origins of this new integration, focusing on collusion between Chinese merchants from Tianjin and a government dominated by Hunanese officials. It shows how ordinary farmers, traders, and craftspeople responded to the resultant changes, with an emphasis on the effects on one of the region's central institutions, the Islamic pious endowment (waqf). The talk is based on new research in recently uncovered sources in Chaghatay (premodern Uyghur) as well as Chinese.
For questions about any of our events, please write to chao.center@rice.edu.
In the meantime, this, our second annual newsletter, will offer a more detailed look at the activities of our busy past year and will point you towards our faculty and student resources and support.
All my best,
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Lisa Balabanlilar
Joseph and Joanna Nazro Mullen Professor in the Humanities
Chair of the Department of Transnational Asian Studies
Director of the Chao Center for Asian Studies
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The Year in Review
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Chao Center for Asian Studies
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Chao Center
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Transnational Asia Speaker Series
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Through the generosity of the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation and with the support of our faculty, the Chao Center for Asian Studies hosts a number of distinguished scholars annually for guest lectures that are free and open to the public. In 2024-25, TASS talks included:
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“Water, Connoisseurship, and Curiosity in Early Modern China” | Andrew Schonebaum
October 16, 2025
From melted plum-blossom snow to dragon spit, this talk explored how water shaped imagination, medicine & culture in early modern China.
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“Piety and Capitalism in Chinese Central Asia” | Eric Schluessel
October 24, 2025
During this talk, Professor Schluessel explored how Xinjiang’s agrarian economy (1877–1918) became enmeshed in the Eurasian economy—bringing both hardship and new forms of organization—through collusion between merchants and officials, and through the resilience of farmers, traders, and craftspeople.
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“Rethinking the Twenty-first Century Through the Prism of Modern Japan: Manchuria and the Myth of a Neoliberal World” | Frederick R. Dickinson
February 19, 2026
In this talk, Frederick R. Dickinson explored how modern history’s Anglophone focus on post-1945 “triumphs” obscures global complexity, which becomes starkly clear when viewed through modern Japan, where reassessing wartime legacies reveals the true calamity behind what is now miscast as a “Second Cold War.”
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“Visualizing Grief: Weeping Figures and the Expression of Emotion in Tomb Art in Medieval China (10th–14th Centuries)” | Fei Deng
March 5, 2026
This talk explored how debates over Taiwan’s independence have been shaped by both U.S.-China power struggles and Taiwan’s complex colonial history. It examined competing political visions—from Marxist nationalism to decolonial thought—and argued for rethinking sovereignty beyond the traditional nation-state model.
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“Looking East, Looking West: Safavids, Ottomans, and Mughals in the Age of Empires at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston” | Dr. Aimée Froom
April 9, 2026
This talk utilizes the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s extensive collections to show how the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires maintained unique imperial identities and integrated diverse global influences despite sharing a common Islamic aesthetic.
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“The Manchu Mirrors and the Knowledge of Plants and Animals in High Qing China” | He Bian
April 17, 2026
The Manchu Mirrors and the Knowledge of Plants and Animals in High Qing China explores how the Qing court used multilingual lexicography and natural history to codify a vast biological world, ultimately transforming the Manchu language into a powerful tool for imperial organization and cultural authority.
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Tai Event Series in Cross-Cultural Studies
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Saints, Scoundrels, Misfits and Rebels: The social implications of vegetarianism in pre-modern China | John Kieschnick
November 7, 2025
By the end of the sixth century in China, Buddhist monastics were expected, and laypeople encouraged, to be vegetarian. Looking beyond individual philosophy, Kieschnick explores vegetarianism's social impact through four types of figures: saints who promoted the diet, pious-seeming scoundrels who secretly ate meat, misfits who struggled to stay vegetarian, and rebels whose radical eating habits state officials associated with sedition.
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Conferences
Co-sponsor-ASAP/16/ Conference
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Worldmaking/Worldbreaking
October 22-26, 2026
This multi-day conference was the 16th annual meeting of the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP), an international, nonprofit association dedicated to discovering and articulating the aesthetic, cultural, ethical, and political identities of the contemporary arts.
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Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA)
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Asian Chamber Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards 2025
Community Ambassador Award
HAAA was proud to receive the Asian Chamber of Commerce: Community Ambassador Award. The Asian Chamber recognizes companies and individuals who have impacted our community at large. The event unites the Asian business community to celebrate excellence in leadership, business, and community impact within the greater Houston area.
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HAAA Redesign
From January to February 2026, junior lead intern Chi Pham redesigned HAAA’s public-facing visual identity and graphics across Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Developed with feedback from senior lead interns Advika Rajeev and Grace Park and junior lead intern Parwana Karimi, the updated templates create a more consistent and polished presence across all platforms. The redesign strengthens HAAA’s brand identity and better reflects the organization’s standards for public engagement and content presentation.
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Shapiro Showcase Finalist
April 21, 2026
HAAA’s intern Karis Lai was nominated as a Shapiro Showcase finalist and presented her creative work “Four Seasons of Aging: The Lived Experiences of Chinese American Women” inspired by Asian American oral histories. Four Seasons of Aging: The Lived Experiences of Chinese American Women is a multimedia piece blending oral history, creative nonfiction writing, and photography. Karis Lai’s work features the stories of four HAAA interviewees: Francine Di, Faye Chin, Rogene Gee Calvert, and Lily Chan Foster and uses the seasons as an interpretive framework to understand the complexities of aging in a fresh light. "Four Seasons of Aging" juxtaposes the universal and philosophical aspects of aging with four real stories which highlight the parts of aging that are often missed: the subtle pains, the small inconveniences, and the surprising joys.
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Rice Asian Diasporic and Asian American Research (RADAAR) Collective
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Opening Dinner and Arts & Crafts
September 4, 2025
RADAAR started the year off with our popular Opening Dinner, welcoming undergrads, graduate students, and postdocs from across Rice to share a meal, learn more about RADAAR's programming, and join us for an art activity, where they created playing cards with their artistic visions for what Asian American Studies at Rice should look like!
A Town Called Victoria (movie)
September 18, 2025
RADAAR collaborated with UT Austin's Center for Asian American Studies, the Asian American Studies Academy, and other community partners across Texas to hold a virtual screening of A Town Called Victoria, a film by a Houston-based Asian American filmmaker. RADAAR organizer and English PhD candidate Karen Siu helped facilitate a discussion on Asian American identity in the South with the filmmaker, Lucy Liu, and with the audience of 50+ students, teachers, and community members from across Texas who attended the event.
Reading Circle
December 4, 2025
Dr. Tanika Raychaudhuri, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Rice, joined us for RADAAR's Asian Studies Reading Circle, as we shared dinner and discussed Dr. Raychaudhuri's new book, The Social Roots of Asian American Partisanship: From Political Learning to Partisan Leanings (Oxford University Press 2025). Undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs enjoyed a lively discussion on voting behavior in Asian American communities and on the contested nature of "Asian American" as an identifier.
Opening Dinner
February 11, 2026
RADAAR welcomed students and faculty from across Rice for our Spring Opening Dinner, enjoying delicious food in the sunny Herring Hall courtyard, and sharing our plans for the semester.
Co-Conference with Texas A&M
Needs detail
UPCOMING EVENTS:
The RADAAR team is planning its roster of events for 2026-2027, including an opening dinner and arts & crafts night, more meetings of the Asian Studies Reading Circle, and an ongoing Grad/Postdoc Asian Studies Writing Group. We are also excited to announce that the third annual symposium of the Texas Association for Asian American Diaspora Studies (TAAADS) will take place on February 19-20, 2027, at the University of Texas, Austin. The symposium is jointly sponsored by RADAAR and Rice's Chao Center for Asian Studies, UT Austin's Center for Asian American Studies, and various departments at Texas A&M University. To keep up with RADAAR's events and programs, follow RADAAR on Instagram @riceradaar, or email at riceradaar@gmail.com.
Announcing the recipients for the inaugural TAAADS Awards:
Best Graduate Paper goes to Haerin Jung,for her paper entitled “Through Patterns: Yayoi Kusama’s Early Net Paintings.” Haerin Jung is a PhD student in Art History at Rice University.
Best Undergraduate Paper goes to Trinity Ngo,for her paper entitled “White Terror, White Pages: Diasporic Women as Archives of Censored History in Green Island.” Trinity Ngo recently graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, having completed degrees in English, Rhetoric & Writing, and Asian American Studies.
Mohamad Kadan, PhD student in the History department here at Rice, was recently awarded the Junior Scholar Award by the Chao Center's Houston Asian American Archive, for his project"Palestinians in Exile: Culture, Global Histories, and the Making of a Nation."
The RADAAR team is thinking ahead towards next year's events and we are looking for organizers - if you would like to be involved with the TAAADS symposium or other RADAAR events, please let us know!
Zainab Abdali | za10@rice.edu
RADAAR Organizer
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A Town Called Victoria (movie)
September 18, 2025
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Opening Dinner and Arts & Crafts
September 4, 2025
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Launched: Remediation process for the legacy Oral History Interviews
October 2, 2026
On Thursday, October 2nd, HAAA began implementing remediation workflows on existing oral history interviews and archival audiovisual content to meet ADA accessibility standards. The project was conducted by senior lead interns Advika Rajeev and Grace Park and junior lead intern Chi Pham, with guidance from Norie Guthrie of the Woodson Research Center. These efforts ensure that both legacy and future HAAA content remains accessible to individuals with disabilities.
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Biweekly HAAA work parties
October 2, 2025
Senior lead interns Advika Rajeev and Grace Park launched biweekly HAAA work parties to strengthen intern engagement and provide dedicated time for collaborative work on oral history tasks with direct, face-to-face support. The work parties were continued by junior lead interns Parwana Karimi and Chi Pham to maintain a consistent space for hands-on collaboration throughout the year.
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Reading Circle
December 4, 2025
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AAPI voices of Houston
January 8, 2026
On Thursday, January 8th Clay Guinn, Ph.D (Elkins Chair in English and Language Arts), along with St. John School’s 9-12th graders, visited HAAA at the Woodson Archive, where HAAA Manager Dr. Anne Chao showcased the often-overlooked AAPI voices of Houston. Dr. Chao’s presentation contributed to Dr. Guinn’s Houston cultural history short course and enriched St. John’s highschooler’s sense of the hardships historically imposed on AAPI diaspora by US regulatory practices and how HAAA serves to combat the discrimination. Wooden’s head Archivist Amanda Focke guided an archival research practice from HAAA archival materials.
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Opening Dinner and Arts & Crafts
February 11, 2026
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Transnational Asia: an online interdisciplinary journal
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Special Issue: Transpacific Networks and Religious Circulations Spanning East Asia and the United States
July 2025
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We are excited to announce the release of our latest journal issue, which challenges traditional national boundaries by examining the dynamic religious intersections connecting East Asia and the United States. Originating from a multi-year American Academy of Religion seminar, this collection brings together interdisciplinary insights on how the circulation of religious practices across the Pacific reshapes both the traditions themselves and the networks that sustain them. We invite you to explore these compelling articles to discover how transnational networks, cultural translation, and daily practices continue to transform the religious landscape between Asia and North America.
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Rice Asian Studies Review (RASR)
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The ninth volume of the Rice Asian Studies Review (RASR) stands as a vibrant testament to the changing methodologies and expanding boundaries of Asian, Asian American, and Asian Diasporic Studies. Backed by Rice University’s Department of Transnational Asian Studies (DoTAS), this latest issue compiles rigorously selected academic research and creative artistry from undergraduate scholars across a wide array of disciplines and backgrounds. By bringing together diverse geographic perspectives and multifaceted experiences, Volume 9 directly engages with the concept of Transnational Asia—offering fresh, critical insights that aim to inspire both original scholarship and the next generation of thinkers.
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Department of Transnational Asian Studies
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Transnational Asian Studies at Home and Abroad
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The Junior Scholar Award
February 2, 2026
Presented to Mohamad Kadan for Palestinians in Exile: Culture, Global Histories, and the Making of a Nation project that centers on Houston-based Palestinian oral histories to explore how exile, memory, and intellectual life have shaped modern Palestinian history. Drawing on my work at the Houston Asian American Archive, particularly its oral history collections, the project examines how Palestinians in Houston narrate displacement, political commitment, and cultural production across generations. These life histories are read alongside archival materials to trace connections linking Palestinians in Israel under military rule (1948–1966) to broader transnational circuits of decolonization, development, and Cold War political economy. By foregrounding oral testimony, the project shows how Palestinian histories in exile—stretching from Haifa and Ramleh to Beirut and Houston—preserve political knowledge, sustain intellectual networks, and challenge state-centered narratives of modernization promoted through Israeli and Afro-Asian development frameworks.
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Lunar New Year Lunch
February 17, 2026
The campus came alive with luck and prosperity as the Rice Lions delivered an energetic Lunar New Year performance, complete with a vibrant drumbeat and the crowd-favorite tradition of tossing tangerines to spectators. It was a spectacular celebration that left everyone wishing for a year ahead filled with joy, good fortune, and plenty of Vitamin C!
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Dough Figurine Workshop
March 2, 2026
The Dough Figurine Workshop was a resounding success, bringing together more than 70 participants—including many local high school students—to explore the rich tradition of dough sculpture. Guided by the expertise of Master Su, whom we invited from Taiwan, attendees had the opportunity to craft their own auspicious lion ornaments. Special thanks go to Wei-li and Heather, whose outstanding hard work and coordination made this wonderful community event possible.
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David Lee - Study break presentation
April 28, 2026
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Department of Art Printmaking Trip to Japan, 2025
July, 2025
In July 2025, Master Printer and Rice Lecturer Patrick Masterson, along with the author, embarked on an immersive 16-day research and training trip to Japan to study the traditional techniques of Mokuhanga (woodblock printing), Washi (traditional papermaking), and Risography. Their itinerary blended formal training at the Karuizawa Mokuhanga School and an impactful hands-on papermaking workshop with executive meetings at the Riso Kagaku Corporation, museum visits, and the acquisition of vintage works for Rice’s Comic Art Teaching and Study Workshop Collection. Gaining invaluable professional connections and deep cultural insights, the duo is now bringing these skills back to the classroom through a series of upcoming campus brownbag workshops and a brand-new, team-taught bookmaking course launching in Fall 2026.
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Rice and Country
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Rice in Korea
Eight students spent six weeks in Seoul this summer participating in the program. They were immersed in the language and culture through a homestay, excursions, and community service. Participants completed two courses, Korean Language in Action and Understanding Korean Society and Culture at our partner institution, Seoul National University.
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Rice in Taiwan
Twelve students studied Chinese culture and society alongside interactional competence in Mandarin, with community engagement built into the program. The program took place in Taipei, and several students completed a medical practicum during their time there.
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Both programs were made possible in part by funding from the Chao Foundation.
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Student Awarded Letters
Congratulations to this year's recipients of the Certificate in Asian Language and Intercultural Communication. Sixteen students in the Class of 2026 completed a Certificate: two in Arabic, six in Chinese, four in Japanese, and four in Korean. Each of them completed substantial coursework in the language, an experiential learning component, and an outcomes assessment. We are proud of the work they put in and look forward to seeing where they take it.
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Class Talks
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What has the war got to do with K-Pop? | Kyung Hyun Kim
September 3, 2025
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Japanese literature in Brazil | Seth Jacobowitz
October 7, 2025
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Global India: diaspora and translation | Bhavya Tiwari
November 6, 2025
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Understanding Trans-Imperial History | Satoshi Mizutani
March 10, 2026
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[Talk Title] | Shaha Parpia
March 23, 2026
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[Talk Title] | Melody Yunzi Li
March 24, 2026
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[Talk Title] | Scott Powell
March 27, 2026
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Book Talks
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Invisible Anatomy: Meridians and Math in Chinese Medicine | Lan Li
October 29, 2025
Based on Lan Li’s book Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine, this talk reframed illustrations of invisible structures as body maps to explore a global history of medicine from the tenth to twentieth centuries. Li focused on the graphic form of the tu (圖) as a category of technical images, examining how illustrated lines guided diagnostic and therapeutic practice. By critically analyzing a thirteenth-century image of jingluo (經絡/meridians) through the lenses of science studies, visual culture, and medical humanities, the talk traced the aesthetic, conceptual, and political dimensions of these maps across eras to rethink traditional cultures of objectivity.
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Faculty and Staff Achievements
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Faculty/Staff Service Award | Hae Hun Matos
Onyekachi Idigo, a PhD candidate and Parliamentarian for the Graduate Student Association (GSA), officially announced that Hae Hun Matos has been nominated by several students for the Faculty/Staff Service Award. This nomination recognizes her exceptional efforts that go above and beyond the call of duty to significantly improve the overall quality of life for graduate students at Rice University.
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Bei Shan Tang Monograph Prize
Shih-shan Susan Huang received the Bei Shan Tang Monograph Prize awarded by the Association for Asian Studies in 2026. This award honors outstanding sole- or co- authored research on Chinese art history of any historical period published in the English language. Catalogues published under the direction of a museum, library, or public or private collection, and exhibition catalogues published in 2024 are eligible for consideration for the 2026 awards. The award announcement includes the following statement:
A monumental achievement, Shih-shan Susan Huang’s book brings readers on an extraordinary art historical journey through six centuries of time (850–1450) and across Asia from Herat to Kyoto. Deeply researched, copiously illustrated, and accompanied by informative maps and charts, the journey is transmedial, too. Discussions of proto-print technologies and early traffic between prints and paintings precede chapters organized by geographical and/or socio-political units. The latter expand beyond imperial patrons to include women devotees, traveling monks, and skilled cutters, while case studies delve into the circulation of visual memes.
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Congratulations to Sidney Lu for his promotion to Annette and Hugh Gragg Professor of Transnational Asian Studies.
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Congratulations to Hossam Elsherbiny for his promotion to Associate Teaching Professor in Arabic.
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Student and Alumni Achievements
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Critical Language Scholarship
Anders Powell, a rising junior who started studying Chinese language and culture with us since his freshman year, has been awarded the prestigious Critical Language Scholarship. The scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and provides immersive summer programs for U.S. undergraduate students to learn a language of strategic importance to the United States' national security and economic prosperity. Anders will study at Tamkang University in New Taipei City.
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Congratulations to the graduates who received a certificate in an Asian language. Connor Nguyen (‘26), and Noor Ayache (‘26) received a Certificate in Arabic, Ava Baraban (‘26), Andrew Holzbach (‘26), Miki Law (‘26), Cheryl Lee (‘26'), Thomas Moore (‘26), and Adam Vuong (‘26) received a Certificate in Chinese, Ijeoma Modilm (‘26), Joyce Wu (‘26), Zack Donovan (‘26) and Victoria Nian (‘26) received a Certificate in Japanese, and Gina Kotinek (‘26), Lim Hayne (‘26), Nicole Imming (‘26) and Carmen Tidwell (‘26) received a Certificate in Korean.
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Faculty and Staff Appointments
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Jenny Judge was appointed the Department Administrator for the Department of Transnational Asian Studies and the Chao Center for Asian Studies.
Her career in education started with a Bachelor of Education and a teaching career as a secondary school teacher. In 2008, she transitioned to an administrative role at a private college beginning her career in higher education. A move south in 2013 to sunny, vibrant Houston from rainy, beautiful, Vancouver, B.C., signaled the beginning of an enriching career at Rice University where she initially joined Rice’s School of Architecture before moving to the School of Humanities and Arts Dean’s Office overseeing minors and now, excitedly has joined the administration team for the Department of Transnational Asian Studies and Chao Center for Asian Studies.
Over her time in higher education, Jenny has held a range of positions including financial aid, facilities liaison, recruitment, student advising, and undergraduate and program administration. With completion of her Master of Education in Higher Education, she is excited to apply research to her practice.Working closely with faculty and staff, she seeks to provide the administrative support that allow the programs, students, and faculty to achieve their goals and objectives. She particularly values people, loving her opportunities for student engagement, including being a Wiess Associate, and looks forward to continuing to develop positive, collaborative relationships across the university.
In her time, between work and studies, she enjoys time with her family, supporting her sons at sporting events, reading as often as possible, and she can often be found running the outer loop at Rice under the magnificent live oaks lining Rice’s campus.
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Zainab Abdali was appointed Postdoctoral Associate in Asian Studies Leadership & Engagement at the Chao Center for Asian Studies.
She is a scholar and public humanities professional who specializes in place-based and community-oriented programming. As the Postdoctoral Associate for Asian Studies Leadership & Engagement, Zainab will support the Center’s existing programs and develop new programming that advances Asian and Asian American Studies in Texas and nationally through cultural events, reading groups, symposia, keynote lectures, and other collaborative events. Zainab previously served for five years as a co-founder and key organizing member for the Rice Asian Diasporic and Asian American Research Collective (RADAAR), a student-run program of the Chao Center that organizes innovative educational, cultural, and advocacy events across Texas through strong partnerships with local organizations and other Texas institutions such as UT Austin and Texas A&M University.
Zainab holds a PhD in English with a certificate in the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality from Rice University, and her research focuses on contemporary South Asian and Arab art and literature.
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Jordan Szymczyk'18 was appointed the Publication Specialist for the Department of Transnational Asian Studies and the Chao Center for Asian Studies. He manages the Department's and the Center's websites and social media, creates Department and Center promotional materials, and manages the Center's research journal, Transnational Asia. He and his wife are also former Resident Associates at Brown College. He holds a B.A. in Computer Science from Rice University and was a member of Brown College.
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Funding for Faculty and Researchers
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Thanks to a generous gift from the T.T. and W.F. Chao Foundation, the Chao Center is pleased to offer competitive funding support towards the Asia-related academic and intellectual endeavors of Rice faculty and researchers. A broad range of proposals may qualify for funding. All full-time faculty, PhD students, postdoctoral and research fellows, lecturers, and other academic personnel are eligible to apply.
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Large Grants ($5,000 - $10,000)
The Chao Center for Asian Studies awards competitive grants that are intended to develop innovative models for conducting research on or about Transnational Asia or to ask new questions within existing models.
Learn More and Apply for Large Grants →
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Funding for Students of Transnational Asian Studies
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Thanks to a generous gift from the T.T. and W.F. Chao Foundation, the Chao Center for Asian Studies is pleased to offer competitive funding support towards the Asia-related academic and intellectual endeavors of students in the Department of Transnational Asian Studies. These fellowships are awarded with the goal of facilitating the initiation, completion, or development of either individual or collaborative research projects. A broad range of proposals may qualify for funding.
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Chao Scholars Research Funding
Competitive grants are available only to majors in Transnational Asian Studies. Proposals are evaluated by the Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Transnational Asian Studies, in collaboration with the faculty of the department.
Learn More and Apply for Chao Scholars Research Funding →
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Advanced Undergraduate Research Award (AURA)
Through the generous support of the Gee Family Association, the Chao Center supports Asian Studies majors and minors to pursue interdisciplinary academic research, internship or pre-professional work experience, cultural study opportunities, and community service projects.
Learn More and Apply for AURA →
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Funding for Students of Asian Languages
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The Chao Center for Asian Studies is pleased to provide funding for Asian Studies majors enrolled in Rice in Country programs. Additional details regarding eligibility and application procedures are available on the Department of Transnational Asian Studies website. Check there for updates and take advantage of this exciting new opportunity!
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