About Us

This symposium is organized by the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Asian Studies and Asian American Experiences (ASAAE) Research Cluster in partnership with the Association of Asian and Pacific American Scholars and Allies (AAPI faculty and staff affinity group at SMU) and Asian Council (the umbrella organization for all AAPI student clubs at SMU).

The ASAAE brings together faculty, staff, and graduate students with interests in Asian and Asian American Studies. We focus on two major and overlapping areas of scholarship and teaching:

1. The intersection of Asian studies and Asian American studies
2. The experiences and needs of Asian American and Pacific
   Islander community members at SMU and the broader higher-education sector.

Our goals are to explore new research space and opportunities for collaboration, to advance creative teaching in Asian Studies, and to foster a campus environment inclusive of diverse perspectives.

Team Members

Rachel Ball-Phillips, Ph.D. (Email: rmball@smu.edu). Dr. Ball-Phillips is the Director of Graduate Fellowships and Awards in the Moody School. Prior to joining the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, Dr. Ball-Phillips directed National Student Fellowships and the President’s Scholars at SMU. Dr. Ball-Phillips holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in South Asian History from Boston College, and a B.A. in History from SMU. During her time as a graduate student, she conducted language study and research through multiple American Institute of Indian Studies language grants, a Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship, and a Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy Fellowship. She has taught in the William P. Clements Department of History since 2014, and maintains an active research profile as a scholar of South Asian History. She is currently completing work on her manuscript Film in the Archives: Tracing Regionalism in Indian Cinema. Dr. Ball-Phillips also serves as the President of the Fulbright Association Dallas Chapter.

Piyawan Charoensap-Kelly, Ph.D. (Symposium Chair) (Email: pckelly@smu.edu) is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Communication at Southern Methodist University. She serves as co-chair of the Diversity Committee of the SMU Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Division and Chair of SMU Association of Asian and Pacific American Scholars and Allies. Her research interests include conflict management, crisis communication, identity management, and training and development in interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural settings. Her recent work has been published in Management Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Conflict Management, Journal of Management and Organization, and Journal of Emergency Management.

 

Wookun Kim, Ph.D. (Email: wookunkim@smu.edu) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics at Southern Methodist University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA. Dr. Wookun Kim’s research interests lie broadly in the fields of regional and urban economics, international trade, and demography. His research focuses on estimating the causal effects of public policies (e.g. fiscal, environmental, trade, and labor policies) on the spatial distribution of economic activity and quantifying their welfare consequences. His research often combines an economic model, micro-level data, and quasi-natural experiments.

 

 

LaiYee Leong, Ph.D. (Email: lleong@smu.edu) (Yale) is Senior Fellow at SMU’s Center for Presidential History and at the John G. Tower Center for Public Policy and International Affairs. She’s also Lecturer in the Department of Political Science. Dr. Leong currently serves as chair of SMU’s Association of Asian and Pacific American Scholars and Allies (AAPASA) and as faculty advisor to the Asian Council, the board for undergraduate Asian and Asian American organizations on campus. Dr. Leong’s recent research uses oral history interviews to study US foreign policy. Her work provided the material for the Center for Presidential History’s new podcast series Firsthand History.

 

Sponsor Acknowledgement

We are grateful for the generous financial support from the SMU Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute in partnership with the SMU Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and Asian Studies Program.

Special Thanks

Our special thanks go to Kate Kimmis (DCII Program Coordinator: kkimmis@smu.edu) for her tireless and superb administrative and logistical support.