The Institute's Associate Faculty have PSU academic appointments at .50FTE or higher and regularly apply scholarship on Asia and Asian-Americans to teaching, research, or training.
Associate Faculty have voting rights on Institute affairs in addition to fully participating in its activities and are eligible for grants and election to Institute for Asian Studies offices.
Susan Chan (DM, Indiana University, 1994)
Professor of Music (Piano), School of Music & Theater
Teaching interests: Piano lessons, Piano Pedagogy, Piano Literature
Research interests: Contemporary Chinese composers and their works involving the piano; Performance and interpretation of piano music; Use of Asian elements by western composers
HeeJun Chang (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 2001)
Professor and Chair of Geography
Teaching interests: Hydrology and water resources; climate change impact assessment; hydrologic ecosystem services; stream restoration; visual spatial analysis; GIS applications in hydrology and water resources
Regional specialization: Korea
Kai Hang Cheang 鄭啟恒 (Ph.D., University of California, Riverside 2018)
Assistant Professor, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Teaching Interests: Queer Asia, Transnational Sexualities, and Critical Race Studies
Research Interests: Queer and Feminist Theories, Comparative Race and Empire Studies, Sinophone Studies, Asian Anglophone Literatures, Visual Culture, Performance Studies, and Social Movements
Regional Specialization: Hong Kong, Macau, and the Chinese diaspora
Sri Craven (Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2009)
Associate Professor, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies.
Teaching interests: Gender and sexuality studies (postcolonial and transnational approaches); critical race studies; globalization; contemporary South Asian literary and political culture
Research interests: South Asian women's literature; postcolonial modernism; comparative approaches to feminist pedagogy
Karen Curtin (Ph.D., Ohio State University, 2016)
Assistant Professor of Japanese, Department of World Languages & Literatures
Teaching interests: Feminist and queer theories; postcolonial and indigenous theories; transnational and globalization theories; postcolonial and transnational approaches to gender, sexuality, and race
Research interests: pedagogy; identity and identity politics; global capitalism
Yiping Fang (Ph.D., University Colorado at Denver, 2005)
Assistant Professor, Urban Studies & Planning.
Teaching interests: Research methods; using GIS in urban, international, and development planning
Research interests: Housing reform in China; social and spacial Inequality in Chinese cities between local and migrant residents
Regional specialization: China
John Gallup (Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1994)
Associate Professor of Economics
Teaching interests: Economic development; labor economics; growth theory
Research interests: Geography in economic development—problems of tropical and landlocked regions; determinants of income distribution; labor markets and rural poverty in Vietnam
Regional specialization: Vietnam
Michele Gamburd (Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1995)
Professor, Department of Anthropology.
Teaching interests: Transnationalism and migration; anthropology of violence; gender in cross-cultural perspective; research methods; South Asia
Research interests: Gender; transnationalism; globalization; migration; alcohol consumption; disaster studies; aging
Specialization: South Asian, Sri Lanka, West Asia
Bruce Gilley (Ph.D., Princeton University, 2008)
Associate Professor of Political Science
Teaching interests: Comparative politics and international relations
Research interests: Comparative politics of China and Asia, particularly democracy, legitimacy, and global politics
Regional specialization: China
Young-Ju Han (M.A., University of Oregon, 2012)
Instructor of Korean, Department of World Languages & Literatures
Teaching Interest: Korean Language, Korean Literature, Korean Popular Culture Study Research Interest: Korean Language Pedagogy, Curriculum and Materials Development, Integrating UDL (Universal Design of learning) to a language class.
Regional specialization: Korea
Jon Holt (Ph.D., University of Washington, 2010)
Associate Professor of Japanese, Department of World Languages & Literatures
Teaching interests: Japanese literature, film, manga, and religion; upper-division Japanese language courses
Research interests: Modern Japanese literature including poetry, children’s literature, and manga; Japanese Buddhism.
Regional specialization: Japan
Chia Yin Hsu (Ph.D., New York University, 2006)
Associate Professor of History
Teaching interests: Russian history
Research interests: Late imperial and early soviet Russian migration to the Russian far east and north Manchuria; Russian imperial expansion and colonialism in China; ethnicity and nationality in late imperial and early soviet Russia.
Regional specialization: Russia and China
Hiro Ito (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, 2004)
Professor of Economics
Teaching interests: East Asia, Japan
Research interests: East Asia, Japan
Regional specialization: East Asia, Japan
Priya Kapoor (Ph.D., Ohio University, 1995)
Professor of International and Global Studies
Teaching & Research Interests: Critical Theory and Cultural Studies; Intercultural Communication; South Asia; Social movements; Media; Textual and Field Research methods.
Regional specialization: South Asia
Laurence Kominz (Ph.D., Columbia University, 1983)
Professor of Japanese Literature, Department of World Languages & Literatures
Teaching interests: Japanese literature; Japanese film; Japanese theater
Research interests: Traditional Japanese drama, literature and film
Regional specialization: Japan
Jungmin Kwon (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014)
Associate Professor, Department of Film Studies
Specialization: South Korean film and digital culture
Bishupal Limbu
Associate Professor of English.
Research interests: Narrative and social justice, postcolonial literature and theory, decoloniality, human rights, environmental humanities.
Kuan-Pin Lin (Ph.D., State University of New York, Stony Brook)
Professor of Economics
Teaching Fields: Econometrics, Mathematical Economics, Research Methods.
Research Interests: Computational econometrics; Computer applications in economics; Internet economics; Computable or applied general equilibrium (CGE) models; Chinese Economy.
JungHee Lee (Ph.D., University of California – Los Angeles, 1984)
Professor of Asian Art History
Teaching interests: Asian art history
Research interests: Buddhist sculptures of Korea and Japan
Regional specialization: East Asia (China, Korea, Japan)
JungHee Lee (Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2006)
Professor at School of Social Work; Senior Fellow at Center for Public Service at Hatfield School of Government Teaching interests: Influences of culture and values in leadership context; Research methods/design; Social welfare policy
Research interests: Influences of culture and values on mental health and in leadership context; Global engagement
Regional specialization: Asian countries specifically South Korea, China, and Vietnam
Bishupal Limbu
Associate Professor of English
Research interests: Narrative and social justice, postcolonial literature and theory, decoloniality, human rights, environmental humanities.
Piman Limpaphayom (Ph.D., CFA, University of Rhode Island)
Associate Professor of Finance
Teaching interests: Finance, investment analysis and portfolio management
Research interests: Corporate finance, organizational structure, and bankruptcy
Regional specialization: Thailand, East and SE Asia
Marie Lo (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2001)
Professor of English Literature
Teaching interests: Asian American literature and film; cultural studies
Regional specialization: Asian-America
Sally McWilliams (Ph.D., University of Washington, 1992)
Professor, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Teaching interests: feminist and queer theory; Asian diasporic literary and visual cultures; queer of color literature and memoirs
Research interests: Asian diasporic literature and photography; Asian American graphic memoirs
Masami Nishishiba (Ph.D., Portland State University, 2003)
Chair and Professor of Public Administration; Associate Director of the Center for Public Service.
Teaching interests: Organizational theory; organizational behavior; diversity in the workplace; intercultural communication; research methodology, and statistics; Japanese-English interpreting
Research interests: Social diversity, civic capacity, and comparative local government; hierarchical linear modeling, structural equation modeling, and multidimensional scaling
Regional specialization: Japan
Pronoy Rai (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018)
Assistant Professor of International and Global Studies
Research Interests: human-environment geographies, development and labor geographies, and feminist geographies.
Teaching Interests: global migration, international development (with a focus on gender and climate change in the Global South), modern India, and social and political theories.
Regional Specialization: India
Ken Ruoff (Ph.D., Columbia University, 1997)
Professor of History; Director, PSU Center for Japanese Studies
Teaching interests: Japanese history; East Asia history; Japanese-American relations; Korean history; Vietnamese history
Research interests: Modern Japanese history; Comparative East Asia
Regional specialization: Japan, East Asia
Jennifer Ruth (Ph.D., Brown University, 1999)
Professor of Film Studies
Teaching interests: film history, theory, and genre.
Area of specialization: Cold War politics of and in film from the United States, the former Soviet bloc countries, and China
Jeremy Spoon (Ph.D., University of Hawai'i, 2008)
Professor, Anthropology
Director, Emergency Management and Community Resilience Program
Teaching interests: Environmental anthropology; applied anthropology
Research interests: Applied and environmental anthropology; ethnoecology; protected areas; hazards and disasters, linked quantitative and qualitative methods; South Asia, Native North America, East Africa
Regional specialization: South Asia
Gerry Sussman (Ph.D., University of Hawaii/ Eat-West Center, 1983)
Professor, Urban Studies & Planning; International Studies Program
Teaching interests: Political economy of urban development; information systems; political communication and media.
Research interests: Political economy of globalization; world systems analysis; Southeast Asia; Eastern Europe
Regional specialization: Southeast Asia
Sully Taylor (Ph.D., University of Washington, 1989)
Professor of Business Administration, School of Business
Teaching interests: Business issues in Asia; international management; global human resource management; sustainable human resource management
Research interests: Human resource issues in Japan; international human resource management; organizational social capital in MNCs; sustainable human resource management
Regional specialization: Japan
Yer Thao (Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University, 2002)
Associate, Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Graduate School of Education
Regional specialization: Southeast Asia, Mong and Laotian cultures
Stephen Wadley (Ph.D., University of Washington, 1987)
Professor of Chinese and International Studies
Teaching interests: Chinese linguistics, Modern Chinese literature, Literary Chinese
Research interests: Historical Chinese linguistics, particularly Early Mandarin; Chinese vernacular literature and Altaic languages
Regional specialization: China
Liming Wang (Ph.D., University of Washington, 2009)
Assistant Professor
Teaching interests: Land Use and transportation; Travel Demand modeling; Discrete Choice Modeling
Research interests: Land Use and Transportation Planning
Regional specialization: China
Suwako Watanabe (Ph.D., Georgetown University, 1991)
Professor of Japanese, Department of World Languages & Literatures
Director of the PSU Institute for Asian Studies
Teaching interests: Japanese language and culture, Japanese sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Japanese language pedagogy, language assessment, and The Japanese Way of Tea
Research interests: Discourse analysis; socio-linguistics; language assessment; Japanese language pedagogy; cross-cultural communication
Regional specialization: Japan
Hyeyoung Woo (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 2008)
Professor of Sociology
Teaching interests: Korean families; sociology of aging; medical sociology, research methods, quantitative data analysis
Research interests: Korean families; health and well-being; aging and the life course; immigration; race and ethnic relations; quantitative research methods
Regional specialization: Korea; Asian-Americans