research

My research focuses on poetry, the nation, and creative economies in Vietnam where poetry has played a central role in modern state formation and the creation of national identity. My research is also focused on the global politics of the creative economies where initiatives like UNESCO’s “Creative Cities” stake claims over the economic value of the Culture Industries.

I am interested in innovation and poetry’s place in Vietnam’s burgeoning fourth Industrial Revolution (Vietnam 4.0), where Cultural and Creative industries (CCI) play a prominent role. Ultimately, this research seeks to understand who gets to be creative in a creative city?

where can you find my work?

  • 2024. “Editorializing the Classroom: Teaching Collaboratively in the Digital Age,” Cultural Anthropology; issue: Teaching Tools (co-authors: Sergio Hernandez Castellanos, Simmone Hudson, Jazmin Ibarra, Monica Saucedo, and Brenna Ryan)

  • 2024. “The Spoken and the Spark: The Social Life of Poetry in Vietnam’s Creative Economies.” European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EUROSEAS) Annual Conference (invited)

    2023.  “’Ho Chi Minh City’s Hilarious Side’: Vietnamese Subjectivities in Stand-up Comedy Performances.” Association of Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference

    2022.  “The Semioethics of Persona Poems in Ethnographic Texts.” Semiotics Society of America (SSA) Annual Conference

    2016.   “Methods Beyond Craft: Writing Research into the Poem.” Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Annual Conference

    2014. “Redefining Ethnography: The Inherent Anthropology-Work in Literature.” Anthropology Graduate Student Association (AGSA) Symposium, Indiana University

  • 2021.  “Poetic Responsibility in Ethnographic Inquiry” Roundtable Discussion. Podcast. American Anthropological Association. Panel.