Jennifer Ho

Candidate statement

AAAS is my true academic home, because this is an organization where members feel like family. I was introduced to the organization when I was an undergraduate student (BA, UC Santa Barbara, 1992) and attended my first AAAS conference. I made my first professional contacts after presenting at AAAS in Scottsdale while I was in graduate school (PhD Boston University, 2003). It has been my honor to serve as conference co-chair (New Orleans 2011) and as a regional board representative (2011-2014) during my time as a faculty member in English at UNC Chapel Hill. I have published 3 books on Asian American literature & culture and am committed to anti-racist education.

I want to serve as AAAS President in order to continue the work of affirming Asian American studies as a vibrant field of study, one that promotes social justice and intellectual curiosity. Our current historic moment means the work we do as Asian Americanists is more important than ever. Among the projects I hope to helm are a survey of our members to find out what issues are most pressing for them, supporting fixed term faculty and staff, and continuing outreach to Asian American community partners nationwide.