The Asian American / Asian Research Institute’s CUNY Faculty Research Support Program is designed to support CUNY faculty to conduct research that seeks to answer critical questions about Asian American and Asian diasporic communities. The program is open to research across all disciplines, including the social sciences, humanities and arts, health sciences, public health, etc. Priority is given to research that supports a work in progress (e.g., book project, article, major proposal submission, creative work, etc.) and research that has relevance to current policy questions concerning Asian American communities. AAARI’s aim is to fund research on a diversity of Asian ethnic communities.
2025 Recipients
Project: The Digital Infrastructure of New York City’s “New Chinatown”
Yuchen Chen (Baruch College/CUNY)
This project examines Chinese immigrants and real estate entrepreneurs in West Queens, exploring their placemaking practices in the emerging “new Chinatown.” It focuses on how Chinese ethnic media platforms mediate these processes and introduces the concept of “infrastructure” to understand diasporic identity and placemaking. By shifting the focus to the materiality of digital platforms, the study reveals how they facilitate the circulation of people and cultures within the Chinese diaspora.
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Yuchen Chen is an assistant professor of Communication Studies at Baruch College, CUNY. She is an ethnographer of the digital cultures of contemporary China and their social and political implications. Her work looks into two main threads: China’s data-driven population management and the increasingly digitally mediated Chinese immigration and investment in the U.S. Her work is situated at the intersections of feminist science and technology studies, digital studies, and (global) China studies. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication and Media from the University of Michigan, where she received the Barbour Scholarship. Her work has appeared in communication and media studies venues such as New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, as well as social computing venues such as ACM CHI and CSCW. |
Project: Culturally Tailored Intervention for Korean American Dementia Caregivers: Bridging Research and Practice Through Psychoeducation and Support
Soyeon Cho (New York City College of Technology/CUNY)
This project addresses the unique challenges faced by Korean American caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs), building on a previous qualitative study of their experiences. It proposes a culturally tailored, evidence-based pilot intervention that combines psychoeducation and support group discussions to address stigma, stress, resource navigation, and emotional support. The intervention will be evaluated for feasibility and impact, with the goal of developing scalable, culturally adaptive caregiving programs to improve caregiver well-being.
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Soyeon Cho’s research focuses on mental health disparities, service use, and family caregiving, particularly within underserved Asian American communities. Her academic journey began with a doctoral thesis examining the role of informal and formal social support among family caregivers of individuals with dementia, bringing attention to the unique challenges caregivers face in navigating care systems. Currently, Dr. Cho serves as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Human Services Department at New York City College of Technology/CUNY. Her research has addressed critical issues in minority aging and health disparities. She has led multiple PSC-CUNY-funded studies, including projects on ethnic and geographic disparities in mental health care and dementia awareness among Korean American older adults. Additionally, she served as Principal Investigator on a SAMHSA-funded grant focused on Screening and Brief Intervention for Substance Use. Dr. Cho is now leading Enhancing Equity in SSA Services: Addressing the Barriers Faced by Asian American Older Adults in Chinese, Korean, and Indian Communities, funded by the New York Retirement & Disability Research Center. Her ongoing work centers on developing culturally tailored resources for dementia caregivers and advocating for equitable healthcare access, addressing systemic, cultural, and linguistic barriers to empower caregivers and advance health equity. |
Project: The DeGrasse Family of New York City
Prithi Kanakamedala (Bronx Community College/CUNY)
This project examines the life of George DeGrasse and his family, who lived on land in New York City donated by Aaron Burr in the early nineteenth century. DeGrasse, listed as being born in Calcutta, India, and often claiming to be Burr’s former servant, becomes the focus of a reevaluation in light of new research suggesting Burr may have had a secret Black and Indian family in the Caribbean. This work explores the possibility that the DeGrasse family represents an early Indo-Caribbean presence in New York, and will culminate in a digital site and book chapter as part of a broader book project.
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Prithi Kanakamedala is a Professor of History at Bronx Community College/CUNY, and a faculty member in the M.A. in Liberal Studies Program at the CUNY Graduate Center. An active public historian here in the city, Prithi works with a range of cultural organizations. Her research looks at community-building, race, and citizenship in Brooklyn and New York’s 19th-century free Black communities. She is the author of Brooklynites: the Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough (NYU Press, 2024). |
Project: The Cultural Keepers: Tracing the Historical Footsteps of Vietnamese Dual Language Bilingual Education Programs in the U.S.
PI: Khánh Lê (Queens College/CUNY) & Co-PI: Alisha Nguyen (Lesley University)
This research explores the history, development, and impact of Vietnamese dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs in five U.S. states with significant Vietnamese populations. Using a multiple-case study approach, it examines how these programs support heritage language preservation and the raciolinguistic identity development of Vietnamese students, particularly in the context of refugee resettlement after the Vietnam War. The study also addresses the gap in scholarship on Vietnamese American education, language, and cultural integration in the U.S. education system.
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Khánh Lê, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Multilingualism and English Education in the Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders at Queens College/CUNY. His scholarship focuses on language, race, the refugee experience, and trauma studies. His work seeks to disrupt systems of marginalization in minoritized bi/multilingual communities. In particular, he investigates how these dominant structures impact Vietnamese American youth. Dr. Lê’s work has received numerous accolades, including the Bilingual Education Research SIG Outstanding Dissertation Award (2nd place) from AERA, the Dissertation Year Award, the Provost University Fellowship, the Andrew Mellon Faculty Fellowship, and the Fulbright-Hays Grant. His research has been featured in prestigious publications such as the English Journal (National Council of Teachers of English) and the TESOL Journal. |
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Alisha Nguyen, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of TESOL, Bilingual Education and Special Education at Lesley University. Her areas of expertise include anti-bias/anti-racist education, bilingual education, language & literacy development, and family engagement. Her scholarship mostly focuses on the intersectionality of language, power, race, class, and gender across educational settings and aims to foster racial, gender, and linguistic justice. Her works are published in Early Childhood Education Journal, Journal of Family Diversity, Journal of Practitioner Research, and Human Organization. |
Project: Sally Forth, Sad Girl!
Sally Wen Mao (Baruch College/CUNY)
Sally Forth, Sad Girl! is a novel-in-progress following a Chinese American poet living in an artist residency in Shanghai. The loosely autobiographical story explores themes of solitude, diasporic wandering, heartbreak, and art-making as the protagonist, Samara Pang, connects with fellow artists, experiences fleeting love affairs, and reflects on her mother’s birthplace. Spanning Shanghai, New York, and California, the novel delves into the transient lives of artists and the complexities of being an Asian American drifter.
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Sally Wen Mao is the author of the short story collection Ninetails: Nine Tales (Penguin Books, May 2024). She is also the author of three books of poetry: The Kingdom of Surfaces (Graywolf, 2023), a finalist for the Maya Angelou Book Award, Oculus (Graywolf Press, 2019), a finalist for the 2020 Los Angeles Book Prize in Poetry, and Mad Honey Symposium (Alice James Books, 2014). The recipient of an NEA grant, a Cullman fellowship, a Shearing fellowship, and two Pushcart Prizes, Mao is Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Baruch College/CUNY. |
Project: The Road to Healing, Rejuvenation, and Social Justice: Understanding Mental Health Challenges and Barriers to Mental Health Service Utilization among CUNY Asian American/Asian College Students
Esther Son (College of Staten Island/CUNY)
This study explores the mental health challenges and barriers to accessing services faced by Asian American/Asian college students at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, particularly after the pandemic. Focusing on ethnic variations, the research uses a mixed-methods approach, combining online surveys and Photovoice, to better understand these students’ unique experiences with mental health and service utilization. By identifying key challenges, the study aims to improve access to mental health services and promote greater equity for Asian American/Asian students on campus.
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Esther Son, MSW, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of the Department of Social Work at the College of Staten Island/CUNY and a Doctoral Faculty at the CUNY Graduate Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Work from Rutgers University and has completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University. Dr. Son’s research focuses on health disparities, disability policy, and culturally tailored interventions for marginalized populations. Her current research projects include the long-term impact of COVID-19 on Korean immigrant families of children and young adults with developmental disabilities, mental health challenges and service utilization of Asian American college students, and evaluating the impact of disability-specific curriculum exposure on the attitudes toward disability among social work students. In addition to her research, she is committed to advancing equity in education through her teaching and mentorship of students at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. |
