Catherine Ceniza Choy

Details

Biography

Topics

Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders

Education

Faculty/Staff Development

First Year Read Programs

Globalization

Human Rights

Immigration

Racism/Racial Justice

U.S. History

Women & Feminism

Women in the Global Economy

Catherine Ceniza Choy, PhD, is an award-winning historian, author, and professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice for UC Berkeley's Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society.

Catherine is the author of Asian American Histories of the United States (Beacon Press 2022). The book features the themes of violence, erasure, and resistance in a nearly 200 year history of Asian migration, labor, and community formation in the US. The book was awarded a 2022 Kirkus Star from Kirkus Reviews for books of exceptional merit; named a Best of 2022 Nonfiction Book by Kirkus Reviews and Ms. Magazine; and featured in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s 2023 National Day of Racial Healing book list and the Texas Library Association’s 2023 Texas Topaz Reading List.

Choy’s first book, Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History (2003), explored how and why the Philippines became the leading exporter of professional nurses to the United States. Empire of Care received the 2003 American Journal of Nursing History and Public Policy Book Award and the 2005 Association for Asian American Studies History Book Award.

Her second book, Global Families: A History of Asian International Adoption in America (2013), unearthed the little-known historical origins of Asian international adoption in the United States beginning with the post-World War II presence of the U.S. military in Asia.

An engaged public scholar, Choy has been interviewed and had her research cited in many media outlets, including ABC 20/20, The Atlantic, CNN, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, New York Times, and San Francisco Chronicle, on topics such as anti-Asian, coronavirus-related hate and violence, the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on Filipino nurses in the United States, and racism and misogyny in the March 16, 2021 Atlanta spa shootings.

Choy received her Ph.D. in History from UCLA and her B.A. in History from Pomona College. The daughter of Filipino immigrants, she was born and raised in New York City. She currently lives in Berkeley, California.

Testimonials

“Catherine Ceniza Choy is one of the most gifted public intellectuals that the Asian American community has produced. Asian American Histories of the United States inspires us to link personal biographies with global histories, and tragic pasts with hope-filled futures."
— Theodore S. Gonzalves, 21st President of the Association for Asian American Studies

"Dr. Catherine Choy brings the Asian American experience to life with rich, memorable stories and research of the contributions, injustices, violence, perseverance and wins people of Asian/Pacific Islander backgrounds have historically encountered. Unfortunately like many communities of color the barriers to equity and social justice continue to be a shared reality. Catherine speaks from the heart, backs up what she shares with research and provides direction for the future."
— Kay Iwata, President, K. Iwata Associates, Inc.

“Systematically and unapologetically this country has attempted to erase Asian Americans from the American story. Catherine Ceniza Choy has an urgent reminder: the America of today would not exist without Asian Americans. She reminds us too that anti-Asian hate is hardly a new phenomenon—in fact, it has been central in the creation of this country for well over a century. Still, Choy channels hope, but underscores that there is no moving forward without reckoning with the sins of our past."
— Anthony Ocampo, Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Public Policy at UC Riverside and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Cal Poly Pomona and author of The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race

“Catherine Ceniza Choy makes a convincing argument that we must understand the past if we are to adequately address the anti-Asian violence of the present. Written with love and respect for our communities, Asian American Histories of the United States illuminates histories as diverse as Asian America itself.”
— Grace M. Cho, author of National Book Award finalist Tastes Like War: A Memoir

“With unflinching insight and grace, Professor Choy offers an evocative meditation on the histories of Asian Americans, histories that powerfully connect our past with our present. (Her book) is a stunning, timely work that deepens our understanding of race in the United States.”
— Vicki L. Ruiz, Distinguished Professor Emerita of History and Chicano/Latino Studies, University of California, Irvine

“Today’s rise in anti-Asian hate demands a new sort of Asian American history. Choy meets this urgent need with a powerful and effective nonlinear account of how we came to the present moment.”
— Beth Lew-Williams, author of The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America

“With anti-Asian bigotry accelerating in the United States, often violently, (her) important and beautifully written book is exactly the knowledge base and guide needed to educate the public.”
— Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

Speeches

Asian American Histories of the United States
This presentation introduces audiences to a nearly-200-year history of Asian migration, labor, and community formation in the United States through personal stories. The talk explores why themes of violence, erasure, and resistance continue to bring diverse communities of Asian Americans together. Audiences will learn why Asian American histories are integral to U.S. history, and why historical knowledge is essential for cultivating empathy.

Global Families: A History of Asian International Adoption in America
In the last fifty years, transnational adoption—specifically, the adoption of Asian children—has exploded in popularity as an alternative path to family making. This lecture unearths the little-known historical origins of Asian international adoption in the United States beginning with the post-World War II presence of the U.S. military in Asia, and how mixed-race children comprised one of the earliest groups of adoptive children. Audiences will learn about the historical factors that have allowed Asian international adoption to flourish.

Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History
The past, present, and future of U.S. health care delivery is intertwined with the international migration of Filipino nurses to the United States. This talk explores how and why the Philippines become the leading exporter of nurses to the U.S. and other countries. Audiences will gain an understanding of the contributions of Filipino nurses and other immigrant health workers to American health and well-being.

Media

Asian American Histories of the United States: A Conversation with Russell Jeung

At the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University

Anti-Asian Violence Has Long History

On the Lessons of Asian American History

Rethinking Place in Asian American Histories of the United States

Filipino American History Month Conversation