Cultural Studies in Action
Expressions and Interventions
Grounded in rich on-campus diversity and expanding to cultural studies worldwide,
researchers, scholars, and artists at SJSU present the globe with expressions and
reports revealing the stories of under-represented communities, as well as interventions
from within those communities to augment population health and representation. Below
is a rotating selection of our standout investigators in these areas.
○ Recent News and Highlights
○ Related Strength: Civic Humanities and Public Arts
○ Related Strength: Health Disparities
Selected Publications
Chakrabati, S. (2022). In-Between Worlds: Performing [as] Bauls in an Age of Extremism. Routledge.
Danh, B. (2023). The Enigma of Belonging. Radius Books.
De Bourbon, S. (2019). White Property Interest in Native Women’s Reproductive Freedom. Reproductive Justice and Sexual Rights: Transnational Perspectives.
Fletcher, S. (2020). When Black athletes protest, they’re doing emotional labor. The Washington Post.
Gomez, J. (2025). Poetry to Break Stone: Zones of Abandonment, Barrio Youth Struggles, and Luis J. Rodriguez's Acompañamiento Poetics of Solidarity. In The Life, Literature and Legacy of Luis J. Rodriguez, Edinburgh University Press.
Hsu/Chhî, F. (2024). Socially Engaged Buddhism. Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism, Oxford University Press.
Ma-Kellams, C. (2024). The Band. Atria Books / Simon & Schuster.
Spangler, M. (2018). The Kite Runner. Play script based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini. Penguin Random House.
Award Highlights
Chakrabati, Co-PI, "Mosaic Atlas" — Wallace Foundation Expansion Grant, 2023-25
Danh, “I Am Chinatown Salinas ? Yo Soy Chinatown Salinas” — Creative Work Fund Awards, 2019
Gomez, "The Cultural Work of Poetry: A Reading, Writing, and Community Discussion Series in San Jose, CA" — California Humanities for All, 2022
Hsu/Chhî, F., Research Grant — Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative 2025
Spangler, “The Immigrant Experience in California through Literature and History” — NEH, 2020
Worthen, De Bourbon, "SCC-CIVIC-FA Track B: Participatory Action Research to Enhance Equity and Prevent Moral Injury in Community Paramedicine" — NSF, 2023
Affiliates
César E. Chávez Community Action Center
CSU Social Science Research and Instructional Center
Institute for the Study of Sport, Society and Social Change at SJSU
Featured Faculty
Sukanya Chakrabarti
Associate Chair and Associate Professor of Theatre Arts
South Asian Theatre and Performance Studies, Diaspora and Immigration Studies, Directing
and Dramaturgy, Postcolonial Studies
ORCID: 0000-0003-4737-4408
Binh Danh
Associate Professor of Art
Photograph, Contemporary Art, Landscape, Asian American Studies
ORCID: 0000-0001-8954-1038
Soma De Bourbon
Assistant Professor of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Native and Indigenous Studies, Community Safety
ORCID: 0000-0003-0685-8350
Shaun Fletcher
Associate Professor, Public Relations
Media Studies, Sport Communication, Public Relations, Equity in Sport and Society
ORCID: 0000-0001-8740-2026
Jonathan D. Gomez
Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies
Race, Space, and Chicanx Creative and Cultural Expression; Asset-Based and Equity-Oriented
Pedagogy
Funie Hsu/Chhî
Associate Professor of American Studies
Asian Americans, Buddhism, Race, Critical Studies of Education, Language, Critical
Animal Studies
0000-0002-7551-3498
Christine Ma-Kellams
Associate Professor of Psychology
Culture, Psychology, Cross-Cultural Differences, Asian-Americans, Gender, Close Relationships,
Social Cognition, Judgment and Decision-Making
ORCID: 0000-0002-5468-5514
Matthew Spangler
Professor of Performance Studies
Performance, Immigration Studies, Intercultural Performance
Cultural Globalization
Potential collaborators and members of the media may contact us at officeofresearch@sjsu.edu.
