Linling Gao-Miles

Linling Gao-Miles

Senior Lecturer in Global Studies
Affiliated faculty for the Asian American Studies minor
ON LEAVE SPRING 2024
PhD, Nagoya University, Japan
research interests:
  • Identity/Identity Politics
  • Ethnic Representation and Networks
  • Transnationalism
  • Multiculturalism
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    • Washington University
      MSC 1217-137-255
      One Brookings Drive
      St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
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    Languages: Chinese (Wu dialect and Mandarin), Japanese, English

    Teaching and research interests:  transnational Chinese migration, Chinatown and ethnoburbs, East Asian consumer and popular cultures on a global scale, multiculturalism, and intercultural communication

    I received graduate training at Nagoya University, Japan, where my coursework had a focus on intercultural studies and ethnographic fieldwork, while my MA and PhD research projects tackled Australian multiculturalism and identity among people of ethnic Chinese background, immigrants and the 1.5- and second-generation Chinese Australians in particular.  Recently, I have been broadly exploring transnational Chinese migration and different agents, investigating intertwined forces behind the formation of ethnic space and places as well as international students and tourists and their impact on global consumer cultures and reshaping transnational spaces.

    Recent Courses

    "Model Minority": The Asian American Experience

    This course explores Asian American experience revolving around the concept of "model minority." It investigates the historical origins of "model minority" and reconsiders this concept in socio-political discourses as well as in everyday Asian American experience. This course employs multidisciplinary inquiries to examine the complexity and heterogeneity among Asian Americans. Through a wide range of topics, such as identity, race, and (pan-)ethnicity, culture and religion, gender and sexuality, masculinity and femininity, and notions of invisibility and marginalization, this course situates Asian American experiences in the broader American (and at times transnational) ethno-racial and socio-political context.

      From McDonald's to K-Pop: New Movements in East Asia

      This course introduces contemporary East Asian cultures and societies from transregional and transnational perspectives through the lens of consumer and popular cultures. We employ McDonald's as the first case study to look into East Asian responses to Western cultural products and ideas. For K-pop, we examine its emergence and transregional receptions and impact across different regions in East Asia as well as in the U.S. Beginning with these two subjects, our investigation extends to other examples of transregional cultural phenomena such as J-wave, Hello Kitty, "cuteness," or western holidays in East Asia. While focusing on transnational cultural movements originating in or being adapted to the East Asian context, our discussions also refer to key topics in the study of East Asian cultures such as filial piety and kinship.

        First Year Seminar - Chinatown: Migration, Identity, and Space

        "Chinatown," as a cultural symbol and a spatial entity, links various topics and studies in this course. Our survey starts with a historical and geographical glimpse of five Chinatowns in the US through the real life stories of their residents. This is followed by an in-depth study of Chinese restaurants and food all over the world using texts, images, and films that reveal how Chinese cuisine is inherited in and adapted to each local culture and society. The seminar culminates in a discussion of Chinese migration and settlement, the representations of identity, and the cultural and spatial constructions in particular historical and social contexts. The assignments include fieldtrips to Chinese businesses, and a debate on whether or not Olive Boulevard constitutes a Chinatown in St Louis.

          Children of Immigrants: Identity and Acculturation

          This seminar examines two sub-groups: child immigrants and the native-born children of immigrants. It interrogates cultural/ethnic identity, cultural adaptation, bilingualism and biculturalism, and challenges and achievements of this young generation through ethnography, literature, and sociological accounts. We aim to scrutinize the studies of the "1.5" generation and the second generation, and theories such as "segmented assimilation," across a wide range of ethnic groups, from people of East Asian origins to those with Latin American ancestries, by mainly focusing on their experiences in the United States.

            Selected Publications

            2018 “The Politics of Space and Identity: Making Place in a Suburban District.”  In Mapping Migration, Identity, and Space, Tabea Linhard and Tomothy H. Parsons (eds.), 311-330.  Palgrave Macmillan.
            2017 “Beyond the Ethnic Enclave: Interethnicity and Trans-spatiality in an Australian Suburb.” City & Society 29 (1): 82-103.
            2017 “Narrating Race and Identities from the Periphery: Diversity, Dilemma, and Discourses.” In The Crisis of Race in Higher Education: A Day of Discovery and Dialogue, William Tate IV, Nancy Staudt, and Ashley Macrander (eds.), 43-58. Bingley, UK: Emerald, 2017.
            2006 チャイニーズ・アイデンティティとチャイニーズ性のゆらぎ―オーストラリアン・チャイニーズの事例をめぐって」『オーストラリア研究』2006年第20号,109-128頁(許琳玲)。

             

            Courses

            L97 GS 135 Chinatown: Migration, Identity, and Space
            L97 GS 3248 (U43 IS 324) Intercultural Communication
            L97 GS 3512 “Model Minority”: The Asian American Experience
            L97 GS 3822 From McDonald’s to K-Pop: New Movements in East Asia
            L97 GS 4036 Children of Immigrants: Identity and Acculturation
            L97 GS 4062 The Art of Borrowing: The “West” in Japanese Life
            U43 IS 336 Cultures and Societies in East Asia