Thuy Vo Dang

Picture of Thuy Vo  Dang
Curator for the Southeast Asian Archive
Research Librarian for Asian American Studies
B.A., Scripps College, 2001, English & Asian American Studies
M.A., University of California, San Diego, 2003, Ethnic Sudies
Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2008, Ethnic Sudies
Phone: (949) 824-1878
Email: thuy.vodang@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
P.O. Box 19557
Mail Code: 8100
Irvine, CA 92623
Research Interests
Ethnic Studies, Asian American Studies, Oral History, Community Archives
Academic Distinctions
UC Presidents Dissertation Fellowship – University of California, San Diego – 2006-2007

California Cultures in Comparative Perspective (CCCP) Research Fellowship – University of California, San Diego – 2004

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship – University of Wisconsin, Madison – 2003

San Diego Fellowship – University of California, San Diego – 2001-2003
Appointments
Department of Asian American Studies, UC Irvine School of Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow for the Vietnamese American Oral History Project, 2011-2013

Institute of American Cultures Postdoctoral Fellow in the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 2009-2010
Research Abstract
My research interests include exploring the intersections between community archives and ethnic studies, the experiences and cultural memory of the Vietnamese diaspora, and the historical and contemporary transformations of Orange County, California.
Short Biography
Dr. Thuy Vo Dang (she/her/hers) is Curator for the UCI Libraries Southeast Asian Archive and research librarian for Asian American Studies. She is committed to advancing the practice of community-centered archives, an approach that centers the preservation and access to histories of historically marginalized groups. She has a Ph.D. in ethnic studies from UC San Diego and is co-author of the book, Vietnamese in Orange County (published in 2015) and of the forthcoming A People’s Guide to Orange County (2022), a book about the places and people whose lives were shaped by struggles for power and belonging in this region. Thuy serves on the board of directors for Arts OC and the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association.
Publications
Lewinnek, Elaine, Gustavo Arellano, and Thuy Vo Dang. A People's Guide to Orange County (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2022) [This book is an alternative tour guide that documents sites of oppression, resistance, struggle, and transformation in Orange County, California.]
Vo Dang, Thuy, Linda Vo, and Tram Le. Vietnamese in Orange County (South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2015). [This book captures snapshots of Vietnamese life in Orange County over the span of 40 years and shows a dynamic, vibrant community that is revitalizing the region.]
Vo Dang, Thuy. “The Preservation and Production of Diasporic Knowledge: Oral History and Archival Contributions.” Toward a Framework for Vietnamese American Studies: History, Community, and Memory, Eds. Linda Ho Peche, Alex-Thai Nguyen, and Tuong Vu. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press, 2022.
Vo Dang, Thuy, Thao Ha, and Tu-Uyen Nguyen. “Conflict and Care: Vietnamese American Women and the Dynamics of Social Justice Work.” Amerasia Journal (forthcoming)
To, Phuc D.N., Julia Huynh, Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Thuy Vo Dang, Cevadne Lee, anda Sora Park Tanjasiri. “Through Our Eyes, Hear Our Stories: An Interdisciplinary Photovoice Approach to Document Asian American & Pacific Islander Student and Community Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Health Promotion Practice special issue on Photovoice (accepted, forthcoming)
Eagle Yun, Audra, Zavala, Jimmy, Tribbett, Krystal, and Vo Dang, Thuy. “Fostering Transformation: Ethnic Studies as Critical Intervention for Primary Source Pedagogy.” Critical Ethnic Studies in Research and Academic Libraries, Eds. Ray Pun, Melissa Cardenas-Dow, and Kenya S. Flash. (ACRL, forthcoming)
Vo Dang, Thuy. “The Will to be Free: The Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.” History Now: The Journal. New York: The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Fall 2021.
Eagle Yun, Audra, Zavala, Jimmy, Tribbett, Krystal, and Vo Dang, Thuy. Transforming Knowledge, Transforming Libraries - Researching the Intersections of Ethnic Studies and Community Archives: Final Report. UC Irvine: Libraries, 2020. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/47c2h0dd
Dang, Thuy Vo. “Becoming Refugee American: The Politics of Rescue in Little Saigon by Phuong Tran Nguyen.” Journal of American Ethnic History 38, no. 2 (2019): 109-11. doi:10.5406/jamerethnhist.38.2.0109
Vo Dang, Thuy, “Vietnamese Refugee/Immigration.” Asian American Society. Editors Mary Yu Danico and Geoffrey Golson. SAGE Publications, 2014.
Vo Dang, Thuy. “Little Saigon and Vietnamese American Communities” Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, and Political History. Xiaojian Zhao and Edward J.W. Park, eds. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press, 2014, pp. 798-802. http://docshare01.docshare.tips/files/29490/294909228.pdf
Vo Dang, Thuy. “Vietnamese American Anticommunism,” Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, and Political History. Xiaojian Zhao and Edward J.W. Park, eds. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press, 2014, pp. 1151-1154. http://docshare01.docshare.tips/files/29490/294909228.
Vo Dang, Thuy. “Tet.” Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, and Political History. Xiaojian Zhao and Edward J.W. Park, eds. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press, 2014, pp. 1081-1083. http://docshare01.docshare.tips/files/29490/294909228.pdf
Vo-Dang, Thuy. “Transnationalizing Viet Nam: Community, Culture, and Politics in the Diaspora. By Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde.” Amerasia Journal 39, no.1 (2013): 135–139.
Vo Dang, Thuy. “Southeast Asian immigrant women.” Encyclopedia of American Women's History. Hasia Diner, ed. Facts on File, 2012.
Vo Dang, Thuy. “Little Saigons: Staying Vietnamese in America by Karin Aguilar-San Juan.” Journal of Vietnamese Studies 6, no.1(2011): 189–192.
Vo Dang, Thuy. “The Cultural Work of Anticommunism in the San Diego Vietnamese American Community,” Amerasia Journal 31, no. 2 (2005): 65-85.
Vo Dang, Thuy. “Mediating Diasporic Identities: Vietnamese/American Women in the Musical Landscape of Paris by Night.” Le Vietnam Au Feminin, Eds. Gisele Bousquet and Nora Taylor. Paris, France: Les Indes Savantes, 2005, pp. 337-351.
Grants
Pacific Rim Digital Library Alliance Karl Lo Award 2014
Librarians Association of the University of California presentation grant 2015
Librarians Association of the University of California presentation grant 2016
UCI Illuminations: the Chancellor's Arts & Culture Initiative grant 2017
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Research Project “Transforming Knowledge/Transforming Libraries,” 2017-2020
California Humanities, Humanities for All Project Grant, “Sharing Comfort and Care: Intergenerational Story-Mapping in the Cambodian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities of Orange County,” 2020-2021
UC Irvine The Anteater Grant Initiative, “TEACH: Transforming Education, Archives, and Community History,” 2021-2022
UC Irvine Office of Inclusive Excellence Building Community to Confront Extremism Grant, “RoRR-OC: Records of Resistance and Resilience in Orange County,” 2021-2022
Professional Societies
Society of American Archivists
Association for Asian American Studies
Southwest Oral History Association
Other Experience
Board Member
Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association 2011—pres
Board Member
Arts Orange County 2017—pres
Research Centers
Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive Center
Last updated
11/17/2021