Jennifer Ho

My research and teaching interests are in Asian American, Multiethnic American and Contemporary American literature. In particular, I am interested in the construction of contemporary American identities—their articulation and representation in literature, film, and popular culture. My first book, Consumption and Identity in Asian American Coming-of- Age Novels (Routledge Press, 2005) examines the intersection of coming-of-age, ethnic identity formation, and foodways in late 20th Century Asian American bildungsromane and American popular culture. My current research project, Passing through Asian America: Mixed-Race Asian Americans in Late 20th C. American Culture, examines the theme of “passing” in various modes of cultural production (literature, film, photography, oral history, music, popular culture) produced by and about Asian American subjects in the late-20th century. Using “passing” as a lens to view racial identity, particularly for mixed-race Asian Americans, allows an understanding of the instability and fallibility, yet durability, of racial identities. And projecting ahead to the future, my next research project will focus on gossip and the ways in which various communities of women in the U.S. have used gossip as productive modes of communication, affiliation, and empowerment.