Introduction
Prof. Ngin joined the CSULA faculty in 1993. She has done extensive ethnographic and consulting work in China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern California. Her research interests include the relationship between race, ethnicity and culture as they are expressed in Asian and Asian American issues. Prof. Ngin has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation to examine the connections between Asian Studies and Asian American Studies. She is also instrumental in completing a proposal for the B.A. Degree program in Asian and Asian American Studies (AAAS) at CSLA. The proposal is awaiting the approval of the Chancellor's Office.
Using this broad-based knowledge about Asia and Asian America, and a specialization on the anthropological understanding of race, culture and ethnicity, she recently consulted on three asylum applications from Southeast Asia. Two of the women won their asylum to remain in the United States; the verdict on a third is pending.
In the community, she has been a Board Member of the Orange County Human Relations Council since 1992 and a member of the Orange County Sheriff's Community Coalition since 1998.
Prof. Ngin serves as the Director of the Asian and Asian American Studies (AAAS) Program at CSULA. If you are interested in taking courses in Asian and Asian American Studies, please feel free to contact her.
For more information on the AAAS program at Cal State LA, click here.
Teaching Interests
Professor Ngin has taught a variety of courses, but specializes in those that address the connection with the Asia - People, Culture of Asia (AAAS 200), Peoples of Asia (ANTH 414), and will be teaching the proposed Asian American Community in Southern California (ANTH 418). Professor Ngin also teaches Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (ANTH 250), Ethnographic Methods and Techniques (ANTH 480) and Maturity and Aging in Cross-Cultural Perspectives (ANTH 335).
Her primary teaching goal is to provide a critical cross-cultural, transnational, and theoretical background for students seeking an understanding of their communities as well as those preparing to further their academic degrees. This includes Service Learning experience in the communities (ANTH 335 and ANTH 418), organizing visits to local ethnic institutions (Hsi Lai Temple and San Gabriel Islamic Center) with Prof. Baker-Cristalis, and students' ability to write and communicate clearly.
Research Interests
Professor Ngin's research focuses on explicating the connections among the topics of race, ethnicity and culture, as exemplified by the communities in Asia and among the Asian immigrants in Southern California. This research interest has led to a number of interesting field opportunities:
- Visit and Interviews with the Vietnamese Boat People in the Pulau Bidong, Malaysia (1986)
- Research and Consulting for the World Bank on four Bank missions to China on the involuntary resettlement of populations affected by hydroelectric dam projects (1990)
- Research and Consulting for the RAND in Malaysia and Indonesia (1996-1999) on intergenerational relations.
- Representing CSULA on a visit to the Muslim minority populations along the Silk Road in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China (2001).
Professor Ngin's publications reflect such interests.
Ngin, C. "Yesterday's Enemy is the Friend of Today: Villain in One Location is the Victim at Another "Amerasia 27:3/28:1 (2001/2002)
Ngin, C. and R. Torres (2001) "Racialized Metropolis: Theorizing Asian Americans and
Latinos in Southern California," in Marta Lopez-Garza and David R. Diaz (ed.) Asian and Latino Immigrants in a Restructured Economy: The Metamorphosis of Los Angeles, Stanford University Press.
Ngin, C. (2000) The Acculturation of Southeast Asian Refugees in Orange County," in
Fong and Shinagawa, (ed.), Asian Pacific Americans: Experiences and Perspective, Prentice-Hall.
Ngin, C. and JulieDaVanzo (1999) "Parent-Child Co-residence in Malaysia: Complimentarity of Quantitative and Qualitative Date" Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science Vol. 27 No 2, pp. 43-64.
Ngin, C. (1998) "Racialized Metropolis: Community of Fate Between History and Future" in City: An International Journal of Urban Planning and Policy (A Special Edition on Los Angeles), Vol. 15, No. 3, pp.165-171.
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Ngin, C. (1996) "Racism and Racialized Discourse on the Asian Youth in Orange County." California Journal of Politics and Policy.
Ngin, C. (1995) "Racialized Struggles in Suburbia: Contested Ideologies on Belonging" in California Journal of Politics and Policy, pp. 75-84.
Torres, R. and C. Ngin (1995) "Racialized Boundaries, Class Relations, and Cultural Politics: The Asian American and Latino Experience," in A. Darder (ed.), Culture and Difference: Critical Perspectives on the Bicultural Experience in the United States. Westport, Conn.: Bergin and Garvey, 1995, pp. 55-69.
Ngin, C. (1995) "Indigenous Fertility-Regulating Methods Among Two Chinese Communities in Malaysia, Lucile F. Newman, ed., Women's Medicine: A Cross-Cultural Study of Indigenous Fertility Regulation, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, Chapter 1 (revised and reissued from 1985 edition).
Ngin, C. (1994) "Southeast Asian Refugees in the United States: Problems of Adjustment," in Mohtar Hari, ed., Development, Displacement and Resettlement: Focus on Asian Experiences. Jangpura, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., Chapter 12, pp.224-243.
Ngin, C. (1994) "Vietnamese Culture and Identities: Assimilation and Reinvention," in A New Generation: Vietnamese American Contemporary Art, Fullerton, CA: Art Gallery, California State University, Fullerton. pp.4-6.
Ngin, C. (1993) "A New Look at the Old "Race" Language: "Race" and Exclusion in Social Policy." Explorations in Ethnic Studies. Vol. 16, No.1 (January, 1993):5-18.
Grants and Awards
- CSLA Distinguished Women's Award, 2003.
- CSLA Innovative Instructions Award to create courses on comparative ethnicity and diaspora with co-PIs who are chairs from Pan African Studies, Chicano Studies and Latin American Studies, 2001-2002.
- Ford Foundation's Border Crossing Initiative to study "Revisioning Asian and Asian American Studies" at CSLA. (PI-Eri Yasuhara) Ngin served as Program Co-ordinator for five colloquia, 1998.
- National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Faculty Focus Grant to study "Chinese Diaspora in Southern California: Culture, Ethnicity, Community and Asian American Studies" 1996.
- James Shannon Grant -- Awarded to RAND for Intergeneration Relations Project in Malaysia, Ngin was funded for research and to provide training in Malaysia and Indonesia, Summer, 1996.
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Red Cross/Red Crescent and the Malaysian Government provided logistical support for Ngin's work on refugees, Summer, 1986.
- World Health Organization, Task Force on Human Reproduction, Indigenous Fertility Regulating Method Project in Malaysia, 1976.
Educational Background
Special Training on World Bank Policy on Involuntary Relocation, 1989.
Ph.D. University of California, Davis, 1985
Program in Medical Anthropology at UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco, 1976
M.A. University of California, Davis, 1975
B.A. Wellesley College, Mass. 1972
