Event Type: Lecture

Speaker Information: Noreen Naseem Rodríguez, Esther June Kim, Sohyun An

Noreen Naseem Rodríguez is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Education and Educational Justice in the Department of Teacher Education and core faculty in the Asian Pacific American Studies and Muslim Studies Programs at Michigan State University. Her current research, funded by the Spencer Foundation, examines the implementation of Asian American Studies in K-12 classrooms across the U.S. She has published over forty peer-reviewed book chapters and articles in scholarly and practitioner journals such as Harvard Educational Review, Curriculum Inquiry, and Journal of Children's Literature, and is co-author of Social Studies for a Better World: An Anti-Oppressive Approach for Elementary Educators with Katy Swalwell and Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classrooms with Sohyun An and Esther Kim. Before becoming a teacher educator, Noreen was a bilingual elementary teacher in Austin, Texas for nine years.

Esther June Kim is an Assistant Professor in Curriculum and Instruction and affiliate faculty of Asian Pacific Islander Studies at William & Mary. Her research focuses on how racial and religious identities (or different origin stories) might shape student understandings and embodiments of citizenship. She also explores how religious and racial narratives are taught (or not) primarily in secondary classrooms with particular attention to Asian American communities. Currently, her work includes collaborations with undergraduate students adapting archival research on Asian American histories to resources for K-12 students and educators. With Naseem Rodríguez and Sohyun An, she received the 2024 AERA Division K’s Innovations in Research on Equity and Social Justice in Teaching and Teacher Education Award. She is also a former high school humanities and history teacher who taught in both South Korea and California. 

Sohyun An is a Professor of Social Studies Education at Kennesaw State University. Her research and teaching center on K-12 Asian American studies and social studies education. She is co-author of Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classroom  with Drs. Noreen Naseem Rodríguez and Esther June Kim and has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and articles in scholarly and practitioner journals such as Multicultural Perspectives, Rethinking Schools, Social Studies and Young Learners, and Journal of Curriculum Studies. She received many awards including Distinguished Researcher Award from American Educational Research Association’s Research on the Education of Asian Pacific Americans Special Interest Group and Distinguished Professor Award from Kennesaw State University. She is also a co-founder of Asian American Voices for Education, working alongside Asian American youth, educators, and community organizers to advance Asian American studies and ethnic studies in Georgia’s K-12 schools. Before becoming a teacher educator, Sohyun was a social studies teacher in South Korea.