Assistant Professor at University of Utah
About
Annie Isabel Fukushima, PhD is currently an assistant professor in the Ethnic Studies Division in the School for Cultural & Social Transformation at University of Utah (July 2015-present). She was previously a Mellon postdoctoral associate with the Institute for Research and Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University (2013–2015). She received her PhD in ethnic studies with a designated emphasis in women, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Her book Migrant Crossings: Witnessing Human Trafficking in the US will be published with Stanford University (July 2019). Her publications include scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals: Praxis (2008), Frontiers: Journal of Women Studies (2015), Feminist Formations (2016), VOCI (Voices): Human Sciences Semi-Annual (2018), and Biography (2019). Additionally, she has authored book chapters in Documenting Gendered Violence (2014), Human Trafficking Reconsidered (2014), MacMillan Interdisciplinary handbook Gender: War (2017), The Subjects of Human Rights (Forthcoming), and encyclopedia entries in Battleground: Immigration (2009), Encyclopedia of Contemporary Asian American Issues Today (2009), in the Modern World: A History of Political, Social and Economic Oppression (2011), Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, Economic, and Political History (2013), and Race and Racism in the United States: An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic (2014).
Her research has been funded by the Department on the Status of Women, as well as she she has received a range of fellowships and awards. Additionally, She is committed to praxis, the practice of theory, therefore has served as the human trafficking expert witness in courts in California, Colorado, and Utah, and has provided expert reports to organizations for their legal cases in California, Colorado, and Washington.
Current Work:
Dr. Fukushima's book, Migrant Crossings examines Asians and Latinas/os trafficked in the United States. The methods are interdisciplinary, taking the reader on a journey through the examination of dualities surrounding citizenship, legality, and victimhood that shape current anti-violence narratives and practices. To answer who is visible as a trafficking subject, she takes the reader on a journey through case studies of gendered industries in informal sectors and regulated industries, from scams to domestic work to sexual economies.
In 2018, she conducted two city-wide needs assessments: a Department on the Status of Women funded city-wide needs assessment of Violence Against Women in San Francisco, California and a Mayor's office funded city-wide needs assessment of human trafficking services in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Fukushima also collaborates with the Institute of (Im)Possible Subjects to facilitate "Migratory Times" - a series of pedagogical events, art exhibitions, research clusters, and online activities where migration is central to the discussion.
Research Area(s):
Ethnic studies, gender studies, migration, violence, transnational feminism
