The Department of Ethnic Studies UC Berkeley

Bio & Research Interests

Catherine Ceniza Choy is the author of the forthcoming book, Asian American Histories of the United States, from Beacon Press in their ReVisioning History book series in August 2022. The book features the themes of anti-Asian hate and violence, erasure of Asian American history, and Asian American resistance to what has been omitted in a nearly 200 year history of Asian migration, labor, and community formation in the US. Choy argues that Asian American experiences are essential to any understanding of US history and its existential crises of the early twenty-first century.

In 2020 and 2021, Choy was interviewed and had her research cited in many media outlets, including ABC 2020, The Atlantic, CNN, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, New York Times, ProPublica, San Francisco Chronicle, and Vox, on anti-Asian, coronavirus-related hate and violence, the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on Filipino nurses in the United States, and racism and misogyny in the March 16, 2021 Atlanta murders.

Choy’s first book, Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History (2003), explored how and why the Philippines became the leading exporter of professional nurses to the United States. Empire of Care received the 2003 American Journal of Nursing History and Public Policy Book Award and the 2005 Association for Asian American Studies History Book Award. Her second book, Global Families: A History of Asian International Adoption in America (2013), unearthed the little-known historical origins of Asian international adoption in the United States beginning with the post-World War II presence of the U.S. military in Asia. Choy also co-edited the anthology, Gendering the Trans-Pacific World (2017), with Judy Tzu-Chun Wu.

Beginning in 2021, Choy is Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice in UC Berkeley’s Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS). She is a former Department Chair of Ethnic Studies (2012-2015, 2018-2019) and a former Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies Division (2019-2021).

Choy is the editor of the Brill book series Gendering the Trans-Pacific World. The third volume of the series is a reprinting of Doreen G. Fernandez’s Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture (2019) with a new editor’s preface by Choy and a new foreword by chef and activist Aileen Suzara. Choy and Suzara were interviewed and quoted in a New York Times’ feature story about Fernandez.

Choy received her Ph.D. in History from UCLA and her B.A. in History from Pomona College. The daughter of Filipino immigrants, she was born and raised in New York City. She lives in Berkeley with her husband, Greg Choy, and their two children.

Connect with her on Twitter @ccenizachoy and LinkedIn.

Courses Taught

ASAMST 20A: Introduction to Asian American History

ASAMST 24: Asian American History in American Musicals

ASAMST 124: Filipino American History

ASAMST 190: Asian American History in the Age of COVID-19

ETH STD C135A: Migration in the Contemporary World

ETH GRP 250: Research Seminar on Asian American History

ETH GRP 250: Research Seminar on Gender and the Trans-Pacific World

Books

Recent Writing

“When the Reporter Asks You Why There Are So Many Filipino Nurses in the U.S.,” in AAWW’s (Asian American Writers’ Workshop) magazine, The Margins, May 17, 2021.

“In This Country,” in Sparked: George Floyd, Racism, and the Progressive Illusion, eds. Walter R. Jacobs, Wendy Thompson Taiwo, and Amy August (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, May 2021), 33-36. Originally published in The Society Pages, June 17, 2020, as part of the special essay series, “Wonderful/Wretched Memories of Racial Dynamics in the Twin Cities, Minnesota,” and reprinted in The Berkeley Blog as “Brushes with racism in Minnesota and why Black lives matter,” June 24, 2020.

“From imperialism to inpatient care: Work differences of Filipino and White registered nurses in the United States and implications for COVID‐19 through an intersectional lens,” in Gender, Work & Organization, April 4, 2021, with Jennifer Nazareno, Emily Yoshioka, Alexander C. Adia, Arjee Restar, and Don Operario.

“Nursing Justice: Filipino Immigrant Nurse Activism in the United States,” in Nursing Clio, December 3, 2020, part of the Beyond Florence essay series on the history of nurses and nursing.

“Epicenter of the Epicenter,” in Independent Curators International Journal, July 21, 2020, with curator PJ Gubatina Policarpio, part of Reports from the Field’s perspectives from curators from around the world and reflections on the impact of the global pandemic on their lives.

“Inoculate Against Racism,” in California Magazine, Summer 2020, part of the roundtable, “What Comes After the Pandemic? Berkeley experts explain what will change—and what should.”

Administrative Experience

Associate Dean, Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), July 2021-present

Associate Dean, College of Letters & Science Division of Undergraduate Studies, 2019-2021

Faculty Leadership Academy Program Participant, Spring 2019

Department Chair, Ethnic Studies, 2012-2015, 2018-2019

Recent Media Coverage

CNN, “For generations, Filipino nurses have been on America’s front lines,” October 8, 2021.

Inquirer.net, “Maria Y. Orosa’s legacy,” September 17, 2021.

Boston Herald, “Editorial: Political divide spreads alongside COVID,” August 13, 2021.

UC Berkeley Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), “CDSS Adds Four Associate Deans, Diversifying Leadership,” July 6, 2021.

TIME, “From AIDS to COVID-19, America’s Medical System Has a Long History of Relying on Filipino Nurses to Fight on the Frontlines,” May 30, 2021.

Bustle, “5 AAPI Women Who Made A Major Impact On History,” May 26, 2021.

Oprah Daily, “What AAPI Means, and Why AAPIHM Falls in May,” May 11, 2021.

Rappler, “The Filipino nursing diaspora,” April 19, 2021.

CNN, “Why some Asian Americans are embracing their heritage by dropping their anglicized names,” April 7, 2021.

Berkeley News, “The long history and present surge of anti-Asian violence,” April 1, 2021.

NPR Code Switch, “Why Are We Here?” March 31, 2021.

OZY, “Hidden Asian American Heroes, “March 26, 2021.

SF Chronicle, “Jack London had racist ideas. It’s time to rename the square,” March 25, 2021.

KCET, “Disaggregation for Health Equity: Shedding Light on COVID-19’s Impact on the Filipinx Community,” March 23, 2021.

KQED Morning Edition, “Advocates React to the Atlanta Killer ‘Not Being Motivated by Race,’” March 22, 2021.

NBC TODAY Show, “Atlanta spa shootings spotlight spike in violence against Asian Americans,” March 21, 2021.

ABC 20/20 special, “20/20 Murder in Atlanta,” March 16, 2021. Full episode available on Hulu.

Agence France-Presse, “Racism, or misogyny? How the Atlanta shootings can be both,” March 18, 2021. Re-printed and translated in Noticias Telemundo, Semana.com, Diario Libre, Istoe Dinheiro, Courrier International, L’Express, and more.

NBC News, “Racism, sexism must be considered in Atlanta case involving killing of six Asian women, experts say,” March 17, 2021.

KTVU News, “Experts say motive in Atlanta spa attacks points to racism, sexism,” March 17, 2021.

Newsy, “Atlanta Attacks Spotlight Violence Against AAPI Women,” March 17, 2021.

Decibel on Austin PBS, “The Care That Breaks The Ceiling,” March 15, 2021.

San Francisco Chronicle, “‘You’re not Chinese, are you?’ Bay Area health workers describe racism during the pandemic,” March 8, 2021.

Asian American Life, “Filipino Nurses,” March 2, 2021, March 2, 2021.

RFI (Radio France International), “Covid-19: les soignants philippins durement touchés par la pandémie à travers le monde,” February 28, 2021.

San Francisco Chronicle, “There’s been a surge of attacks against Asian Americans. Asians in the Bay Area say the hostility isn’t new.” February 25, 2021.

The Atlantic‘s The Experiment podcast, “The Sisterhood: 4 Percent of Nurses, 31.5 Percent of Deaths, Why Filipino nurses have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic,” February 25, 2021.

Al Jazeera English, “The Stream,” February 17, 2021.

Colorlines, “Why Are There No Filipino Nurses on Medical TV Shows?” February 8, 2021.

Berkeley News, “Berkeley scholars’ outrage, reflections on U.S. Capitol mob siege,” January 7, 2021.

Selected Podcast, Radio, and Other Interviews

KQED Forum, “California’s Filipino American Nurses Bear Disproportionate COVID-19 Risks,” December 18, 2020.

CNN Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction, “A Sisterhood of Nurses and a Universe of Grief,” December 11, 2020.

Vox, “Why the US has so many Filipino nurses,” June 29, 2020.

Fiat Vox, “Why are there so many Filipino nurses in the U.S.?,” May 28, 2019.

Berkeley Writers at Work, “Catherine Ceniza Choy,” October 18, 2017.

Korea and the World, “Catherine Ceniza Choy on International Adoption,” October 14, 2016.

Selected Honors & Awards

Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study Grant, Co-PI with Dr. Linn Normand on “Exhuming Immigrant Voices From the Past: A Critical Archival Study of the Bancroft Library,” 2020-2023

Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer, 2017-2020

UC Berkeley Townsend Center for the Humanities Senior Faculty Fellow, 2018-2019

Institute of International Studies Faculty Interdisciplinary Program Grant on “Gender and the Trans-Pacific World,” 2016-2018

Social Science Matrix Research Team Award on “Migration, Racialization, and Gender: Comparing Filipino Migration to France and the US,” 2017-2018

Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship, Yonsei University, Korea, 2015-2016

Organization of American Historians Japanese Residencies Program, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, 2011

Edith Kreeger Wolf Distinguished Visiting Professor, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 2005

Association for Asian American Studies History Book Award for Empire of Care, 2005

American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award in History and Public Policy for Empire of Care, 2003

Association of American University Women Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship, 2002

Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2000