Joshua G. Acosta is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a third-generation Filipino American and grew up in Southern California. He is a recipient of the Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship and was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and former California State University Sally Casanova Scholar. Joshua’s research interest involves the history of the U.S. colonization of the Philippines and the Filipino American diaspora. His project explores a cultural history of leprosy, decolonization, and transpacific American medical humanitarianism. He is also interested in researching disability and occupational health among Filipino migrant workers’ experiences in the early 20th century. Joshua served as chair of the Filipinx & Philippine Studies Working Group at the Townsend Center for the Humanities from 2022-23. He currently sits on the advisory board for the Philippine Studies Group in the Association for Asian Studies.
Asian American History, Colonialism, History of Medicine, Humanitarianism, Migration, Philippine and Filipino American Studies
