Expertise/Areas Of Interest:
Yen Le Espiritu focuses her research on the challenges traditional descriptions of racial categories, most specifically that of Asian Americans. She specializes in U.S. imperialism and wars, Southeast Asian refugees, and Filipino American history. Currently, Espiritu is interested on the transnational and gendered lives of Filipino immigrants and Filipino Americans.

Topics Of Publications:
Espiritu has written and published on the relational aspects of racialized ethnicity within the Asian American realm. She has written on the relation between institutions and identities, as well as on the interplay of race, class, and gender.

Background:
Espiritu received her Ph.D in sociology from UCLA and joined the faculty at UCSD in 1990. She teaches classes on comparative Asian communities and societies and the history of U.S imperialism and wars, and their impact on Asian immigration and settlement in America.