ASRIC Executive Team
Leakhena Nou, PhD, founding director of ASRIC, is an assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Long Beach and visiting scholar at the Asian Pacific American (A/P/A) Institute at New York University. She holds a PhD and MA in sociology (University of Hawaii at Manoa), an MSW (Columbia University), and a BA in sociology (California State University, Fullerton). Her work in medical sociology focuses on Cambodians in Cambodia and the diaspora, with particular emphasis on survivors of the Khmer Rouge atrocities and their children. This work complements Nou’s additional research in political sociology and human rights; for example, she has examined political attitudes and perceptions of democracy held by Khmer university students in Cambodia. Nou is currently working on a paper that explores the role of Cambodian diaspora communities in defining transitional justice in Cambodia. She recently participated in the International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Summer Institute training in Bali, Indonesia (June 22-July 3, 2009).
Ash Blythen is ASRIC’s volunteer Executive Assistant and Logistical Coordinator. He is a senior at California State University Long Beach, pursuing a BS in business administration with an emphasis in management. In his work with ASRIC, Blythen actively works to build support and funding for ASRIC by educating the public about the injustices suffered by the Cambodian people during the Khmer Rouge atrocities. A citizen of New Zealand, Blythen feels that “the Khmer Rouge victims deserve to be free of their suffering and find closure.” He is dedicated to supporting ASRIC’s role as a leading organization in sustaining Cambodian culture and research.
Kenneth T. Long is ASRIC’s volunteer Director of Finance and Community Liaison. Long’s family escaped from Cambodia in 1979 and currently lives in Southern California. Long is a chemical engineering graduate from Stanford University and works for a chemical company in Long Beach, CA. Through his volunteer work with ASRIC, he hopes to gain better insight into the steps necessary to heal a community devastated by the KR regime.
Theodora (Teddy) Yoshikami, MA is the director of program development for ASRIC. She is also the manager of public programs at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where she creates and develops diverse cultural and educational programs. Yoshikami has a master’s degree in performance studies from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University.
Cathy J. Schlund-Vials (Publicity / Program Curator)is an Assistant Professor in English and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. She is also the Associate Director of the UConn Asian American Studies Institute. Her research interests include refugee cultural production, critical race theory, and contemporary ethnic American literary studies. Rooted in a personal history marked by immigration, migration, and diaspora, Dr. Schlund-Vials’ academic projects are informed by the experiences of dislocation and migration, and the crucial connections between history, memory, citizenship, and human rights. Her first book, Modeling Citizenship: Naturalization in Jewish and Asian American Writing (forthcoming, Temple University Press), examines the interplay between citizenship, performance, and immigration policy in the literatures of two “model minority” groups. Dr. Schlund-Vials’ second book, Resistive Memory: Genocide Remembrance, Justice, and Cambodian American Memory Work (forthcoming, University of Minnesota Press), focuses its analytical attention on juridical activism in Cambodian American literature, performance, film, and hip hop.
Leakhena Nou, PhD, founding director of ASRIC, is an assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Long Beach and visiting scholar at the Asian Pacific American (A/P/A) Institute at New York University. She holds a PhD and MA in sociology (University of Hawaii at Manoa), an MSW (Columbia University), and a BA in sociology (California State University, Fullerton). Her work in medical sociology focuses on Cambodians in Cambodia and the diaspora, with particular emphasis on survivors of the Khmer Rouge atrocities and their children. This work complements Nou’s additional research in political sociology and human rights; for example, she has examined political attitudes and perceptions of democracy held by Khmer university students in Cambodia. Nou is currently working on a paper that explores the role of Cambodian diaspora communities in defining transitional justice in Cambodia. She recently participated in the International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Summer Institute training in Bali, Indonesia (June 22-July 3, 2009).
Ash Blythen is ASRIC’s volunteer Executive Assistant and Logistical Coordinator. He is a senior at California State University Long Beach, pursuing a BS in business administration with an emphasis in management. In his work with ASRIC, Blythen actively works to build support and funding for ASRIC by educating the public about the injustices suffered by the Cambodian people during the Khmer Rouge atrocities. A citizen of New Zealand, Blythen feels that “the Khmer Rouge victims deserve to be free of their suffering and find closure.” He is dedicated to supporting ASRIC’s role as a leading organization in sustaining Cambodian culture and research.
Kenneth T. Long is ASRIC’s volunteer Director of Finance and Community Liaison. Long’s family escaped from Cambodia in 1979 and currently lives in Southern California. Long is a chemical engineering graduate from Stanford University and works for a chemical company in Long Beach, CA. Through his volunteer work with ASRIC, he hopes to gain better insight into the steps necessary to heal a community devastated by the KR regime.
Theodora (Teddy) Yoshikami, MA is the director of program development for ASRIC. She is also the manager of public programs at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where she creates and develops diverse cultural and educational programs. Yoshikami has a master’s degree in performance studies from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University.
Cathy J. Schlund-Vials (Publicity / Program Curator)is an Assistant Professor in English and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. She is also the Associate Director of the UConn Asian American Studies Institute. Her research interests include refugee cultural production, critical race theory, and contemporary ethnic American literary studies. Rooted in a personal history marked by immigration, migration, and diaspora, Dr. Schlund-Vials’ academic projects are informed by the experiences of dislocation and migration, and the crucial connections between history, memory, citizenship, and human rights. Her first book, Modeling Citizenship: Naturalization in Jewish and Asian American Writing (forthcoming, Temple University Press), examines the interplay between citizenship, performance, and immigration policy in the literatures of two “model minority” groups. Dr. Schlund-Vials’ second book, Resistive Memory: Genocide Remembrance, Justice, and Cambodian American Memory Work (forthcoming, University of Minnesota Press), focuses its analytical attention on juridical activism in Cambodian American literature, performance, film, and hip hop.