ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Janet Francendese and the editorial staff at Temple University Press. Without Janet’s willingness to see the early manuscript’s potential and her guidance through multiple revisions, this book would have remained buried in a Microsoft Office folder labeled “future projects.” Amanda Steele was especially helpful in the final preparations of the manuscript. The two anonymous readers gave insightful, instructive, and incisive comments that greatly improved and deepened the book’s principal arguments. For the cover, Laura Kina generously gave permission to use her work, “Devon Avenue Sampler,” which eloquently encapsulates the book’s comparative and transnational frames.
Early on, at the University of Massachusetts, I was fortunate to take American studies classes with Sunaina Maira and Jules Chametzky. I am thankful that Nina Ha introduced me to Asian American studies and has always been a strong advocate. Joseph Skerrett, Margo Culley, and Maria Tymoczko bestowed an ideal mixture of support and critique. The Five Colleges ABD Fellowship program provided encouragement in the form of the Mendenhall Fellowship at Smith College. Others were responsible for productively pushing the project’s scope: Randall Knoper, Suzanne Daley, Jenny Spencer, Mazen Naous, Donna LeCourt, Peggy Woods, Joe Donahue, Carol Bailey, Bridget Marshall, Laura Wright, Shannon Payne, Seongho Yoon, Roberta Uno, Yvonne Mendez, Priscilla Page, Marion Wright, Mary Muratore, Robert Reginio, Daniel Mahoney, Benjamin Balthaser, Dawn Lundy Martin, Karen Cardozo, Lucy Burns, Stephanie Dunson, Amy Cheng, Albert Turner, Robert Hayashi, and Wendy Bergoffen. Tabitha Adams Morgan is a dear friend and confidante. Talvin Wilks pushed me to think critically about citizenship, as did Alice Tuan and Sunder Ganglani.
Modeling Citizenship reflects the conversations, exchanges, and discussions I have had with colleagues and graduate students at the Pennsylvania State University (Erie) and the University of Connecticut: Greg Morris, John Champagne, Tom Noyes, George Looney, Teri Caruso, Brenda Murphy, Robin Worley, Doreen Bell, Eleni Coundouriotis, Wayne Franklin, Tom Recchio, Shawn Salvant, Elizabeth Hart, Anna Mae Duane, Tom Deans, Amanda Bailey, Theodore Van Alst, Albert Fairbanks, Lisa Sanchez, Ross Lewin, Veronica Makowsky, Michael Meyer, Robert Tilton, Donna Hollenberg, Jean Marsden, David Benson, Claire Reynolds, Clare Eby, Lynn Bloom, Penelope Pelizzon, Ellen Litman, Manisha Desai, Diana Rios, Jorge Santos, Rebecca Nisitech, Mandy Suhr-Sytsma, Laura Bocon, Toni Fellela, Sarah McIntyre, Zara Rix, Patrick Lawrence, Michelle Yee, Margo Machida, Bandana Purkayastha, Roger Buckley, Maxine Smestad-Haines, Fe Delos-Santos, Sheila Kucko, and Angela Rola. Holly Welker made me see the value of the project in its early stages. Regina Barecca provided mentorship at a particularly difficult moment.
I benefited greatly from the UConn Foundations in Humanitarianism working group, and am indebted to Kerry Bystrom, Sarah Winter, Margaret Higonnet, and Kathy Libal. Christina Henderson, Gordon Fraser, Michelle Maloney-Mangold, and Christiana Salah were instrumental in the manuscript’s completion. Martha Cutter is a model Americanist, as are Kate Capshaw Smith and Sharon Harris. Robert Hasenfratz consistently raised my spirits and kept me on track. Gregory Semenza and Charles Mahoney provided much-needed interruption in the form of good-humored support. Kathy Knapp gave excellent feedback on the preface and fourth chapter, and Karen Renner’s comments on the introduction were incredibly instructive. Samantha Buzzelli meticulously reread portions of the final manuscript. A keen critic, Heather Turcotte was ever encouraging, and her questions always relevant. Jerry Phillips and Mary Gallucci read through multiple drafts, and their insights—along with their generous friendship—are invaluable.
Conferences hosted by the Association for Asian American Studies and the American Studies Association are ideal spaces to test ideas, and my colleagues in the field have provided support from near and afar: Viet Nguyen, Fiona Ngo, Mariam Lam, Mimi Nguyen, Martin Manalansan, Scott Wong, Floyd Cheung, Jennifer Ho, Jonathan Lee, Kornel Chang, Mary Danico, Anna Gonazales, Rick Bonus, Pia Sengsavanh, Genevieve Clutario, Ligaya Domingo, Caroline Valverde, James Lee, Wei Ming Dariotis, Rudy Guevarra, Jason Chang, Kent Ono, Tina Chen, James Kim, Cindy Wu, Yoonmee Chang, Allan Isaac, Daniel Kim, Lan Dong, Robert Ku, Iyko Day, Anne-Marie Loy, Kathy Nadau, Nerissa Balce, Leakhena Nou, Joe Ponce, Madeline Hsu, Stephen Hohn Song, Paul Lai, Besty Huang, Victor Roman Mendoza, and Victor Jew. Further, as the East of California caucus reminds, the field is dynamic and geographically unbounded, and I want to thank Gary Okihiro and Jennifer Ho for their collaboration and guidance. Min Hyoung Song gave an excellent suggestion for the introduction and has proven a key mentor, as has Nitasha Sharma. Asha Nadkarni’s sophisticated considerations of citizenship were essential in making this book a reality, as was her generosity of spirit. I want to also thank Anita Mannur for being a constant advocate for me and this project. She gently prodded me to think beyond particular frames and she did so with humor, good will, and undeniable style.
Though projects are often discussed by way of academic frames, I am equally thankful to friends outside the university: Tembi Bergin-Batten, Amanda Robinson, Gabe Kaparis, Judy Dillon, Leah Davis, Jeff Cook, Jared Quinn, Shelby Smith, Sean McWilliams, Peter Mitchell, and Dana Ong. Jason Townsend remains a tireless supporter who made me rethink certain arguments. Kevin O’Rourke provided a significant early reading of the project. Correspondingly, Michael Needham, who gave useful editorial suggestions, deserves great commendation as well. Finally, this project emerges from a personal experience with migration and naturalization. My parents—Charles Schlund and Ginko Schlund—deserve acknowledgement that I fear does not translate well. My brother, Charles, is also an integral part of this story. Judy Fennel Vials and Peter Vials provided welcome breaks over holidays. Last, but certainly not least, this book is dedicated to my husband, Christopher Reichert Vials, whose scholarship and activism are a source of extraordinary motivation. My best friend and best editor, he expertly read countless drafts with no complaint, was willing to push me to write at moments of incredible fatigue, and is a partner in every sense of the word.