ABOUT ME
My given name is Joshua, but you can call me Josh.
I’m an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brown University. I have a PhD in sociocultural and linguistic anthropology from the University of Chicago. I’m currently working on a book about how and why people desire impossible forms of cultural, linguistic, and national distinctiveness across the modern world.
My book focuses on Singapore, but it’s also a story about the enduring legacies of colonialism for how we think about language, race, and identity—especially national identity.
The book is based on almost five years of research in Singapore. My research was completed through affiliations with the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at Singapore University of Technology and Design (2017 and 2018–20) and the National University of Singapore (2018–19). Learn more about my research and writing.
My research has been funded by the Fulbright U.S. Student Researcher Program and the Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund of the Reed Foundation. I have also received support from the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Pembroke Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, as well as the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation, and Anthropology Department’s Lichtstern Fund at the University of Chicago.
I’ve taught and co-taught courses in Anthropology, Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies, Ethnographic Methods, Linguistics, Southeast Asian Studies, Global Studies, Critical Race and Ethnicity Studies, and Academic Writing at Brown University, the University of Chicago, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Beyond this, I’ve designed, led, and participated in mentoring and career education programs for polytechnic, undergraduate, and graduate students in the U.S. and Singapore. I’ve also led workshops and trainings in design thinking and graphic design for social scientists.
I’ve spent time living and working in the American Pacific Northwest and Midwest, as well as the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia. Linguistic anthropology is my specialization, but I have broad, interdisciplinary interests that enrich my work as a scholar of language, race, desire, the environment, and more.
Education
The University of Chicago
2022 | PhD, Sociocultural and Linguistic Anthropology
2017 | Master of Arts, Anthropology
2013 | Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology
University of Nueva Caceres (Naga City, Philippines)
2007–8 | Student-at-Large (non-degree)