Akiko Yasuike, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology
Dr. Akiko Yasuike is a sociologist whose research interests are gender, families, immigration, ethnic identity and Japanese society. Educated both in Japan and the U.S., she brings international and cross-cultural perspectives into class discussions and raises awareness of global and cultural diversity in students. She is actively involved in Japanese community in Southern California and serves as a board member for the U.S. Japan Relationship Fund, Inc. She teaches courses in families, gender, immigration and contemporary global issues. She teaches a Japan travel seminar every other year and travels with students in Japan for two weeks in May and June. She was a recipient of Award for Excellence in Teaching at USC, 2003. She currently serves as an assistant director of global studies program and a program coordinator of women's studies program.
Dr. Yasuike's research primarily focuses on the examination of the effect of globalization on gender and families among Japanese in Japan as well as in Southern California. Her scholarship is transnational. Through the examination of the lives of Japanese immigrants who live in a global city, Los Angeles, she bridges the scholarship on gender and family in the United States and Japan. As a global city, Los Angeles is unique. It is a place whose residents are connected to other parts of the world through different kinds of transnational networks. The presence of numerous Japanese companies, large and small, in Los Angeles presents a unique context for Japanese immigrants' integration into this global city. Her research generally contributes to the broader scholarship of (im)migration and global cities. Dr. Yasuike recently started a new project of exploring the experiences of undocumented students and has been working on this project with a few first generation college student researchers.
Education
Ph.D. in Sociology & Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies from University of Southern California, 2005 M.A. in Sociology from California State University, Northridge, 1995 B.A. in General Studies from Gonzaga University, 1993 B.A. in English from Kwansai Gakuin University, 1988
Expertise
Immigration, Gender, Families, Ethnic identities, Asian Americans and Japanese Society
Email: ayasuike@callutheran.edu
Phone: (805) 493-3565
Office: SWEN 220
