The reading that really interested me this week was "Opening the Box: An International Asian Woman Scholar's Fight" by Akiko Takeyama. Her story made me realize how difficult it is for international scholars to overcome cultural and language barriers in the academia. I have always admired how courageous it is for international students to be able to leave their homes and move to another country, much less another continent entirely. The amount of support for these students are already lacking, yet I never thought of the insufficient support for international faculty. Takeyama describes international faculty as the "invisible underclass among U.S. academies". These individuals have to struggle with the language barrier while fighting racial and gender biases. One thing that really resonated with me is that compared to American professors, international professors do not have the sense of security of staying in the country if they were suddenly fired. Takeyama makes it apparent that moving from one institution to another is not simple for international scholars without residency status. These individuals do not have the same financial security and prestige as American scholars.
My question for this reading is: Are there any support systems for international faculty at UC Davis?
References
Fight the Tower: Asian American Women Scholars' Resistance and Renewal in the Academy, by
Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis, Rutgers University Press, 2020, pp. 234-
254.
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