Mai Ngai
Encyclopedia
Mae M. Ngai an American historian
and Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History at Columbia University
. She focuses on nationalism
, citizenship
, ethnicity, and race in 20th-century United States
history.
She graduated from Empire State College
with a BA, from Columbia University
with a M.A. in 1993, and Ph.D. in 1998, where she wrote her dissertation under Eric Foner
.
After graduation, Ngai obtained postdoctoral fellowships from the Social Science Research Council
, the New York University School of Law
, and, in 2003, the Radcliffe Institute. She taught at the University of Chicago
as an associate professor, before returning to Columbia as a full professor in 2006.
Besides publishing in various academic journals, Ngai has written on immigration and related policy for the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times
, The Nation
, and the Boston Review
.
Impossible Subjects discusses the creation of the legal category of an "illegal alien
" in the early 20th century, and its social and historical consequences and context.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. She focuses on nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
, ethnicity, and race in 20th-century United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
history.
Life, education and career
Ngai writes that "as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, [she] grew up in a home where being in Chinese and being American existed in tension, but not in contradiction", and spent "not a few years in New York's Chinatown community and labor movement as an activist and professional labor educator" before becoming an academic.She graduated from Empire State College
Empire State College
Empire State College, one of the thirteen arts and science colleges of the State University of New York, is a multi-site institution offering associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. It is primarily oriented towards the adult learner...
with a BA, from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
with a M.A. in 1993, and Ph.D. in 1998, where she wrote her dissertation under Eric Foner
Eric Foner
Eric Foner is an American historian. On the faculty of the Department of History at Columbia University since 1982, he writes extensively on political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African American biography, Reconstruction, and historiography...
.
After graduation, Ngai obtained postdoctoral fellowships from the Social Science Research Council
Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
, the New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law is the law school of New York University. Established in 1835, the school offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in law, and is located in Greenwich Village, in the New York City borough of Manhattan....
, and, in 2003, the Radcliffe Institute. She taught at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
as an associate professor, before returning to Columbia as a full professor in 2006.
Besides publishing in various academic journals, Ngai has written on immigration and related policy for the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, and the Boston Review
Boston Review
Boston Review is a bimonthly American political and literary magazine. The magazine covers, specifically, political debates, literature, and poetry...
.
Impossible Subjects discusses the creation of the legal category of an "illegal alien
Alien (law)
In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
" in the early 20th century, and its social and historical consequences and context.
Awards
- 2005 Frederick Jackson Turner AwardFrederick Jackson Turner AwardThe Frederick Jackson Turner Award, is given each year by the Organization of American Historians for an author's first book on American history.It was started in 1959, by Mississippi Valley Historical Association, as the Prize Studies Award....
, Organization of American HistoriansOrganization of American HistoriansThe Organization of American Historians , formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S...
for Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America - 2004 Littleton-Griswold Prize, the American Historical AssociationAmerican Historical AssociationThe American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
- 2004 Theodore Saloutos Book Award, the Immigration and Ethnic History Society
- 2009 Guggenheim Fellow
Works
- "The Strange Career of the Illegal Alien", Law and History Review, Spring 2003, Vol. 21 No. 1
- "The Architecture of Race in American Immigration Law", The Journal of American History, June 1999, Vol. 86 No. 1