Asian American Studies Program

Lisa Kwong lectures for Asian American Studies. Her research and teaching interests include Asian Americans in Appalachia, the U.S. South, and the Midwest, Asian American literature and media, and creative writing. Her course portfolio includes AAST-A101: Introduction to Asian American Studies, AAST-A200: Asian American Literature and Media, AAST-A201: Asian Diaspora Experience, and AAST-X490: Independent Readings and Research. An innovative and multidisciplinary educator, Ms. Kwong combines artistic expressions and scholarly research in the classroom. She speaks about Asian American Studies-related topics, including poetry and writing, in multiple venues around the IU Campus and Bloomington community. In 2015, she was on the organizing committee for IU’s symposium on AAPIs in higher education.

Born and raised in Radford, Virginia, Ms. Kwong identifies as an AppalAsian writer. She is a distinguished creative writing alumna of Appalachian State University and earned an M.F.A. in poetry from Indiana University. Her poems and creative have appeared in A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Best New Poets 2014, the Minnesota Review, Banango Street, Still: The Journal, Naugatuck River Review, Appalachian Heritage, Pluck!, The Sleuth, other journals, and the Line Poetry Podcast. She has received poetry scholarships and fellowships from Indiana University, The Frost Place, and Sundress Academy for the Arts, where she was the 2017 Appalachian Writer-in-Residence. As an active member of the Writers Guild at Bloomington, she has coordinated the Fountain Square Poetry series since 2012. She also serves as faculty adviser for the IU Slam Poetry Club.