Description
- Abstract:
- Dr. Lisa Doi is a Japanese American Yonsei (fourth generation) and a scholar-activist. With a PhD in American Studies from Indiana University, her academic background is in anthropology, and her doctoral dissertation was an ethnographic study of Japanese American pilgrimages to World War II incarceration sites. Dr. Doi serves as an assistant curator and project manager with the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). There, she oversees the development of the museum's new comprehensive core exhibit. Beyond curatorial work, she is a prominent community leader, serving as board chair for Tsuru for Solidarity and as a board member and past president of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) in Chicago. In this video, Lisa Doi reflects on her experiences in Chicago as a Japanese American and her growth into a "steward of community history". Because her own grandparents' stories of incarceration were largely unrecorded, Doi discusses how she found purpose in inheriting and caring for the broader community's narratives. She works through ideas and themes that have come up in her work, such as Japanese American culture as a distinctly diasporic identity and abolitionism. A significant portion of the interview focuses on her work in intergenerational activism, particularly her role in shifting community conversations toward abolition and solidarity with other marginalized groups through community-driven organizations. Finally, she examines the historical continuity of carceral systems in the U.S. and challenges future generations to take active roles in shaping and reforming community institutions.
Citation
"Interview with Lisa"
Nuibari Digital Archive.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:b8qpqrqm/
Relations
Collection:
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Nuibari Digital Archive
This is a collection of items comprising the Nuibari, a digital space created by Claire Inouye Rothstein '26 for individuals of Japanese ancestry to share stories centered on conversation, memory, and the many ways identity takes shape over time. These …...