Christopher Shinn

Adjunct and Assistant Professor of English
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.
Education: M.A. San Jose State University, English Language and Literature; M.T.S. Harvard, Religious Studies; Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz, Literature
Areas of Research: Comparative diasporas and Asian and African diasporas, world literature, popular fiction
Time at Georgetown: 6 years
Courses Taught: Asian-American literature, Asian Americans in the public sphere, pulp fiction, sci fi and fantasy, ethnic humor, American ethnic literature, writing seminars, worldly Asia, interdisciplinary humanities, religion and literature

What else do you do besides teach?
[Laughs] Well… I teach a lot. I do serve on a lot of editorial boards for journals and I serve as a liaison for people in the community. I do a lot of community outreach. I’m also a writer. I’m writing a few book projects.

What’s the greatest challenge in your field today?
Probably, I think, exposure. Because working in … Asian-American studies … it’s a small group. So the greatest challenge is making the field more visible to scholars and students and to make it on par with other sort of groups that are taught. I think Asian-American studies tends to be … I don’t want to say marginalized but it doesn’t have the same visibility as other ethnic groups or mainstream courses.

How did you narrow your focus to your field of study today?
I became interested in issues surrounding Asians and Asian diaspora, so when I went to school, there weren’t any courses on Asian-American literature at all or they were just beginning. They were very rare to spot Asian-American literature. We were trained in a certain literary canon. So that began to change and as it began to change, so did my studies. Eventually I found myself working in those areas primarily. Eventually in places like University of Chicago and UCSC, and that’s the area I developed and began to see change.

What’s the most memorable encounter you’ve had with a student?
I would say they vary quite a bit. I’ve had wonderful opportunities to see where people go with their degrees. I’ve had a student become a Rhodes Scholar and went to Oxford. Many students went to Medical School and many went to get their Ph.Ds. I’ve had a student who was in one of my classes and he ended up being a professor and that was neat. And people who work in different organizations all around the country in … the field of Asian-American studies. In the classroom, I think our class [Asian-American literature] was exciting to see how people read a book by Don Lee called “The Collective.” And to see how that book actually brought out issues that people had lots to say and much to respond to because of their experiences either as Asian Americans or understanding how that book interacted with politics and culture wars.

What is your favorite book right now?
I’ve just read J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion” and I found that to be an excellent book. We talked about Don Lee’s “The Collective,” but he’s one of my favorite writers. And anything that Jhumpa Lahiri writes.

Anything you would like to add?
Georgetown has been the most rewarding experience in any school that I’ve ever taught at, and I’ve taught at a lot of places. The students here are phenomenal, very smart, very engaged, very respectful. You guys are very lucky.

Interview by Michelle Xu