Illuminating Asian American Narratives in Literature and Academia

Dr. Sharon TranDr. Sharon Tran, an assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), has established herself as a rising voice in Asian American literary studies.

With affiliations in the Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies department and the Asian Studies program, Tran brings a multidisciplinary lens to her scholarship that examines the intersections of race, gender, and U.S. empire.

Tran’s journey to academia was not predetermined. Entering college with plans to pursue law or science “in accordance with my parents’ wishes and their vision of what constitutes a successful future,” she found herself increasingly drawn to English courses that “fueled my intellectual curiosity and gave me the tools to think more critically about the world around me. This intellectual awakening led her to declare an English major, though she initially “continued to con my parents for a while, telling them that I would apply to law school after graduation,” she says.

The turning point in Tran’s academic journey came when she received the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, which provided crucial mentorship.

“The funding and mentorship support I received through that program were vital in helping me prepare application materials to apply for graduate school and figure out how to navigate and thrive in academia as a woman of color,” Tran explains. She went on to earn both her M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles, before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Southern California.

Tran’s research agenda crystallized during her undergraduate studies at CUNY, Queens College, where she noticed a significant gap in the curriculum.

“Asian American literature was a huge gap in the curriculum,” Tran recalls. “In fact, I did not take my first Asian American literature course until my senior year when the department finally hired two new faculty members who specialized in that field.” This absence motivated her to focus on Asian American literature, where she “was energized by the diversity of Asian American narratives as well as the innovative ways these writers were intervening in and reinventing traditional literary forms and genres.”