Congratulations to our newly-tenured faculty in Asian Studies!

We are delighted to pass along news (May 18, 2021) from Provost Jean Morrison that the following faculty members who work on Asia have been awarded tenure and promotion:

Lei Guo, COM, Emerging Media Studies, explores the development of media effects theories, computational social science methodologies, and emerging media and democracy in the United States and China. A founding member of the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, she is a past recipient of the Google Research Award and the Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly Outstanding Article Award and was BU’s inaugural East Asia Studies Career Development Professor. Her current work examines the impact of international news coverage of COVID-19, and she is co-PI on a large-scale NSF grant developing tools for analyzing US news in over 100 languages. She has published eight book chapters, one edited book, and over 30 journal articles. She has been promoted to Associate Professor, with tenure.

Joseph Harris, CAS, Sociology, conducts comparative historical research at the intersection of sociology, political science, and global health, working to help resolve problems relevant to global and transnational sociology, medical sociology, the sociology of development, and the sociology of human rights. He is co-founder of the American Sociological Association’s Global Health and Development Interest Group and is a past Fulbright Fellow and recipient of his college’s Gitner Award for Distinguished Teaching. He has authored a book, 2017’s Achieving Access: Professional Movements and the Politics of Health Universalism, as well as a book chapter, and published articles and essays in premier medical and academic journals, including The Lancet. He has been promoted to Associate Professor, with tenure.

Ayşe Parla, CAS, Anthropology, is a sociocultural anthropologist whose work focuses on issues of migration, citizenship, hope, and precarity among ethnic minorities in Turkey. A past fellow and visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study, she has authored an acclaimed book, Precarious Hope: Migration and the Limits of Belonging in Turkey (2019), along with three book chapters, nine encyclopedia entries, and a dozen articles in top peer-reviewed journals, including History and Anthropology. Her current research looks at the post-genocide dispossession of Armenians in Turkey. She has been promoted to Associate Professor, with tenure.

Benjamin Siegel, CAS, History, explores the role of South Asia as the center of global economic, environmental, and political transformations, with special focus on Indian culture, history, and influence. He has published a book, Hungry Nation: Food, Famine, and the Making of Modern India (2018), along with three book chapters and numerous articles in leading US and Indian historical journals and media outlets. His current research explores the transnational history of America’s opioid crisis and is the subject of a forthcoming book. His work has been supported through grants from the American Council of Learned Societies and the American Institution of Indian Studies, and he is a past recipient of his college’s Wisneski Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has been promoted to Associate Professor, with tenure.

[The descriptive text comes from Provost Morrison’s 5/18/21 email to faculty]