UCSB Professor Co-Edited New Amerasia Journal Issue
Heidi Amin-Hong explored the intersections of climate change and displacement in a new academic collection.
Updated on Oct. 9, 2026 in Asian-American
UC Santa Barbara assistant professor Heidi Amin-Hong has co-edited a new special issue of Amerasia Journal titled Between Refuge and Refuse. The publication examines the links between displacement, militarism, and environmental crises.
Why it matters
The editors aim to rethink the concept of refuge by analyzing its relationship to rejection and waste within global humanitarian and climate crises. This interdisciplinary work brings together a diverse array of scholars, poets, and artists to theorize refugee environments.
The special issue includes work from 24 authors, featuring a wide range of academic and artistic contributions. It also contains an interview with filmmaker Tuan Andrew Nguyen and poetry by Hmong writer Mai Der Vang.
The players
Heidi Amin-Hong
She is an assistant professor of English at UC Santa Barbara who served as a co-editor for this special issue.
Amerasia Journal
It is an academic publication known for featuring research and creative work focused on Asian-American studies.
Tuan Andrew Nguyen
He is a filmmaker whose interview is featured as a key component of the new journal issue.
Mai Der Vang
She is a Hmong writer whose poetry is included in the collection of work published by the journal.
Evyn Le Espiritu Gandhi
She is a co-editor of the special issue who holds an institutional affiliation at UCLA.
The details
The project analyzes the linguistic ties between the terms refuge, refuse, and refuse to explore how environmental and political pressures overlap. The editors collaborated with contributors across multiple geographies, including Vietnam, Korea, and Palestine, to bridge gaps between different cultural fields.
Timeline
October 8, 2026: Publication date of the Amerasia Journal special issue.
Culture Shift
This publication builds on the long-standing mission established by the 1971 founding of Amerasia Journal to document Asian-American experiences. It signals an academic pivot toward merging traditional humanities with modern climate and displacement studies.
Residents and students at UC Santa Barbara can access the new issue to engage with interdisciplinary perspectives on global humanitarian issues. The work highlights how academic research produced locally informs international conversations about displacement and climate.
The takeaway
The journal issue encourages readers to reconsider how common terms like refuse hold deeper meanings in environmental and social discourse. By connecting local academic research to global crises, it demonstrates the vital role of cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Further reading
For more research on how scholars are examining the intersection of culture and environment, visit Asian-American.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Edhat Santa Barbara.
