Student Projects

In my "Food in Asia, Asia in Food" course (Fall 2022/3), students designed and played  “Asian Food in Los Angeles” scavenger hunts. The goal of this project is to explore Asian communities in Los Angeles, talk with people who make, sell, and eat Asian food in the communities, and share their stories and experiences in the form of a game—scavenger hunt. Students formed small working groups, conducted ethnographic fieldwork in the communities, and developed food scavenger hunts in various communities in Los Angeles, including Westchester, Sawtelle, Gardena, Filipino Town, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, and Koreatown. Their scavenger hunts not only showed cultural diversity in many "Asian" neighborhoods but also provided refreshing perspectives into the history of Asian American communities, gentrification, and economic disparities. 

The student project is funded by the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts at Loyola Marymount University, through their "Liberal Arts in Action - Engaged Learning" Program. Scavenger hunt as an ethnographic method is what my research team and I have developed in the "Logistics in the Making of Mobile Worlds" Project.