Collage image of Dr. Amanda Solomon Amorao at UCSD with a sun and palm leaf in background

About Dr. ASA

As the Director of UC San Diego's Dimensions of Culture Program at Thurgood Marshall College, I'm passionate about helping first-year undergraduates develop their critical reading, writing, and thinking skills by exploring issues of diversity, justice, and social change in U.S. culture and history.

As a scholar and researcher, I focus on the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality in studies of Filipinx American culture.

As a community organizer, I'm committed to empowering Filipinx American youth in developing their sense of identity and empowerment.

There’s no such thing as neutral education. Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or freedom.

Paulo Friere

Know history. Know self.

I'm proud to be the daughter of Filipino immigrants.

My parents left their homeland during the Marcos dictatorship and had to start from scratch, building a business in California.

They were always involved in the local Filipino community, leading nonprofits and associations that encouraged mutual aid and transnational solidarity.

Dr. Amanda Solomon Amorao and community members at an event for her book Closer to Liberation.

When I started college at the University of San Francisco, I was excited to learn more about Asian American Studies, particularly Filipino/a/x American history. It was empowering to study U.S. culture and history from a critical perspective that focused on race, imperialism, and social activism.

With the support of my parents and mentors, I pursued a PhD in literature and cultural studies at UC San Diego, with a focus on cultures of the Asian Diaspora.

In my daily work at UC San Diego, I have the privilege of helping students ask questions about their histories and identities on a daily basis — the same questions that were personally important to me when I began my journey in higher education.

The goal of my career as a professor is not to give answers but to make the space for my students to ask the questions that matter the most to them so that they can know history and know self.

Curriculum Vitae

View the full CV

Education

Ph.D. Literature
University of California, San Diego, June 2011

M.A. Literature
University of California, San Diego, June 2007

B.A. English
University of San Francisco, May 2004

Research and Teaching Interests

American Studies

Asian American Literature

Critical Filipinx Studies

Decolonizing Pedagogies

First-Year Writing

Multi-Ethnic U.S. Literature

Postcolonial Theory

Women of Color Feminism

Director, Dimensions of Culture Program (DOC)
Fall 2017 - Ongoing
UCSD’s DOC Program at Thurgood Marshall College develops the critical reading, writing, and thinking skills of first year students through an exploration of the promises and paradoxes of U.S. history, culture, and society.
Executive Director, Kuya Ate Mentorship Program (KAMP)
2010 - 2017
KAMP is a grassroots organization that explores Filipinx American history, culture, and identity with Filipino language classes in middle school and high schools in the San Diego area.
Associate Director of Writing | Culture, Art, & Technology Program (CAT)
Winter 2014 – Spring 2017
UCSD’s CAT Program at Sixth College teaches college-level composition through the exploration of technology’s impact on the arts, culture, and society.
Writing Program Coordinator, Summer Program for Incoming Students (SPIS)
Summers 2013 and 2014
UCSD’s Computer Science & Engineering Department’s SPIS is a four-week summer course that prepares students from low-performing high schools for success at UCSD.
Changemaker Faculty Fellows: Anti-Racist Pedagogy Learning Community
UCSD Teaching + Learning Commons.
Course Development and Instructional Improvement Program
Awarded by UCSD Office of Executive Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Education. October 2020.
Faculty Career Development Program
Course release for two quarters and research funds awarded by UCSD Office of the Executive Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Climate Enhancement Grant
UCSD Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. $2,000 awarded for Spring 2018.
Climate Change Curriculum Development Grant
UCSD Understanding and Protecting the Planet Coordinating Committee. $2,500 awarded for Academic Year 2018-2019.
Award for Outstanding Teaching in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the UC San Diego Standing Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
June 2018.
Recognition for Outstanding Commitment to the Advancement of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by the CA Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs, September 2016.
Leadership Fellowship
San Diego Leadership Alliance Institute, 2014
Year-Long Dissertation Fellowship
Department of Literature, UC San Diego, 2009-2010
One Quarter Dissertation Fellowship
Department of Literature, UC San Diego, Fall 2008
Foreign Language and Area Studies Grant
Southeast Asian Summer Studies Institute, University of Madison, WI, Summer 2005
Vice-Chair, University Committee on Preparatory Education
UC System-wide Senate Appointment | Fall 2022 - Ongoing
Committee monitors aspects of preparatory education for entry into the UC system.
Chair, Committee on Preparatory Education
University of California San Diego Academic Senate | Fall 2022 - Ongoing
Committee monitors aspects of preparatory education for entry into UC San Diego.
Member, Planning Committee for UCSD’s Symposium on Enhancing the Experiences of Students of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern Descent
Spring 2022
Assisted in design and implementation of inaugural symposium.
Chair, UCSD’s Council of Writing Directors
Winter 2022 - Ongoing
Inaugural chair of committee of college writing program directors.
Member, UCSD’s 8th College Academic Plan Committee
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022
Contributed to draft of the 8th College Academic Plan centering community engagement.
Moderator, Thurgood Marshall College Speaker Series Presents: Dr. Angela Y. Davis – To Demand the University Work for Our People and Other Imaginations for Our Collective Future
June 2, 2021
Moderated intergenerational panel conversation between Dr. Davis and student leaders/activists.
Member, Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) Task Force
UCSD Office of the AVC-EDI
Spring 2021 - Fall 2021
Contributed to recommendations for UCSD’s attainment of AANAPISI status.
Member, UCSD Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program Task Force
Spring 2021 - Fall 2021
Contributed to proposal for a program to cultivate and oversee campus-wide courses in fulfilment of diversity, equity, and inclusion graduation requirement.
Lead Organizer, Learning/Teaching for Justice Conference
UCSD Thurgood Marshall College
Summer 2020 - Ongoing
Coordinating two-day conference for Spring 2021 and Spring 2023 that explores what learning and teaching for justice looks like on campus specifically and in higher education generally.
Member, Academic Integrity Review Board
University of California San Diego Academic Senate
Fall 2020 - Ongoing
Members serve on panel to adjudicate academic integrity cases involving dismissal from the university.
Member, Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures Committee
University of California San Diego Academic Integrity Office
Spring 2020 - Ongoing
Members review and propose policies and procedures regarding academic integrity.
Member, Thurgood Marshall College’s 50th Anniversary Committee
Winter 2020 - Ongoing
Ad hoc committee is charged with designing and implementing a year’s worth of events in celebration of the College’s anniversary.
Lead Organizer, Critical Filipino and Filipina Studies Symposium
University of California, San Diego
October 2013
Headed committee that organized a three-day symposium exploring what constitutes a critical Filipino Studies framework, how such a framework is shaped by an anti-imperial critique, and what scholar-activism entails.