Julia Michiko Hori

Cohort 2014–2015.  After completing my BA and MA at the University of Toronto and taking some time away from studying (working in the records department of public health, in a hair salon, an art gallery, and a restaurant) I decided to pursue my doctorate. I arrived at Princeton in 2014.

In addition to my advisors and colleagues in Princeton’s English Department, I am grateful to have found many opportunities for mentorship, research, teaching, and friendship in both African American studies and American studies. Student-led colloquia and peer-writing groups provided a vital source of both academic and emotional support.

In addition to academic conferences beyond Princeton, making connections with folks in academic-adjacent literary spaces has been very nourishing for my thinking and writing. For example, NYC’s Asian American Writer’s Workshop has allowed me to be in conversation with scholars, writers, and cultural workers pursuing a variety of career paths, including non-profit arts organizations and publishing.

I received my PhD with a doctoral certificate in African American studies in June of 2020. The following month, I started my post at Caltech as a Fletcher Jones Foundation Postdoctoral Instructor in Contemporary Literature. Though I am currently teaching remotely, it has been a joy to engage Caltech undergraduates (most of whom are science majors) in the study of literature and visual culture. This year, I designed and taught three courses: Literary Intersections of Motherhood, Global Plantation Imaginaries, and Power, Politics, and Travel Literature. Finding myself in a small, intimate community of interdisciplinary thinkers has been invaluable to the development of my post-dissertation research questions as I pursue my first book.