Santa Clara University

James Lai

Position: Associate Professor
Office: St. Joseph's Hall Room 119
Phone: 408-554-5760
E-mail: jlai@scu.edu
Fall Quarter Office Hours: MW 3:00-4:00pm
Education: Ph.D. in Political Science; University of Southern California, 2000; M.A. in Asian American Studies; University of California, Los Angeles, 1994; B.A in Political Science; University of California, Davis, 1990.
Curriculum Vita (updated September, 2009)

 

James S. Lai is an Associate Professor who holds a joint appointment with the Ethnic Studies Program and the Department of Political Science at Santa Clara University. Dr. Lai currently serves as the Director of the Ethnic Studies Program since 2008. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California (2000) and his M.A. in Asian American Studies from the University of California at Los Angeles (1992). His research interests and specialties include U.S. racial and ethnic politics, California local politics, Asian American community formation and political behavior, affirmative action and other race based public policy issues. He is author of the forthcoming book, Suburban Transformations: Asian American Political Incorporation in the New Gateway (2010, Lynne Rienner Publishers). Other recent publications include co-editing (with Dr. Don T. Nakanishi) and contributing to the book, Asian American Politics: Law, Participation, and Policy (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers), "Transforming Ethnic Politics: A Comparative Analysis of Electoral Support for and Poliy Priorities of Asian American and Latino Elected Officials." (Asian Law Journal), and "Asian Pacific American Campaigns, Elections, and Elected Officials" (PS: Political Science and Politics). He also serves as a senior editor of the National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac, a bi-annual national publication by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press, consisting of national, state, and local Asian American elected officials and political data since 1995. In addition, he has been featured as a frequent commentator on contemporary racial and ethnic poliitics, and community issues in various media such as NBC, ABC, and CBS (Bay Area), CNN.com, the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, and National Public Radio's "The California Report."