About the talk:

A People’s Guide to Orange County is an alternative tour guide that documents sites of oppression, resistance, struggle, and transformation. Orange County, California is a unique site of agricultural and suburban history, political conservatism in a liberal state, and more diversity and discordance than its pop-cultural images show. It is a space of important agricultural labor disputes, segregation and resistance to segregation, privatization and the struggle for public space, politicized religions, Cold War global migrations, vibrant youth cultures, and efforts for environmental justice. Orange County is also the place where many working-class immigrants have come to live and work in its agricultural, military-industrial, and tourist service economies.

About the speakers:

Elaine Lewinnek is a professor of American Studies and chair of the Environmental Studies program at California State University, Fullerton. She has a Ph.D. in American studies from Yale University and is the author of The Working Man’s Reward: Chicago’s Early Suburbs and the Roots of American Sprawl.

Thuy Vo Dang is an assistant professor of information studies at UCLA. She holds a Ph.D. in ethnic studies from University of California, San Diego and a B.A. in English and Asian American studies from Scripps College. Her previous role was surator for the UCI Libraries Southeast Asian Archive and research librarian for Asian American studies. Thuy is co-author of the books A People’s Guide to Orange County (2022) and Vietnamese in Orange County (2015) and serves on the board of directors for Arts Orange County and the Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association.