Chris Suh is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History. He specializes in Asian American history and US-East Asia relations. His dissertation explores how American imperialism and immigration restriction shaped the lives of Asians on both sides of the Pacific during the Progressive Era (1890-1920s). A chapter of his dissertation has been published in the Journal of American History.
Dissertation: Pacific Crossings: American Encounters with Asians in the Progressive Era of Empire and Exclusion
This project investigates a paradox: that the Progressive Era (1890-1920s)—usually known for its proliferation of reform movements dedicated to democracy—was a period of American imperial expansion across the Pacific and anti-Asian immigration movements at home. It explains how American policymakers attempted to make empire and exclusion compatible with the democratic promise of the Progressive Era, and how Asians on both sides of the Pacific played active roles in shaping these policies.