Prof. Joseph Allen Ramirez

Prof. Joseph Allen (JoJo) Ruanto-Ramirez is Queer, Buddhist, Indigenous Asian American, scholar-activist, refugee who came to the United States as a natural disaster refugee in 1991 from the Philippines. His mother is Sambali, Sambal-Ita (Aeta), and Iranun (Moro), while his father is Ilokano, Ifugao (Igorot), and Fukkien/Hokkien Chinese. He is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies - Asian American Studies and works closely with the Office of Student Equity Programs & Services. He received his BA in Ethnic Studies from UC San Diego and his MA in Sociological Practice from CSU San Marcos, and currently a PhD candidate in an interfield program in Cultural Studies and American Studies at Claremont Graduate University. 

He also serves as the County of San Diego's Leon L. Williams Human Relations Commission as Commissioner for Asian & Pacific Islander Relations, chair of the San Diego County Office of Education's Asian American & Pasifika Advisory, and is also a consultant in equity, diversity, & inclusion for local businesses and organizations. He is the Forum Editor for Alon: Journal for Filipinx American and Diasporic Studies and a member for the Association for Asian American Studies.

He is the advisor for SWC's Asian & Pasifika Business Association (APBA) and UC San Diego (and county-wide) ΨΧΩ Inc. (Psi Chi Omega).  

Academic Interests

Cultural Studies, Colonial Studies, Critical Race Studies, Critical Citizenship Studies, Global Indigenous Studies, Nation-State & Cultural Politics, Ethnic Studies (in particular, Asian American Studies and Native & Indigenous Studies), Gender & Sexuality Studies / Feminist & Queer Studies, Student Affairs & Leadership, Education Studies, Posthumanism (Hauntology, Monster Studies, Freakery Studies)

Publications

“Feeding the Dead: On Atang and Pitik.” Eating MORE Asian America: Another Food Studies Reader. eds. Robert Si-Song Ku, Martin F. Manalansan IV, and Anita Mannur. New York, NY: New York University Press (forthcoming 2023).

“Indigeneity and Identity.” co-written with Oona Parades. Indigeneity in the Philippines, A Reader. eds. Leah Abayao, Jimmy Fong, and Carolyn Podruchny. University of Hawai’i Press (forthcoming 2023)

“Why I Don’t (Really) Consider Myself a Filipino: Complicating ‘Filipino-ness’ from a Katutubo Critique.” Filipinx American Studies: A Critical Registry of Terms. eds. Rick Bonus & Anthony Tiongson. New York, NY: Fordham University Press. 2022. 298-307.

“Hauntings: Memories, Performance, and Conversations with My Mother." Our Culture Resounds, Our Future Reveals: A Legacy of Filipino American Performing Arts in California. eds. Eleanor Lipat-Chesler and Mary Talusan. Los Angeles: Ube Arte. 2020. 192-197.
https://californiarevealed.org/islandora/object/cavpp:209355

“The Philippine Refugee Processing Center: The Intersectional Displacements of Vietnamese Refugees and Indigenous Aetas.” co-written with Yen Le Espiritu. Verge: Studies in Global Asias 6, no. 1 (2020): 118-141.

“The Filipino/Pilipina/Pin@y/Pinxy (American) Aswang: Imagining Identity in Diaspora.” The Pin@y Radical Imagination Reader. San Francisco: PAWA Press. 2018. 26-30.

“When ‘We Are The World’ is More than a Michael Jackson Song: Reflections of the Vigil for Orlando, Florida in San Diego, California. Feminist Studies Journal, Fall 2016.

Nexus: Complicating Communities and Centering the Self - A 20 Year Retrospective of a College-Based Community Center. co-Editor with Edwina Welch and Nancy Magpusao. San Diego, CA: Cognella Academic Publishing. 2015.

“Booty Pop Madness: The Negotiation of Space for Gay Pilipino American Males and Choreographed Hip Hop.” Empire of Funk: Filipino Americans in the Cypher of Hip Hop. edited by Mark R. Villegas, DJ Kuttin’ Kandi, and Rodrick N. Labrador. San Diego, CA: Cognella Academic Publishing. 2014.

“Indigenous Groups and the Asian American Experience.” Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Economic, and Political History. Volume 2, G-O. eds. Xiaojian Zhao and Edward J.W. Park. Santa Barbara: Greenwood – ABC-CLIO, LLC. 2013. 569-572.