Wendy Cheng – American Studies

Findings from Professor Cheng’s 2020 research article, “Landscapes of Beauty and Plunder: Japanese American Flower Growers and an Elite Public Garden in Los Angeles” (EPD: Society and Space), were highlighted this spring as the cover story of Descanso magazine. She is actively working with Descanso Gardens staff and leadership as well as descendants of the flower grower families to revise Descanso Gardens’ historical narrative and garden labels.

Professor Cheng presented the following:
·      A second presentation on the history of camellias and Japanese American flower grower families to staff and leadership at Los Angeles County’s Descanso Gardens, February 2021;
·      Public lecture , “‘The Freedom of Silence’: Student Activism and Surveillance in Cold War Taiwanese/American History,” , Annual Asian American Studies Speaker Series, California State University, Fresno;
·      Panelist in an international roundtable, “Anti-Asian Hate and Sinophobia: A Global Analysis,” hosted by the Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, March 2021.

Her contributions as a member of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office Civic Memory Group were published as part of the website and report, “Past Due: Report and Recommendations of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office Civic Memory Working Group,” April 2021.