James Zarsadiaz

James Zarsadiaz is Associate Professor of History and Director of the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program. He specializes in urban and suburban history, Asian American history, and the twentieth-century United States. Prof. Zarsadiaz was a fellow at both the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History and Asian Pacific American Center. Prior to entering academia, James worked in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He is the author of Resisting Change in Suburbia: Asian Immigrants and Frontier Nostalgia in L.A. (University of California Press, 2022). Prof. Zarsadiaz's research articles include: "Design Assimilation in Suburbia: Asian Americans, Built Landscapes, and Suburban Advantage in Los Angeles's San Gabriel Valley since 1970" (co-authored with Becky Nicolaides), which won the Urban History Association's Arnold Hirsch Award and the Vernacular Architecture Forum's Catherine W. Bishir Prize; "Raising Hell in the Heartland: Filipino Chicago and the Anti-Martial Law Movement, 1972- 1986," which received an Honorable Mention from the Filipino Section of the Association for Asian American Studies; and "Methodists against Martial Law: Filipino Chicagoans and the Church's Role in a Global Crusade." James has also published work in Amerasia Journal, International Migration Review, Journal of Asian American Studies, Journal of Social History, New Jersey Studies, and Pacific Historical Review, as well as for media outlets including City Lab, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington Post. He has done live interviews on ABC, BBC, CBS, MSNBC, NBC, NPR, and Southern California Public Radio regarding current affairs and his research.