Long T. Bui, UCI global and international studies associate professor, has received a $30,000 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support completion of his new book, Model Machines. In it, Bui examines historical representations and stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans as robotic automatons. Through case studies, he explores how centuries of dehumanizing descriptions and treatment – the byproduct of globalization, racism, and colonialism – have created and fed an automation-driven narrative that has marginalized an entire race.

The project is one of 208 supported in the National Humanities Alliance recent $24.7 million grant award cycle.

“The National Endowment for the Humanities will support humanities research and curricular innovations on campuses across the country, including HBCUs, MSIs, and community colleges. With Infrastructure and Capacity Building Grants, the NEH will enable organizations to leverage federal dollars for additional funds,” said executive director Stephen Kidd. “And in addition to supporting a digital graphic history examining the trial of Kofi, an enslaved man accused of leading the 1741 New York Conspiracy, grants for digital humanities programs for the public will support an educational game for students that explores the Supreme Court. We are immensely proud of the NEH’s impact across the U.S. and will continue advocating for increased federal support for future grants in 2022 and beyond.”

Bui joined the UCI faculty in 2018. His research focuses on transnational gender and sexuality, technocultural studies and refugee/ethnic studies. He’s the author of Returns of War and his work has been published in the Journal of Asian American Studies; Culture, Society and Masculinities; the Journal of Feminist Studies; and the Journal of Vietnamese Studies, among others. He earned his Ph.D. in ethnic studies at UC San Diego.