Title: Director of Hmong Studies/Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Global Religions, and Cultures, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Age: 34
Education: B.A., anthropology, University of WisconsinMadison, and Ph.D., socio-cultural anthropology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Career mentors: Mai Na Lee, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Jean Langford, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Hoon Song, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Karen-Sue Taussig, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Linda Meurer, Medical College of Wisconsin; Kajua Lor, Medical College of Wisconsin; and Ma Vang, University of California Merced
Words of wisdom/advice for new faculty members: “Find/ create your communities. The journey may feel lonely and exhausting at times, but find/create different types of communities that will sustain [you] as you do the hard work of addressing diversity and inequity. Find/create a community of rest that can be friends or family members, but they should be individuals who allow you to rest, turn off work, and just be alive. And lastly, don’t forget to find/create this kind of community in yourself. "
Dr. Mai See Thao said she was always interested in medicine. But instead of pursuing medicine per se, she found a way to have it intersect with her identity as a Hmong person, choosing to become a medical anthropologist.
