Karen Quintiliani
Karen Quintiliani is a Professor of Anthropology and an applied anthropologist. She has served as Department Chair in both the Department of Anthropology and Department of Human Development. She received a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from UCLA and a M.A. in Applied Anthropology from ºÚÁÏÍø.
At the heart of her research and teaching is a commitment to the values of applying knowledge, working in collaboration, and engaging students in community service and research. Dr. Quintiliani’s recent research includes collaborative research with the City of Long Beach on outreach among people experiencing homelessness resulting in a report co-authored with students - . She is the co-founder and co-director of the (CamCHAP), a multilingual digital ethnography and community archive housed at the Historical Society of Long Beach.
A core focus of Dr. Quintiliani’s research examines Cambodian American history, identity formation, and political mobilization. She has conducted extensive research on the emergence and contested politics of the Cambodia Town cultural designation in Long Beach, California. Her publications appear in journals such as Collaborative Anthropologies, The International Journal of Human Rights, Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement, Annals of Anthropological Practice, and Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies. She is currently completing a book manuscript with Dr. Susan Needham that explores the cultural history, political activism, and ongoing placemaking practices of Cambodians in Long Beach.
Cambodian diaspora and refugee communities; Applied anthropology and community-based research; Social policy, inequality, and urban community politics; Ethnographic methods.
ANTH 120: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 314: Global Ethnography
ANTH 329: Cultural Diversity in California
ANTH 416/516: Urban Anthropology
ANTH 417/517: Applied Anthropology
ANTH 428/528: Historical Ethnography
ANTH 458: Ethnographic Methods
ANTH 510: Proseminar
ANTH 560: Ethnographic Research Methods
Needham, Susan and Karen Quintiliani. (2022). . Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 32(1):6-25.
Takemoto, Mary Ann, Simon Kim, Karen Nakai, and Karen Quintiliani. (2017). Journey to Success: University-Community Partnerships to Improve Access to and Success in Higher Education for Cambodian American Students in Long Beach (Pp. 163-173). IN Focusing on the Underserved: Immigrant, Refugee, and Indigenous Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Higher Education, eds. Ching, D. and Museus, S.D. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Needham, Susan and Karen Quintiliani. (2016). Rethinking Local History through Collaboration: The Creation of the Cambodian Community History and Archive Project. Collaborative Anthropologies 8(1-2): 1-20.
Hyatt, Susan and Karen Quintiliani. (2016). Collaborations with Historical Societies, Libraries and Museums: New Directions and Methods in Engaging Community and Institutional Partners. Collaborative Anthropologies 8(1-2): vii-xvii.
Needham, Susan, Karen Quintiliani, and Robert Lemkin. (2015). The Space of Sorrow: A Historic Video Dialogue between Survivors and Perpetrators of the Cambodian Killing Fields. The International Journal of Human Rights 19(5): 628-647.
Quintiliani, Karen. (2014). A Qualitative Study of the Long-Term Impact of Welfare Reform on Cambodian American Families. Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement 9:1-24.
Quintiliani, Karen and Susan Needham. (2014). Three Decades of Cambodian American Political Activism in Long Beach, California (Pp. 268-281). IN The Age of Asian Migration: Continuity, Diversity, and Susceptibility (Vol. 1), eds, Chan, Y.W., Haines, D., and Lee, J.H.X. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Quintiliani, Karen. (2014). Cambodian/Cambodian American Same Sex Identities and Encounters: Possible Research Trajectories. IN Southeast Asian Diaspora in the United States: Memories & Visions, Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow, ed., Lee, J.H.X. London and New York: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
LeMaster, Barbara, Karen Quintiliani, and Allison Hunt. (2013). Bringing Communities and the University Together: Applied Anthropology at California State University, Long Beach. Annals of Anthropological Practice. 37(1):179-196.
Quintiliani, Karen, Susan Needham, Robert Lemkin, & Sambath Thet. (2011). Facilitating Dialogue between Cambodian American Survivors and Khmer Rouge Perpetrators. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 23: 506-513.
Quintiliani, Karen (2010). (Re)Imagining the Meaning of Being Cambodian and Gay. IN Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities, Pp. 392-408 ed., Lee, J.H.X. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
Quintiliani, Karen. (2009). Cambodian Refugee Families in the Shadows of Welfare Reform. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies. 7(2): 129-158.
Needham, Susan and Karen Quintiliani. (2008). Cambodians in Long Beach. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing.
Needham, Susan and Karen Quintiliani. (2007). Cambodians in Long Beach, California: The Making of a Community. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 5(1): 29-53.
Needham, Susan and Karen Quintiliani. (2005) Phnom Penh by the Sea: A Short History of the Cambodian Community in Long Beach, California. Southlander (1): 96-111.
Quintiliani, Karen. (2004). Refugee policy. IN Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and Policy, edited by G. Mink and A. O’Connor, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Publishers.
