I’m a historian and author drawn to enduring questions: What is a life well-lived? How do we create meaning amidst upheaval and build a more compassionate world? My work explores these questions through the lens of international history and engaged Buddhism.

I hold a PhD from Columbia University and BA from Yale, and have published in scholarly texts like the Cambridge History of the Vietnam War and the Journal of Vietnamese Studies as well as media platforms like Tricycle and On Being. My subject specialities are US empire, modern Vietnam, decolonization, and global migration in the 20th century.

As a lifelong Buddhist and daughter of refugees from Vietnam, my work is driven by a desire to heal and transform the way we see ourselves in relation to the wider world. I am ordained in the Order of Interbeing—in the Plum Village tradition of Engaged Buddhism—and served as a board member and co-chair of the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation for 9 years.