Jan Padios

Jan Padios is Professor of the American Studies Program and Chair of Asian American Studies at Williams College, where she has been teaching since Fall 2020. Her interdisciplinary scholarship bridges American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Postcolonial Studies with a focus on labor, empire, and transnational connections between the United States and the Philippines.

Dr. Padios earned her academic credentials from prestigious institutions: B.A. from Columbia University (2001), M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University (2005, 2012), and an M.F.A. from Randolph College (2021). Her educational background reflects her dual commitment to scholarly research and creative expression.

Her research centers on the intersections of critical cultural studies and political economy, with particular emphasis on transnationalism, neoliberal globalization, affective/immaterial labor, media and communication, cultures of consumption, and U.S. empire. She has made significant contributions to understanding the Philippine call center industry as a site of postcolonial encounter, labor exploitation, and cultural production. Her work often examines how Filipino call center workers navigate questions of identity, sexuality, and national belonging within global economic structures.

Her publications reveal a consistent focus on labor under global capitalism, particularly the emotional and affective dimensions of work in digital and service economies. She examines how postcolonial subjects navigate U.S. imperialism through everyday practices in industries like call centers, revealing the complex ways empire operates in contemporary global capitalism. Her creative writing complements her scholarly work, exploring similar themes through literary expression.

• 2020 Association for Asian American Studies Book Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Social Sciences (for A Nation on the Line)

Dr. Padios teaches courses including AMST 101 (America: The Nation and Its Discontents), AMST 125/AAS 125 (Introduction to Asian American Studies), AMST 373/AAS 373 (US Empire in the Philippines), and AMST 424/AAS 424 (New Work in American Studies). Her teaching reflects her research interests, emphasizing critical perspectives on transnational American Studies, global political economy, and cultural formations. As Chair of Asian American Studies, she leads curriculum development and program initiatives in this growing field.