Tani Sebro

Dr. Tani Sebro is an Assistant Professor of Politics and International Studies at California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt, and concurrently serves as Chair of the Department of Politics. Previously, they held an Assistant Professorship in Diaspora Studies at Miami University, Ohio. They hold a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, alongside MA and BA degrees in Anthropology.

Education:

• Ph.D. Political Science, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2016)
• MA Anthropology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2010)
• BA Anthropology, San Francisco State University (2008)

Research Interests:

• POLITICAL ETHNOGRAPHY: Focused on embodied practices (e.g., dance) as sites of political resistance and national identity formation among displaced groups.
• MYANMAR/THAILAND BORDER STUDIES: Examines refugee politics, transnational migration, and humanitarianism along the Thai-Myanmar border.
• CULTURAL PERFORMANCE: Explores how aesthetics and movement articulate nationalism in exile communities.
• CRITICAL THEORY: Engages postcolonial studies and affect theory to analyze displacement and sovereignty.

Recent Work Trends: Recent publications analyze Myanmar's military coup's impact on border refugees, geoeconomic precaritization linked to China's Belt and Road, and the role of dance in forging trans-ethnic solidarity. Their in-progress book, Aesthetic Nationalism: The Dance of War and Exile, theorizes embodied nationalism through ethnographic research with Tai refugees.

Awards and Grants:

• 2022 McCrone Promising Faculty Award
• Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant (2019-2022)
• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship (2018)

Teaching and Mentorship: Teaches courses on global governance, migration, and human rights. Advises students in Global Studies concentrations and transnational migration research. Serves on the board of the Burma Studies Group and co-founded APSA's Political Ethnography Working Group.