Melanie Ho

Melanie Ho is an Assistant Professor of Practice and Faculty Instructor at the University of Mississippi, affiliated with the Center for the Study of Southern Culture in the College of Liberal Arts. She teaches within the Southern Studies (B.A. and M.A.) and Documentary Expression (M.F.A.) programs, contributing to interdisciplinary scholarship in southern culture and documentary arts.

Education:

• B.A. in East Asian Studies, Princeton University (2018)
• M.F.A. in Film, University of California-Santa Cruz (2020)

Melanie Ho's research and creative work centers on trauma, familial relationships, gender, displacement, and intimacy, with a focus on amplifying marginalized voices—particularly within the Vietnamese American community. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges documentary filmmaking, writing, and cultural studies, often exploring how identity is shaped through food, labor, and land.

Her recent experimental documentary, sống ở đây | to live here, investigates the Vietnamese community in New Orleans, examining the interplay between cultural survival, foodways, and environmental labor. This work exemplifies her commitment to community-centered storytelling and ethnographic documentary practices.

Melanie is actively engaged in mentoring students in documentary expression and southern cultural studies, though no formal advisees are listed. She does not currently list any scientific awards or fellowships in the provided text.

She is involved with the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, a leading interdisciplinary hub for research on the American South, where she contributes to academic programming, creative projects, and student training in documentary methods.