Mimi Khúc

Mimi Khúc, PhD, is an adjunct professor in Asian American studies and disability studies at San Francisco State University, where she teaches across disciplines including gender studies, religious studies, and communication. She is a writer, scholar, and teacher deeply committed to exploring unwellness as a structural and collective condition shaped by race, disability, and academia.

Her research centers on what she calls a pedagogy of unwellness—a radical framework that acknowledges differential unwellness across individuals and systems, particularly within the university. Her work interrogates the intersections of ableism, model minoritization, and institutional harm, advocating for vulnerability, trust, and collective care in educational spaces. She blends scholarship with artistic practice through projects like Open in Emergency and the Asian American Tarot, reimagining mental health through decolonial and community-centered lenses.

Her recent creative-critical book, dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss, published by Duke University Press, exemplifies her genre-bending approach, merging personal narrative, theory, and pedagogy to confront the emotional and systemic toll of being unwell in academia. The work reflects broader trends in interdisciplinary humanities, critical university studies, and activist scholarship.

• Adjunct Professor, Asian American Studies
• Co-Editor, The Asian American Literary Review
• Founder, Open in Emergency Initiative
• Creator, Asian American Tarot

While no formal scientific awards are listed, her work has garnered significant intellectual and cultural attention for its innovative fusion of art, theory, and mental health advocacy. Her teaching philosophy centers students, especially those navigating unwellness, and she emphasizes mentorship through shared vulnerability rather than traditional academic hierarchies.

Mimi Khúc leads the Open in Emergency Initiative, a national project developing mental health arts programming in collaboration with universities and community spaces. This initiative functions as both a research lab and a creative collective, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars, artists, and activists. Her work intentionally exists both within and beyond the academy, cultivating nimbleness to challenge institutional norms while supporting marginalized communities.