Nadine Attewell

Nadine Attewell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University (SFU), where she also directs the Global Asia Program. She holds a PhD in English Literature from Cornell University (2006) and has expertise in feminist, queer, anticolonial, and antiracist methodologies. Her research focuses on empire, intimacy, and Asian diasporic life, with a particular emphasis on racial mixing and multiracial communities under colonial rule.

Her first monograph, Better Britons: Reproduction, National Identity, and the Afterlife of Empire (2014), examines postimperial governance through 20th-century literature and policy. Her current SSHRC-funded project, Archives of Intimacy, explores Chinese practices of interracial intimacy in colonial port cities like Hong Kong and Liverpool. This work uses archival materials—including photography, community histories, and wartime intelligence—to challenge narratives of empire.

Attewell’s publications engage visual culture, decolonial theory, and global Asian studies. Her recent articles analyze photography’s role in diasporic worldmaking and explore intersections between diasporic and Indigenous encounters. She teaches interdisciplinary courses on colonialism, race, and visual studies.

Her research also addresses academic labor precarity, institutional racism, and the ethical challenges of archival engagement. She serves on the editorial board of Trans Asia Photography and actively contributes to global Asian studies initiatives.