Sam Ikehara

Sam Ikehara is an Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research focuses on race, environment, and war legacies through cultural studies, drawing from his family's experiences with U.S. and Japanese imperialism in Hawaiʻi and Okinawa. He holds a PhD in American Studies & Ethnicity from the University of Southern California, with prior fellowships at UC Santa Cruz.

• Education: BA/MA (English) from UH Mānoa; PhD (American Studies & Ethnicity) from USC

His current book project, Atmospheres of Relief, examines air as a contested site of U.S.-Japan interimperial violence. His work appears in American Quarterly, Amerasia Journal, and Verge. He advocates for demilitarization and sovereignty through environmental and Indigenous frameworks.

No scientific awards explicitly listed. Prior fellowships include UC President’s and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral roles.

Teaching emphasizes decolonial methods and transnational perspectives. No lab affiliations explicitly noted in text.