Sharon Tran

Sharon Tran is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), with affiliations in the Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies department and the Asian Studies program. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in English from UCLA, complemented by a postdoctoral fellowship in American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on multiethnic American literatures, Asian American studies, and gender studies, emphasizing critical analyses of race, gender, and empire.

Tran’s work has been published in MELUS, Journal of Asian American Studies, Contemporary Literature, Signs, and American Quarterly. She is currently completing a book manuscript, Asian Girlhood in the Shadows of U.S. Empire, which examines the intersections of race, gender, and empire through analyses of historical and literary materials. A second project, Asian/Animal Entanglements: More-than-Human Ecologies and Multispecies Justice, explores race studies and animal studies through historical and literary lenses.

• Teaching: Courses on race and ethnicity in U.S. literature, disability studies, science/speculative fiction, Asian American literatures, and cultural studies.
• Awards: Career Enhancement Fellowship (2021–2022) supporting research on racial disparities and institutional access.
• Service: MLA Delegate Assembly member and Age Studies Forum executive committee.

Tran’s research and advocacy aim to dismantle racial inequities in higher education while advancing interdisciplinary frameworks for justice.