Last quarter, I had a chance to meet with Dr. Jeannie Shinozuka via Zoom to document her time at La Sierra University and how education has shaped her. Dr. Shinozuka is currently a professor at Soka University. She is in the process of publishing her book. Without further ado, let’s take a glimpse at her journey that began at La Sierra.
When you were at La Sierra, what did you major in, and what was the reason behind it?
“Initially, I was a biology and pre-medicine major. Then, I began to take history classes, and I just realized how much more excited that I became about my history classes. So, I became a history/ political science major, where I also started to take some general studies classes. I don’t recall exactly when I switched my major… But, probably at the end of my freshman year.”
Do you think it was a difficult transition for you to go from a biology major to a history major?
“I mean, I was happy. I was happier about it as I really enjoyed my classes. But, I also felt drawn to the history of medicine. So, it is not like I completely left medicine and science. Environmental history came much later as an area of interest, but it was definitely interrelated to my interest in science and medicine. I don’t know how to explain it, but it just felt like a pretty easy transition.”
Were you involved with any clubs or extracurriculars that had a meaningful impact on you when you were at La Sierra?
“Actually, my classmates and I together founded a little gender studies club. It was a lot of fun as we would just hang out all the time and live in South Hall. It was such a small group of us (a total of 15) and was in an intimate setting. We would just sit there and discuss all of our readings. I remember I was just getting really into it, and we would just argue and debate. I just felt like I grew a whole lot intellectually from the experience of living in South Hall.”
Can you take us on a brief overview of what your job is like and your lifestyle right now?
“Right now, I am at Soka University. The classes are very small. My largest class has 18 students, and my smaller class is 11 students. It is a very intimate campus where everyone knows everyone, and many of them are Japanese/Japanese-American. We are trying to start ethnics studies to promote diversity on the campus.”
What helped motivate you to pursue this field and continue to be a professor?
“I am really motivated by issues related to social justice. It is such a cliché thing to say, but what motivates me is promoting awareness and knowledge of discrimination certainly against all people of color but especially against Asian Americans. With the recent violence against Asian and Asian Americans during the pandemic, a lot of people are finally starting to take note that there is a lot of anti-Asian racism in this country. So, that really motivates me to stay, teach, research, and publish about it.”
Why did you choose to pursue social justice?
“Personal experience definitely plays into it. I mean, I can’t necessarily say there is one defining moment. Just overall, people repeatedly ask me where I am from, if I speak English… that kind of thing. The implication is that I am a foreigner no matter what. So, it just made me realize that education is not the only way to promote awareness. Education, especially in higher-ed, can have its limitations. I have colleagues who are community activists, for example. That opens a world of possibilities when you are in a community and you are doing activist work. But, for me, education was what I wanted to dedicate my career to. Promoting awareness in the classroom to my students. Just the other day, my students were asking me: ‘Why can’t we have a more caring world where we care enough about each other? Care about the injustice that other people are going through?’ That is one of the things that I enjoy about teaching. Students really do care. I am not only talking about my Asian-American students or only my students of color. These are white students that come into my classroom and want to know more about the controversy about Critical Race Theory that has been going on in the media. They wanted to know about the history behind Anti-Asian racism because they are seeing people being randomly attacked in the media.”
Do you have any advice for students currently in the Honors Program at La Sierra?
“I just had such a wonderful time as an Honors student. Those were some of the best years of my life honestly. Just really soak it all in, there won’t be any more time than where you are in this intensive learning environment. I mean, some of you may be working part-time and can’t dedicate 100% to learning, but the majority of you will be immersed in it. Just soak it all in and take what you can, talk to your professors, and build a close relationship with the professors. I would go to their office hours, ask questions, begging them for help on how to write a better paper and how to do better in classes. Just really soak it all in and enjoy your time. You will never be that student again. Some people might go back to grad school, but by that time, you might have a part-time or full-time job, or you may have a family. You will have a lot of other things to juggle, so it won’t be the same. You are young now and your mind is like a sponge: it can really just absorb all the materials. Keep an open mind. I have friends who didn’t finish college, and when I talk to them about politics and history, it makes a huge difference when you go through college. Your ability to think critically, your ability to think about others, and your ability to interact with others are dramatically different after going to college.”
As you are currently publishing your book, could you give us a brief introduction, and when it will be released?
Book Title: Biotic Borders Trans-specific Plants and Insects Migration and the Rise of Anti-Asian Racism in America (1890-1950)
“I’m trying to think of how I can explain it in a way that is not overly theoretical. It just has to do with Japanese plants and insects and how they dynamically shape the relationship with Japanese immigrants. Basically, it’s about how plants and insects dynamically shape human relationships. There’s this back and forth where you have certain plants and insects that the United States Department of Agriculture targeted as injury insects. And, it is interesting because when you study the history of the USA, you realize that many times, they target Asian insects and Asian plants as having deadly potential that may potentially devastate the US agriculture economy. For example, the Japanese beetles consume everything that’s in their path: all different fruits and vegetables. So, you can imagine how that could be devastating towards agriculture. But, at the same time, they also racialize it. It is especially more prominent during WWII when the Japanese became very militarized. They colonized Korea, they attacked China. So, you can see in the past how it was racialized and called the Jap beetle, giving it names and equating it with Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans. Japanese Americans also became a potential menace as well. It is these dynamic interactions between the human and natural world. I’m trying to get my audience to think about how the environment could shape us and that it is alive, not just sitting there passively. In my environmental science class, I always take my students outside, and we walk around. This is what we do on the first day of class, we don’t just sit around for an hour. We go out, interact, and look at nature. We look at the environment around us. This gets my audience thinking about how the environment around us is alive: it’s a living breathing thing, but we often impose our human vision onto it. So, we are interested in looking at it through a human lens… Through a lens that is very human-centered.”
–– Jui-Hung (Hadassah) Lin (Biomedical Science, Class of 2024)