SuShuan Chen
Professor, History & Ethnic Studies

Contact LAC, T-2330
LBCC professor SuShuan Chen's headshot

I teach a variety of historical subjects at LBCC including U.S. history, Asian history, world history, and American pluralism/ethnic studies. Prior to joining the history faculty at LBCC, I worked at a museum and taught at UC San Diego. I received my B.A. degree in Asian Studies from Pomona College and completed my M.A. and Ph.D. at UC San Diego in the field of Ethnic Studies (the study of race and ethnicity in the United States). For my doctoral research, I analyzed the multiracial politics that brought Asian Americans, African Americans, and whites into cycles of cooperation and competition in post-World War II Seattle.

As a history professor, my goal is to make history stimulating and relevant. After all, history is full of compelling stories about people, cultures, and events. Regardless of whether these stories are inspiring, sad, or downright funny and absurd, they deserve to be brought to life and analyzed. At the same time, history has so much potential to expand our worldviews by showing how contemporary societies are constantly being shaped by events from decades or even thousands of years ago. My hope is that once students have engaged in a thoughtful exploration of history, they will never look at the world the same way again.

If you are an LBCC student who is considering majoring in history or going to graduate school, always feel free to ask me questions about those topics. I also am happy to share advice and my own experiences to students considering multiple career options.