Thuy N. D. Tran is a doctoral candidate of modern and contemporary art. Her dissertation research has taken her to the National Archives, the Library of Congress and to Southeast Asia as an Advanced Graduate Research Fellow (UC Pacific Rim Research Grant). Her extensive experience in community art activism, art exhibitions, university teaching and mentorship has allowed her to take fresh approaches to the often passive practice of art history. Her teaching philosophy highlights interdisciplinary and global perspectives, and her research interests are inspired by living artists. Her previous internships include the Pacific Asia Museum (Getty Educational Grant), the Hammer Museum (Getty Curatorial Grant) and the Phoenix Art Museum (Graduate Curatorial Intern). She has also served as the Murray Roman Curatorial Fellow for the Art, Design and Architecture Museum at UCSB where she led the undergraduate internship program. She has been honored with the Steve and Barbara Mendell Graduate Fellowship in Cultural Literacy, the Claudia Weitlanner Fellowship, and the Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship. Her summers have been spent mentoring students in university-level research and development through the UCSB Research Mentorship Program. She holds a Master's degree in Art History from Arizona State University and a Bachelor's degree in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles, with dual minors in Cultural Anthropology and Museum Studies.