Kai Ngu

I'm interested in conflicting ontologies--and complementary practices--especially with regard to personhood, epistemic authority, and obligation. My research is betwixt-and-between Catholic indigenous peoples (Kadazan and Dusun, specifically) in Sabah, the poorest state of Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. My family is third-generation Chinese Sarawakians; I spent my early childhood in Sarawak and Sabah, before moving to the United States. I call New York City, the occupied land of the Lenape people, home. 

Interests:

• religion, what it is, what is 'sacred' or 'profane,' ritual, spirits, kinship
• more-than-human ontologies 
• ecology, environment, etc. 
• indigeneity and all its politics 
• change and conversion from colonial to postcolonial nation-building era 

Hobbies:

Sports

Writing (e.g. award-winning journalist for past decade)

Happy to chat about research or what have you with prospective Phd students.