“The radical work of healing our communities remains central to civil rights activism and social justice struggles.” – Lani Cupchoy, Ph.D.

Lani Cupchoy, Ph.D.

Education

• Ph.D. History – United States and World History – University of California at Irvine

• M.A. History – Transnational Asia, Latin America and US – California State University at Los Angeles

• B.A. History – Focus on Asian-American Studies and Chicanx Studies – University of California at Los Angeles

Areas of Specialization

Public History, Chicanx Latinx Studies, Ethnic and Gender Studies, Asian American-Pacific Island Studies, Indigenous knowledge, US Transnational-Global History, History of the Americas, Critical Food Studies, Oral History-Testimonios, Visual & Digital Storytelling, Civic Engagement

Academic Appointments

• Assistant Professor – Chicana(o) Latina(o) Studies – California State University at Los Angeles

• Visiting Assistant Professor – Intercollegiate Department of Chicana(o) Latina(o) Studies – Pitzer College

• Visiting Assistant Professor – Department of Education – Attallah College of Educational Studies – Chapman University

• Visiting Assistant Professor – Intercollegiate Department of Chicana(o) Latina(o) Studies – Pomona College

• Lecturer – Departments of History & Chicana(o) Latina(o) Studies – California State University at Los Angeles

• Lecturer – Department of History – University of California at Irvine

Publications

Books:

Lani Cupchoy 

Curandereando: Sacred Decolonial Healing

University of Arizona Press, September 2026

Curandereando: Sacred Decolonial Healing reclaims curanderismo as a living and revolutionary practice of ancestral wisdom, resilience, and renewal. Blending poetry, Spanglish storytelling, oral histories, and testimonios, this hybrid work illuminates healing as both a sacred tradition and a decolonial act of resistance.

The book traces curanderismo’s survival under colonial oppression, its adaptations across diasporas, and its vital role in addressing contemporary struggles for ecological balance, cultural survival, and social justice. By centering diverse healers and community voices, it resists folkloric portrayals and instead presents curanderismo as an evolving practice deeply relevant to today’s crises.

Accessible yet scholarly, Curandereando bridges sacred traditions with academic discourse, challenging Western medical dominance while offering holistic frameworks grounded in ancestral knowledge. This book is an essential resource for Chicana/o and Latina/o studies, ethnic studies, Indigenous studies, gender and sexuality studies, and environmental justice. It will also resonate with community healers, educators, and readers seeking decolonial approaches to wellness, spirituality, and cultural renewal.

“Curandereando: Sacred Decolonial Healing is a multilingual poetic invocation that honors the legacy of curanderas/os/es through historical research, oral history, and ethnography. Following the traditions of feminist of color activist-scholarship, Lani Cupchoy offers a beautifully written, creative, analytical work that unearths sacred memories and invites readers into a consciousness that seeks healing, interconnectedness, and wholeness. This book offers a vital remedio for (re)connection.”
— Amber Rose González, co-editor of Mujeres de Maiz en Movimiento: Spiritual Artivism, Healing Justice, and Feminist Praxis

“This book contributes to the field of curanderismo by calling our attention to a new generation of healers, queering curanderismo, and the curanderismo fusion that happens with the transnational curanderas in the United States. . . . This is a healing text.”
— Marisol Ruiz, Professor, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt

Lani Cupchoy and Robert Cupchoy

Echoes of Memory: War, Testimony, and Survival on Sanzao Island

Barnes and Noble Press, March 2026

Recipient of the 2026 Literary Titan Gold Book Award

Echoes of Memory reconstructs the experiences of civilians on Sanzao Island during the Japanese occupation of China (1937–1945). Drawing on oral histories, family archives, poetry, and historical research, the book documents survivor testimony and community memory to illuminate everyday life, survival, and the transmission of memory across generations.

“The oral histories and photographs are precious, and the analyses of memory and trauma are truly powerful.”
— Ping Yao, Professor Emerita of History, California State University, Los Angeles

“While past trauma can never be erased, at least it must be heard—and not repeated. The Cupchoys listened with their hearts.”
— Susie Ling, Editor, Gum Saan Journal, Chinese Historical Society of Southern California

“Echoes of Memory is an essential teaching text for world history and oral history methodology.”
— Dawn A. Dennis, Lecturer, Department of History, California State University, Northridge

Article:

“Legacy of the Land: Reclaiming Hawaiian Kuleana Land Rights in Hawai’i”

Ethnic Studies Pedagogies Journal, Dec 2024, Vol. 2, Issue 2.

Article:

“Healing our Histories through Otros Saberes: Latina Activism, Testimonios & Intergenerational Food Justice”

Latino Studies Journal (Palgrave Macmillan), July 2023, Vol. 22, Issue 1.

Article:

“Fragments of Memory: Tales of a Wahine Warrior”

Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2010: 35.

Selected Public History Articles