In 1885, Chinese immigrants in California and the Pacific Northwest were beaten, killed, or expelled in a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment. In The Chinese Must Go (Harvard University Press), Beth Lew-Williams, assistant professor of history, argues that this produced the modern concept of the “alien” in the United States.

In The Life and Death of Latisha King (NYU Press), Gayle Salamon, associate professor of English and gender studies, examines the shooting of Latisha King, 15, by a male classmate in their California school. Many media outlets referred to King, who identified as a trans girl, as a gay boy named Larry. Salamon examines that false representation, transphobia, and violence against the transgender community.

Assistant professor of history Rosina Lozano’s An American Language (University of California Press) shows the role of the Spanish language in American politics and society in the century following the United States-Mexican War. This history of Spanish in the U.S. sheds new light on how the language was used widely in the early settlements of the Southwest and explores what it means to be American.