Dr. Theodore S. Gonzalves is a curator of Asian Pacific American history in the division of Culture and the Arts at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. His areas of responsibility include the research, collection, and exhibition of Asian Pacific American histories and the performing arts. He previously served as director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. A Fulbright Scholar with extensive teaching experience in the United States, Spain, and the Philippines, Dr. Gonzalves has also been awarded senior fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Library of Congress. He was elected the 21st president of the Association for Asian American Studies in 2018, appointed to the Organization of American Historians' Distinguished Lectureship Program in 2023, and is currently a member of the board of directors of the American Council of Learned Societies.
Curatorial Projects:
- Rallying Against Racism (NMAH exhibition), project director and curator
- Entertainment Nation (NMAH exhibition), curatorial team member
- Asian Pacific America (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series), curatorial team member
Curatorial Advisor:
- Sowing Seeds: Filipino American Stories from the Pajaro Valley, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, curated by Christina Ayson Plank with Meleia Simon-Reynolds, Kathleen Gutierrez, and Steve McKay in collaboration with The Tobera Project
- 1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions, National Portrait Gallery, curated by Kate Lemay and Taína Caragol with Carolina Maestre
- Sound Check! The Museum We Make, The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience
- Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision, Asian Art Museum and the Newark Museum of Art, curated by Mark Dean Johnson and N. Trisha Lagaso
Selected Publications:
- Theodore S. Gonzalves, editor, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American History, Art, and Culture in 101 Objects (Smithsonian Books, 2023).
- Theodore S. Gonzalves, “Forgetting Empire, Remembering Resistance,” in 1898: Visual Culture and U.S. Imperialism in the Caribbean and the Pacific, edited by Taína Caragol and Kate Clarke Lemay (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2023), pp. 120-123.
- Theodore S. Gonzalves and Ryan Lintelman, “Anna May Wong, Chinese American Film Star, Dealt With Racism and Stereotypes,” Teen Vogue, May 24, 2023.
- Theodore S. Gonzalves, “Repertoires on Other Stages,” in Filipinx American Studies: Reckoning, Reclamation, Transformation, edited by Rick Bonus and Antonio Tiongson, Jr. (New York: Fordham University Press, 2022), pp. 308-319.
- Theodore S. Gonzalves, “Villa’s Fake Book,” in Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision, edited by Mark Johnson, Trisha Lagaso Goldberg, and Sherwin Rio (San Francisco and Berkeley: Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Art Institute, and University of California Press, 2021), pp. 77-85.
- Theodore S. Gonzalves and Gayle Wald, “Island Girl in a Rock-and-Roll World: An Interview with June Millington,” Journal of Popular Music Studies 31.1 (March 2019): 15-28.
Education:
- Ph.D., comparative culture, University of California at Irvine
- M.A., political science, San Francisco State University
- B.S., political science, Santa Clara University