Department of Social Science
Curtis Takada Rooks
Assistant Professor of Social Science
& Asian American
Studies
CV | Education | Courses Taught | Publications | Service | Presentations | Honors
The unusual combination of football, business, and an Ivy League background came together to bring Assistant Professor Curtiss Takada Rooks to SJSU eight years ago. After finishing his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth, he worked as a Division I football coach, but left the job to pursue a degree in business. Once in academe, he ended up staying for a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology. He finds great satisfaction in his work, calling it "an honor" to teach in the Cal State system. "I've always enjoyed teaching at the CSU," he says. "Students are so smart and they don't know it. I love watching them blossom."
Professor Takada Rooks is a cultural anthropologist interested in Asian American ethnic community development, ethnic definitions of community health and wellness and race relations. His research focuses on organizing strategies in the development of cultural competency in community health interventions and its relation to Asian American ethnic community development. In addition to teaching, he does consulting work as a program evaluator for the Asian and Pacific Islander American Tobacco Control and Diabetes Management Education national networks. He is also a member of the program design and management team for the Imoyase Group, a Los Angeles-based multicultural research collaborative engageing in participatory evaluation and community-based research.
Dr. Rooks is the second son of a Japanese national mother and African American father, and has spoken widely on multicultural and multiracial identity, including a keynote address at the 10th Annual Hapa Issues Forum Conference. He has done research on multiracial Asian American issues and family practices of racially mixed Asian American families. He currently works with Asian and Pacific Islander community-based organizations throughout California, as well as nationally.
Download complete CV in
Education
Ph.D. Comparative Culture, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California, 1996
M.A. Public Policy, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, 1982
A.B. Economics & Asian Studies, Dartmouth College, 1979
Courses Taught:
SOCS 195. Theory & Practice in the Social Sciences
Most Recent Publications:
"Children Youth and Community Health Initiative: Final Evaluation Report," with Cheryl Grills. Includes ‘Culture as Wellness’ and ‘Significance of Place in Community Wellness.’ The California Wellness Foundation, Woodhills, California, August 2003.
"Preliminary Evaluation Report. Year 1: Moving Children." Health Children Project, U.S. Department of Education. Submitted to Coordinated School Health, Little Company of Mary, Carson, California, July 2003.
"Soifua Maloloina Diabetes Screening, Education and Intervention Program Evaluation Report’ co-author & P.I., submitted to the Little Company of Mary, Carson, CA. February 2003
Technical Report: ‘Participatory Evaluation & The Children Youth and Community Health Initiative (CYCHI)’ co-author, presented to The California Wellness Foundation. August 2002.
"Operational Cultural Competency in Multicultural Health Settings" and "Analysis of MCH Clusters: Pipeline to Health Careers, Language Access, Medical Interpretation, and Cultural Competency." The California Endowment Annual report, Multicultural Health Initiative, September 2002
"Multicultural Asian Families in Alaska: Not At The Margins, But At The Center." The Sum of Our Parts: Mixed Heritage Asian Americans, ed. Teresa K.Williams and Cynthia L. Nakashima. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001
"Cardiovascular Risk in the Filipino Community in Daly City/San Francisco, California," with Susan M. Lowe, Shobha Srinivasan, and Roselyn Calangian. Report for the National Institute of Helath, February 2001.
"Cardiovascular Health Among Asian American Pacific Islanders" with Betty Hong and Noushin Bayat. International Society for Equity in Health Inaugural Conference, Havana, Cuba, June 2000
Professional & Community Service
Editor, Social Science Department, Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Vol. 2, San Jose State University (2001)
National Research Advisory Consortium 2000 on Asian American and Pacific Islander Health and Mental Health member, 2000 - present.
California Japanese American Leadership Council member, Hapa Issues Forum representative, 2002 - present
The California Endowment Public Health Partnership Initiative Evaluation Advisory Subcommittee Member, January 2001 - present
Consultant and Reviewer, "The California Health Survey," UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the California Department of Health Services, and the Public Health institute, 2000.
Santa Clara County Immigrant Needs Summit Project conducted by Santa Clara county Office of Human Relations. Research Advisory Council member, 1999 - present
Consultant, W.K. Kellog Foundation community, Voices Initiative Evaluation review, Summer 2000
Board of Directors, WRAP/Western Region Asian Pacific Agency, Los Angeles County, 1998 - 2000
National Advisory Board Member, Hapa Issues, 1998 - 2000
Executive Planning Group for The National Strategic workshop on Asian American and Pacific Islander Cardiovascular Risk. Sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, department of Health and Human Services, 1998-99
Recent Talks & Presentations
"Formations of Japanese American Identity Before and After Internment," and "Not At The Margins: Multiracial Asian American Challenges to Race & Assimilation Theory," Association of Asian American Studies Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, May 2003.
"Youth Development in the Children Youth and Community Health Initiative: Partners in Building Wellness Villages Across California, "Bridging The Gap Between Research and Practice, Creation Common Ground Youth Development. University of Arizona, February 2003.
"Empowerment Evaluation: Youth and Adults Evaluate Community Transformation." The California Wellness Foundation, Children and Youth Community Health Initiative, San Francisco, California, September 2002.
"What Are We All About: Welcome to OUR house" HAPA issues Forum, Tenth Anniversary Conference. San Francisco State University, July 2002.
"Racial Privacy or Racial Ignorance (Prop 54)," San Francisco State University, July 2002.
"Multiculturalism and Pedagogy: Other Peoples Lives." William Jewett Tucker Foundation 50th Anniversary Celebration, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., April 2002
"A Look At Ourselves: The Diversity of Japanese America." National Japanese American Clergy Caucus of The United Methodist Church Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA. April 2002.
"Beyond the Check Box: What Are You anyway?’ Asian American Journalist Association, San Francisco, California, August 2001.
"Other Peoples’ Lives: Culturally Competent Evaluation: A Provocative Discussion, (plenary). Group Health Cooperative and the California Endowment Conference for "The Evaluation of Community-Based Health Efforts: Challenges and Opportunities, San Mateo, California, December 2000.
Honors & Awards
University of California Regents Fellow, 1996
National Science Foundation Dissertation Enhancement Grant Fellow, 1992-93
University of California President’s Dissertation Fellow, 1992-93