Theodore Gonzalves

Theodore S. Gonzalves is a scholar of comparative cultural studies whose work has received generous support as a Fulbright scholar and senior fellowships at the Smithsonian, UNC Chapel Hill, and the Library of Congress. Dr. Gonzalves’s publications include Stage Presence: Conversations with Filipino American Performing Artists (Meritage, 2007), The Day the Dancers Stayed: Performing in the Filipino/American Diaspora (Temple University Press, 2009), Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces (Meritage, 2011), Filipinos in Hawai‘i, co -authored with Roderick N. Labrador (Arcadia, 2011), and Gossip, Sex, and the End of the World: Collected Works of tongue in A mood, coedited with A. Samson Manalo (Arkipelago, 2021). In the field of performing arts, Theo served on the advisory board for Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu and Bindlestiff Studio, a San Francisco performing arts venue; cofounded the artist-run recording label, Jeepney Dash Records; played keyboards for the legendary Bobby Banduria; and toured extensively as the musical director for the theater troupe, tongue in A mood. Theo’s musical work has been featured at concerts such as the Asian American Jazz Festival and performances at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He has also written, produced, and performed several scores for independent film projects. Dr. Gonzalves is curator of Asian Pacific American History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. He served as the twenty-first president of the Association for Asian American Studies.