Cheryl Yin

Education & Professional History

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, MA; PhD

Cheryl Yin is a linguistic anthropologist with expertise in Cambodia and the Khmer language. She is currently revising her book manuscript Language & Morality: Being Modern in Early 21st Century Cambodia (working title). Her research argues that contestations about Khmer language are ultimately contestations about how to (re)define Cambodian national identity after decades of turmoil and then accelerated economic growth. Cheryl earned her PhD in linguistic anthropology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She earned her BA from Pitzer College, double majoring in Anthropology and Linguistics.

Highlights & Recent Activity

My recent article “Cambodian Refugees and Michigan Sponsors: one story of non-kin relationships in refugee resettlement” was published in the journal of American Studies (AMSJ). Drawing on my mother’s experience in Michigan and later in California, I explore a moment in U.S. history in the 1980s when Southeast Asian refugees and American (often Christian) sponsors were matched together through refugee resettlement programs. In sharing these stories, I challenge prevailing stereotypes about the Midwest being a homogenous and parochial place. Instead, by pointing to this little known history of refugee resettlement and refugee sponsorship, I show that the Midwest has always been global. By bringing these stories to light, we can see how a small town in a flyover state like Michigan can actually have far reaching connections outside of its borders.

SOAN 110: Intro to Anthropology (Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024)

SOAN 125: Southeast Asian Migration and Diasporic Communities (Fall 2024)

SOAN 209: Language, Culture, and Power (Winter 2024, Winter 2025)

SOAN 312: How Rude: (Im)politeness and (Dis)respect in Language (Spring 2024, Spring 2025)

2023 Yin, Cheryl. “Cambodian Refugees and Michigan Sponsors: One Story of Non-Kin Relationships in Refugee Resettlement.” American Studies 62 (4). (Access through Project MUSE, Access through American Studies, Access through ProQuest)

2020 Yin, Cheryl. “How I Became a Chenchhow in America.” Chinese America: History & Perspectives – The Journal of the Chinese Historical Society of America. Special Focus on Chinese Cambodian Americans: 11-21

2020 Yin, Cheryl. ““Khmer Has No Grammar Rules”: Metapragmatic Commentaries and Linguistic Anxiety in Cambodia.” Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 13 (4): 93-111. (Access Here)