Sophia Han, an associate professor at the USF College of Education, has received the 2024 Philip
                  C. Chinn Multicultural Book Award from the  (NAME) for her book entitled "Supporting Korean American Children in Early Childhood
                  Education: Perspectives from Mother-Educators" (2023) published by . Han was honored at the Awards Banquet during the  in Anaheim, CA, on November 16.
"This is my first book, so I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this prestigious
                  award," said Han. "Within the realm of multicultural education in the United States,
                  Asian American young children have been historically under-appreciated and under-represented.
                  Hence, receiving this book award indicates that the field of multicultural education
                  is recognizing its unique contribution."
Founded in 1990, NAME is a leading organization with a mission to advance and advocate
                  for social justice and educational equity through multicultural education. The Phillip
                  C. Chinn Multicultural Book Award is given to books that foster awareness, acceptance,
                  and affirmation of diversity in society and contribute to the development of the multicultural
                  education field. Han's book was highly applauded for its innovative, culturally responsive,
                  and sustaining scholarly approach to shed light on young Korean American children
                  and their families to disrupt and dispel the pervasive stereotypes of Asian Americans.

Sophia Han with her award at the 2024 NAME Annual International Conference.
"I hope this book not only raises awareness of Asian American children in general
                  but also sheds light on diversity within the group by highlighting Korean American
                  children and families," said Han. "I also hope this book will inspire educators, researchers,
                  and policymakers to positively impact U.S. teacher education policy and practice while
                  forming alliances to make early childhood education more responsive, inclusive, and
                  equitable for all other minoritized young children and families."
Han engages in advocacy-focused scholarship on how Asian American children and families
                  are experiencing and navigating social, racial, and cultural climates and how to implement
                  critical inquiry-oriented and socio-culturally responsive early childhood teacher
                  education in diverse cultural and global contexts. As a Korean American mother-educator,
                  Han explained that writing this book was an act of resistance against pervasive marginalization
                  and stereotypes facing Asian American children.
An aspect of this book that Han is especially proud of is the introduction of Suda.
                  This traditional Korean dialogic practice serves as a culturally responsive, sustaining,
                  and decolonizing research methodology. "It helped illuminate vivid experiences and
                  challenges and highlight diverse strengths and resilience," said Han.
In one of Han's current projects entitled "Resisting Asian American Racism: Empowering
                  Korean American Families through the F2F (Family-to-Family) Suda Program," she is
                  applying the Suda framework to support Korean American families by helping their young
                  children navigate the issues of race, racism, and racial identity development. This
                  project is funded by the , an organization with a mission to close educational opportunity gaps associated
                  with race, ethnicity, and family income.
