researches history, writes about memory, and thinks about diaspora.

Currently, Reese works as a Program Associate for the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. She previously interned in the district office of Saipan and the capitol office of former Delegate Kilili Sablan representing the Northern Mariana Islands in the U.S. House of Representatives.

ACADEMIC BIOGRAPHY

Reese Carolina Cuison Villazor is an incoming Ph.D. student in U.S. History at the University of Chicago in Fall 2026. Reese’s current project examines the makings of the Filipino American diaspora in early 20th-century Chicago and the Midwest. Her thematic interests include interracial intimacies in the Midwest, the American colonial period in the Philippines, and U.S. (and Japanese) imperialism in the Pacific.

Reese has a B.A. in History and Race, Diaspora & Indigeneity from the University of Chicago. She holds a minor in English & Creative Writing and an academic certificate in Chicago Studies. In college, Reese was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.

Reese has presented her work at the Filipino American National Historical Society biannual and the Association for Asian American Studies annual conferences.

CREATIVE BIOGRAPHY

Reese predominantly writes creative nonfiction, although poetry will always be her first love. Her current creative writing project is a three-part collection of essays on mediating personal and political loss. Her work has appeared in Memoryhouse Magazine, Blacklight Magazine, and Teen Ink Magazine. 

Her curation of the FAHM October exhibition appeared at the Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago’s museum from October to December 2026.

Photo Credit: Asa Muhammad