About the CLDJ Coordinator

Midori Takagi has taken the position of Interim Coordinator for the Center for Law, Diversity and Justice.  She is a long time social justice advocate for the rights of people of Asian and African descent. As a tenured, Associate Professor of History at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Takagi has designed courses on American chattel slavery, female trafficking, multicultural film studies and contemporary issues in African American studies. She has also lectured internationally on these subjects.  

In addition to her responsibilities at Fairhaven College, Professor Takagi serves as the Coordinator for the Asian American Studies minor in the American Cultural Studies Department at Western Washington University. During her time at Western she has not only worked diligently to build the American Cultural Studies Department, but has also spearheaded many diversity efforts at the University for students, staff and faculty.

Takagi holds an M.Phil and Ph.D. in history from Columbia University, an M.A. from American University and a B.A. from Oberlin College.  She is the author of “Rearing Wolves to Our Own Destruction” Slavery in Richmond, Virginia, 1782-1865 (University Press of Virginia) and a contributor to a number of anthologies including Sexual Borderland: Constructing an American Sexual Past, edited by Kathleen Kennedy and Sharon Ullman (Ohio State University Press).  Her interests include documentary filmmaking and contemporary music.