Juliet Chang, recipient of the 2023 Wolff Fellowship, begins a year-long adventure to explore the Hmong diaspora in six countries and learn how those with Hmong heritage preserve their cultural practices, particularly those related to food and agriculture.

The College of Letters & Science’s Wolff Fellowship provides $45,000 to an L&S senior “to pursue their passions without limits,” as described by donors Paul Martin Wolff ’63 and Rhea S. Schwartz. The fellowship emphasizes both academic accomplishment and community service. Students use these funds to support a travel year of their own design, extending their education into a deeply personal and wide-ranging opportunity for observation, research, and growth.
From Sheboygan, Wis., Chang graduates in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in both Social Welfare and Education Studies. She is also completing the classes for a Certificate in Global Health and in Asian American Studies with the HMoob Emphasis.
Inspiration for her project is drawn from her own Hmong heritage. “I think of my grandmother, who never learned to speak English or read in any language but is one of the most nurturing people I have ever met. Without any formal education, she taught me more than anyone else.
“When displaced in time and space, all we had was family and the knowledge passed through the generations. My grandma did not have a concept of months or time but knew my father was born when they planted rice. Her love, food, and connection to tradition have nourished generations of our family. I want to nourish that part of our culture for the entire Hmong community and study it.”
Chang plans to learn from Hmong communities during the planting or harvest seasons: in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada; the low-income outskirts of Paris, France; the arable farms of Cacao, French Guiana; the mountain villages of Khek Noi, Thailand, and Hanoi, Vietnam; and to the banana plantations of Innisfail, Australia. Comparing each diaspora bubble adds a dimension to understand how environment impacts culture.
“I will be developing a data set about an area of study that hasn’t been compiled in such a way before. When I return, I will take the data sample and create a creative project with it—a paj ntaub (Hmong story cloth) to share the knowledge I have learned from my travels. A paj ntaub will be the most authentic way of communicating the story of the Hmong diaspora that I plan to tell with the Wolff Fellowship.”
Chang has already had a taste of the discovery that comes with international research, through the UW Agriculture, Health, and Nutrition in Uganda Winter Break program. Describing the conversations she’s had that helped shape her Wolff itinerary: “We’ve talked about the importance of representing data and stories and the importance of narratives. We’ve talked about agriculture, because food plays such an important role in our physical health, our mental health and especially our spirituality. Food heals your soul. In social sciences, we can overlook that physical aspect, but then in STEM we can overlook the mental and emotional aspects. I'm trying to find the intersection of that and that's what I'm most excited about.
A big influence on Chang has been Professor Linn Posey-Maddox, who leads a First-Year Interest Group on “Race, Ethnicity, and Inequality in American Education.” Chang says, “It was the first time I had entered a classroom and been asked to use my own experiences to engage with course content. Professor Posey-Maddox validated my existence as a student, and more importantly, as a person. I was not limited to my ‘Hmong-ness’ or any other signaling identity that I held, I was a person in my own right.”
“Now, as I am on the verge of graduation, I realize Professor Linn Posey-Maddox taught me a foundation for understanding social inequity. And in doing so, empowered me to do something about it. After this travel year, I will return to higher education to get my Master’s in Public Health so I can better advocate for marginalized voices in health care through health education. I want to help others toward a path of healing, acceptance and being.”