Dr. C. Aujean Lee
Education
University of California, Los Angeles
PhD, Urban Planning
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Master’s of Urban Planning
University of California, Los Angeles
BA, Psychology, Asian American Studies
Contact
Research Interests
Housing and community development, social equity, nonprofits, race and immigration, Asian Americans
Appointments
Core Affiliate Faculty, Women’s and Gender Studies
About
C. Aujean Lee is an assistant professor of Regional and City Planning. Her research examines the production of racialized spaces and disparities in housing, community institutions, and wealth. In particular, her research clarifies when and where socioeconomic outcomes related to the built environment reinforce or disrupt racial inequities, including during times of change and upheaval. Dr. Lee’s ongoing research also bridges planning education and practice through her work on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues related to institutional and organizational practices.
She has partnered with nonprofits in Los Angeles and the Oklahoma City region that serve immigrants and communities of color on community-led placemaking, resistance, and civic engagement. Dr. Lee has been recognized for her community-based approaches through the UCLA Don T. Nakanishi Award for Outstanding Engaged Scholarship and the University of Oklahoma Inclusive Excellence Faculty Grant.
Professional Affiliations
American Planning Association
Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning
Association for Asian American Studies
Urban Affairs Association
Awards
Scholarly and Creative Activity Award, University of Oklahoma College of Architecture
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Faculty Award, University of Oklahoma College of Architecture
Don T. Nakanishi Award for Outstanding Engaged Scholarship
Selected Publications
Lee, C. Aujean. (2022). Who Gets Hired at the Top?: The Academic Caste System Theory in the Planning Academy. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X221121611.
Haupert, Tyler, & C. Aujean Lee. (2022). Fintech’s Relationship with Subprime Lending in Immigrant Gateway Metropolitan Areas. Journal of Urban Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2022.2055477.
Lee, C. Aujean, & John C. Arroyo. (2022). A Typology of Local and State Government Responses to Racism: A Case of Anti-Asian Hate in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X221084592.
Lee, C. Aujean. (2021). “Evolving Activism in an Anti-Immigrant Administration: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Nonprofit Experiences after the 2016 Elections.” Amerasia Journal. doi: 10.1080/00447471.2021.1920292.
Lee, C. Aujean, Nina M. Flores, & Laureen D. Hom. (2021). “Learning from Asian Americans: Implications for Planning.” Journal of Planning Education and Research. doi: 10.1177/0739456X211006768.
Kashem, Shakil, Dwayne Baker, Silvia Gonzalez, and C. Aujean Lee. (2021). Exploring the Nexus between Social Vulnerability and the Built Environment during the Early Spread of COVID-19: A Case Study of Chicago. Sustainable Cities and Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103261.
Lee, C. Aujean, Benjamin Chrisinger, Andrew J. Greenlee, Ivis Garcia, & April Jackson. (2020). “Beyond Recruitment: Comparing Experiences of Climate and Diversity between International Students and Domestic Students of Color in U.S. Urban Planning Programs.” Journal of Planning Education and Research. doi: 10.1177/0739456X20902241
Lee, C. Aujean & Andrew J. Greenlee. (2020). “Impacts of Multi-Scale Racial Concentration on Neighborhood Foreclosure Risk in Immigrant Gateway Metropolitan Areas.” City & Community. doi: 10.1111/cico.12478
Lee, C. Aujean. (2019). “’Working towards a Better Future for Ourselves’: Neighborhood Choice of Middle-Class Latino and Asian Homeowners in Los Angeles.” Journal of Urban Affairs. doi: 10.1080/01944363.2019.1616318
Lee, C. Aujean. (2019). “Engaging Non-Citizens in an Age of Uncertainty: Lessons from Immigrant-Serving Nonprofits in Los Angeles County.” Journal of the American Planning Association, 85(3), 271-286. doi: 10.1080/01944363.2019.1616318.
Lee, C. Aujean. (2018). “Heterogeneity in Income: Effects of Racial Concentration on Foreclosures in Los Angeles.” Housing Policy Debate, 28(6), 940-962. doi: 10.1080/10511482.2018.1494026
Featured Contracts, Grants, and Sponsored Research
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NYU Furman Center Housing Policy Innovation in Small and Midsize Cities program (2022-2023), Community Land Trusts in Welcoming Cities: Building Inclusive Housing Models for Immigrants,” Co-Investigator with Shakil Kashem and Dwayne Baker.
Faculty Investment Program, University of Oklahoma (2020-2021), “Outsourcing Community Development and Advocacy?: A Case Study of Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma,” Co-Investigator with John C. Harris.
University of Oklahoma Office of University Community, Inclusive Excellence Faculty Grant (2019), “(Re)Mapping Norman Oral History and Indigenous Mapping,” Co-Investigator with Gabriela Rios.
Program for Research Enhancement, University of Oklahoma College of Architecture (2018-2019), “Latino and Asian American Homeowner Choice in Atlanta.”
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2013-2018).
Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. Social Justice Award, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs (2018), “Global Students, Local Pedagogy, and Diversity: Experiences of International Students in American Urban Planning Programs.”