Vue

Rican Vue

Associate Professor of Higher Education and Policy, University of California-Riverside
Chapter Member: Los Angeles Unified SSN
Areas of Expertise:

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About Rican

Vue engages in research that is comparative, intersectional, and interdisciplinary to radically transform how we (re)imagine education for equity and justice. Her research focuses on three interrelated areas: (1) racism, violence, and displacement in education; (2) subjugated epistemologies and ways of knowing; and (3) critical policy analysis. Through these areas of study and scholarship, she examines the social and cultural processes that institutionally displace HMoob people and BIPOC students and communities, and amplifies the knowledge of people minoritized at the intersections of racism, classism, and patriarchy by highlighting their practices of imagination.

Contributions

Why Higher Education Leaders Must Interpret Anti-DEI Laws Carefully

    Uma Mazyck Jayakumar ,

Publications

"Countering Racist Gaslighting in Education Policy and Politics: A Critical Race Discourse Analysis" (with Katrya Txay Ly). The Journal of Higher Education 96, no. 7 (2025): 1436-1462.

Investigates how racist gaslighting operates within education policy and political discourse, particularly in ways that distort, deny, or minimize experiences of racial harm. Demonstrates that these discursive practices can undermine efforts toward equity by shifting attention away from structural racism and invalidating the lived realities of marginalized communities.

""Justice, Like Beauty, is in the Eye of the Beholder"*: A Critical Historical Reimagining of Justice Possibilities in an Anti-DEI Higher Education Landscape" (with Uma Mazyck Jayakumar). The Journal of Higher Education 96, no. 7 (2025): 1300-1326.

Reconsiders how concepts of justice in higher education are shaped within an increasingly anti-DEI political and legal environment. Suggests that historical understandings of justice can provide alternative pathways for advancing equity, even as institutions face growing restrictions on diversity and inclusion efforts.

"Feeling the Threat of Race in Education: Exploring the Cultural Politics of Emotions in CRT-Ban Political Discourses" (with Katrya Txay Ly, Tori Porter, and Ariana Aparicio Aguilar). Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 46, no. 2 (2024): 222-248.

Examines how emotions are used in public debates over bans on Critical Race Theory in education and how these narratives shape perceptions of race and schooling. Reveals that feelings such as fear and threat play a central role in supporting restrictions on discussions of race.

"Alling Our Souls Home: A HMong Epistemology for Creating New Narratives" (with Kaozong Mouavangsou). Asian American Journal of Psychology 12, no. 4 (2021): 265–275.

Considers how HMong ways of knowing can reshape dominant narratives and expand understandings of identity, history, and community. Illustrates that centering HMong perspectives creates space for more authentic storytelling, cultural affirmation, and new possibilities for knowledge and belonging.

"Ethnic Studies as Interest Divergence? Countering Racial Neoliberal Politics and Envisioning a Beloved Community with Racial Literacy" Race Ethnicity and Education 26, no. 1 (2021): 54–72.

Analyzes how ethnic studies is shaped by competing political interests and debates over race in education. Argues that strengthening racial literacy through ethnic studies can challenge racial inequities and foster more inclusive, informed, and connected communities.

"Visibility, Voice, and Place: Hmong American College Student-Initiated Organizing as Creative Praxis" Journal of College Student Development 62, no. 3 (2021): 276-292.

Explores how Hmong American college students organize to increase their visibility, amplify their voices, and strengthen their sense of belonging on campus. Highlights that student-led organizing serves as a powerful means of advancing community, representation, and institutional change while creating new opportunities for leadership and advocacy.