Longtime UCLA lecturer Dr. Jean-Paul (JP) Contreras deGuzman is the 2025-26 recipient of the C. Doris and Toshio Hoshide Distinguished Teaching Prize in Asian American Studies.
DeGuzman is being recognized for his high-impact teaching practices and student engagement work that has inspired students to pursue degrees in Asian American studies and in many ways transformed students’ lives.
His students spoke about his contagious passion and excitement in making Asian American studies and history come to life. A student mentioned how he made Asian American studies more approachable and created a solid foundation for learning.
His colleagues wrote how they greatly benefited from him sharing resources, teaching materials, and discussing best practices for new methods, reading material, approaching remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, and currently how to navigate higher education in the age of AI.
He received his Ph.D. in history and an M.A. in Asian American studies from UCLA.
A comparative and relational race historian, deGuzman has published widely on Asian American community formation and histories of racialization, power, and place in Los Angeles, focusing on the San Fernando Valley region. Writing on the (inter)discipline of Asian American studies, his work has explored its radical origins, historiography, pedagogy, and relationships with contingent academic labor.
His publications appear in Amerasia Journal, Journal of Asian American Studies, Journal of Urban History, California History, Southern California Quarterly, The History Teacher, and various anthologies in ethnic, urban, and religious studies.
An ordained Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priest, he has written for several Buddhist periodicals including Lion’s Roar and The Wheel of Dharma.
The late Chiyoko Doris Hoshide, Class of 1934, of Rockville, Md. established the teaching prize to annually recognize an outstanding professor in Asian American studies. She and her late husband Toshio were longtime supporters of Asian American studies at UCLA. The Hoshide Prize includes a $1,000 award.