Articles by Caroline He

Caroline He is a David C. and Thelma Driskell research fellow and Doctoral Candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds an MLS degree from the University of Michigan in Library and Archival Science, where she was an IMLS Research Fellow, and a BA from Vanderbilt University in Anthropology and Asian Studies. Her research focuses on Afro-Asian studies, comparative race and ethnic studies, digital studies, popular culture, fan studies, diaspora, and media studies. She has published and presented on topics in K-pop, Chinese boy-love literature, digital archiving, and Chinatown food studies. She is also trained within material cultures, digital and historical preservation, and oral history.

600 mg of Lithium, Quarantine, and “Third-Spaces”

Caroline He, "for Patrick," colored pencil and Prismacolor marker. The author's own amateur art piece from late fall of 2019 that was inspired by Salvador Dali, Jake Lockett, and various other artists and sources (including her Tarot deck). It already suggests some manic/depressive dysfunction going into the first doctoral year.
By Caroline He

With a mix of prose, critical reflection, and an accompanying series of drawings inside a daily planner, this intimate essay reimagines multiple conceptions of “space” in relation to different kinds of sickness and wellbeing. Meditating on COVID-19 quarantine spaces and bipolar disorder mood/mind-spaces allowed me to discover messied “third” spaces that explore margins, and complicate ideas of boundaries and binaries. Doing so allowed me to think through new possibilities of healing, restoration, and intimacy when we talk about mental health. I offer up my personal account of a young female Asian American graduate student navigating a ten-year struggle with clinical bipolar disorder, and the personal experiences of “madness,” relapse, and recovery during the winter and spring of 2021. I reflect on my daily routines inside my 800-square-foot apartment and my growing realization that prevailing ideas of “space” are incomplete and contradictory—but can be replete with futurities and learning possibilities. Fittingly, this creative piece does not endeavor to offer any neatly packaged analysis or solid conclusions. Instead, I present one account of grappling with mental illness under extraordinary circumstances and hope it can speak to individual and collective discussions on mental health, disability, and spatiality.