Kariann Yokota, Department Chair and Associate Professor of History, was awarded a sabbatical leave for Fall 2018 to work on her second book entitled Pacific Overtures: Early American Encounters in the Transpacific World, 1776-1898. This study traces the growth of the U.S. global dominance to its increasing encroachment into Asia and the transpacific world. While on leave, she will also continue her work organizing and developing a transnational migration and immigration project that partners scholars at the University of Colorado with international scholars.