Brown Voices
What it actually means to grow up South Asian American.
The Brown Voices Project is a hub of research, stories, and conversations on what it actually means to grow up South Asian American.
From the classroom to the community, Brown Voices explores the lived experiences of South Asian Americans.
ConversationsThe Podcast
Real conversations with inspiring people, including South Asian American students, parents, creatives, therapists, musicians, performers, and more.
Listen & read →
The bookBrown Voices
Brown Voices: South Asian American Experiences in Schools combines original research with deep examination of existing scholarly and popular works to offer a look at what it means to be Brown in American K-12 schools.
About the book →ResearchThe Findings
A closer look at the research itself — selected findings from Dr. Punita Rice’s dissertation research on South Asian American students’ K–12 experiences. What the data actually says about teacher cultural proficiency, the model minority myth, and how it shapes classroom support.
Explore the findings →
Brown Voices
South Asian American Experiences in Schools
Brown Voices: South Asian American Experiences in Schools is based on years of doctoral research into what South Asian American students experience, and what adults keep getting wrong.
Grounded in research
The Brown Voices Project was created by Dr. Punita Rice, and it grows out of her doctoral research at Johns Hopkins University: a national survey of South Asian American adults, in-depth interviews, and years of studying what South Asian American students actually experience in U.S. schools. The book, the findings, and the conversations all start there.
From the Podcast
October 8, 2026Log Kya Kahenge? Therapist Zohra Lasi on what Desi kids actually need
Zohra Lasi (aka “therapysherapy”) on people pleasing; Log Kya Kahenge; cycle breaking; what parents & teachers of Brown kids should know.
Read the conversation →
September 11, 2026Neema Sharma on Building a Film Career (that nobody saw coming)
Filmmaker and assistant director Neema Sharma (Extraction, The Gray Man, DGA Training Program) on what she’d tell aspiring Desi kids.
Read the conversation →
August 11, 2026Saloni Nahar on Community, Representation & What it Looks Like When School Gets it Right
Actor & filmmaker Saloni Nahar on growing up Brown, what her schools did right, Anxious Brown Girl, & what she’d tell young South Asian kids.
Read the conversation →From the Research
January 1, 2021Behind the Research: Designing the Methodology for “South Asian American Experiences in Schools”
A behind-the-scenes look at how my research on South Asian American students’ K–12 experiences was designed, including the literature gap, methodology, and survey development.
Read the article →
July 27, 2020New Research on South Asian American Students and Microaggressions in Schools
A peer-reviewed article in the Berkeley Review of Education explores South Asian American students’ retrospective experiences of microaggressions and macroaggressions in interactions with K–12 teachers.
Read the article →
March 1, 2020How the Model Minority Myth Became Embedded in Education Research
How the model minority myth became embedded in education research and why that history still matters for schools today.
Read the article →What people are saying
A must-read not only for South Asian American students and educators, but also for anyone who teaches or works in higher education today.
…has brought crucial attention to the complex realities of being a Brown student in American schools.
At a time when South Asian American young people are navigating a climate of heightened polarization, Brown Voices: South Asian American Experiences in Schools arrives at just the right moment. It provides a window into the trends, concerns, and needs that South Asian students face. And, most importantly, Rice’s book goes further to provide teachers, parents, counselors and caregivers with meaningful practices and ideas that can be used to strengthen multicultural and inclusive classrooms that nurture and support young people.
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