Hello! My name is Mark Hsiang-Yu Feng, and I am a first-generation, fifth-year Ph.D. Candidate in Ethnomusicology at the Department of Music. I was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, and my adolescent memory and experience of being a heavy metal musician-activist directly influenced my research interests in the globalization of popular music and racial politics. My research investigates the racial implications of popular music and musical performance in East Asia and its interrelationships with US racial politics. In particular, my dissertation research project interrogates how whiteness and anti-blackness have been transformed, adopted, internalized, and intertwined with Han Taiwanese ethnic hegemony through Taiwanese heavy metal music. I am currently conducting virtual and on-site ethnographic fieldwork on the Taiwanese metal scene. My academic career goal as a music scholar and educator is to support racial and ethnic minorities and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in and outside of higher education. 

Prior to pursuing my Ph.D. at UC Davis, I worked as a private guitar instructor and taught performance techniques and music theory in a university student club. At UC Davis, I have been working as a Teaching Assistant for six different courses in the Department of Music, American Studies, and African American Studies, and as an Associate Instructor of American Studies. I also worked as a Research Mentor at the Undergraduate Research Center for three years. I was nominated by my student for the 2021-22 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. This is my second year working as a Teaching Assistant Consultant at the Center for Educational Effectiveness. As a TAC fellow, I hope to learn more about educational equality and support graduate students in their teaching journey at UC Davis.

When I’m not doing my research and teaching, I like to travel, play basketball, or do my gym workout.