LAI, Francisca Yuen-Ki

 

 

賴婉琪

LAI, Francisca Yuen-Ki (賴婉琪)

Position：Associate Professor
Joint Appointment：Institute of Anthropology
Contact Details：866-3-5742842
E-mail: laiyk@mx.nthu.edu.tw
Research interests：Cultural anthropology; gender and queer studies; migrant workers; social movements; companion animals
Personal webpage：https://nthu.academia.edu/FranciscaYKLai

 


Education

  • PhD, Cultural Anthropology, Purdue University, Indiana, USA
  • MPhil, Gender Studies (Anthropology), Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • BSSc, Sociology, Chinese University of Hong Kong


Previous academic positions

  • Lecturer, College of International Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, 2015-2019
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014-2015
  • Part-time Lecturer, Dept. of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010-2012
  • Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Anthropology, Purdue University, USA, 2008-2010, 2012-2014


Specialization

Cultural anthropology; gender and queer studies; migrant workers; social movements; companion animals


Publications

(A) BOOK

Lai, Francisca Yuenki. 2020. Maid to Queer: Same-Sex Desires among Indonesian Domestic Workers in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.


(B) JOURNAL PAPERS

  1. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. 2025. "Desiring home: Return migration of Indonesian migrant domestic workers." Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. Online first version (28 August, 2025). DOI: 10.1177/01171968251369137
  2. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. 2023. "Self-Care Practices at Community Centers: Motherhood in Later Life in Urban Taiwan." Social Sciences 12 (5): 263. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12050263. 
  3. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. 2021. “Migrant Workers and LGBT Activism: A Comparative Study of Filipino and Indonesian Domestic Workers in Hong Kong.” Sexualities. Online first version (June 16, 2021). DOI: 10.1177/13634607211025903. 
  4. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. 2018. “Migrant and Lesbian Activism in Hong Kong: A Critical Review of Grassroots Politics.” Asian Anthropology 17(2):135-150. DOI: 10.1080/1683478X.2018.1461053. 
  5. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. 2018. “Sexuality at Imagined Home: Same-Sex Desires among Indonesian Domestic Workers in Hong Kong.” Sexualities 21(5–6):899-913. DOI: 10.1177/1363460716677286. 


(C) BOOK REVIEWS

  1. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. 2022. “Review of Ways of Home Making in Care for Later Life, by Bernike Pasveer , Oddgeir Synness, and Ingunn Moser, eds.” Anthropology & Aging 43(2):102-104. DOI: 10.5195/aa.2022.430. Web of Science: ESCI
  2. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. 2019. “Review of Follow the Maid: Domestic Worker Migration In and From Indonesia, by Olivia Killias.” Asian Anthropology 18(2): 135-137. DOI: 10.1080/1683478X.2018.1532060. Scopus  

 

(D) BOOK CHAPTERS

  1. Chan, K. K. & Lai, Y. K. (2019). Gender Inequity. In Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Danan Gu and Matthew E. Dupre, eds. Springer. 
  2. Choi, M. K., Kam, Y. L. & Lai, Y. K. (2018). Hong Kong’s LGBT Movement after the Millennium: Alliance, Conflict, and Limitation. In An Epoch of Social Movements: The Trajectory of Contentious Politics in Hong Kong. Edmund Cheng and Samson Yuen, eds. Pp. 115-140. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. (in Chinese) 
  3. Lai, Y. K. (2018). Celebrating the Independence Day of Indonesia. In What are We Celebrating: Multicultural Festivals in Hong Kong. Siumi Tam and Wai-man Tang, eds. Pp. 116-125. Hong Kong: Wheatear Publishing. (in Chinese) 
  4. Lai, Y. K. (2017). Negotiating Gender Ambiguity: Migrant Workers and their Hong Kong Employers. In My City My Sex: The Everyday Gender/Sexuality of Hong Kong. Kam, Cho & Lai eds. Pp. 97-101. Hong Kong: Roundtable. (in Chinese)
  5. Lai, Y. K. (2015). “Tomboi (Indonesia)”. In Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality. Patricia Whelehan and Anne Bolin, eds. Malden, Oxford: John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.
  6. Lai, Y. K. (2007). “Lesbian Masculinities: Identity and Body Construction among Tomboys in Hong Kong”. In Women’s Sexualities and Masculinities in a Globalizing Asia. Saskia E. Wieringa, Evelyn Blackwood, and Abha Bhaiya, eds. Pp. 159-179. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  7. Lai, Y. K. (2006). Tomboy Masculinities: Identity and Body Construction. In Sexual Politics. Yau Ching, ed. Pp. 216-225. Hong Kong: Cosmos Books. (in Chinese)


(E) EDITED BOOK

Kam, Y, L., Cho, M. K. & Lai, Y. K. eds. 2017. My City My Sex: The Everyday Gender/Sexuality of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Roundtable. (in Chinese) 


(F) PRESENTATIONS

  1. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. “Gender-age-migration” nexus: Midlife experiences of Hong Kong single women in the UK. June 1-4, 2025. AAS-in-Asia Conferences: Reframing Global Asias. Nepal: Kathmandu. 
  2. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. The Geopolitics of Animal Intimacies: The Migration Wave in Post-2019 Hong Kong. April 2, 2025. Queer Sinophone Studies and the Question of Geopolitics Workshop. Taiwan: Academic Sinica. 
  3. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. Queering the Future Homes: Intersections of Animal Companionship and Human Migration. November 8-9, 2024. East Asian Anthropological Association Annual Meeting. Gyeongju, Korea: The K Hotel.
  4. Lai, Francisca Yuenki. Queering Return Migration: Questions of Home among Asian Migrant Domestic Workers. October 6-8, 2023. East Asian Anthropological Association Annual Meeting. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
  5. “Self-Care as a Mothering Practice in Later Life: A Case Study in Urban Taiwan.” October 15-16, 2022. East Asian Anthropological Association Annual Meeting. Taipei: National Cheng Chi University.
  6. “Transnational LGBT Activism: Migrants’ Pride in Hong Kong.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting. Vancouver, Canada (2019). 


Classes taught

  • Gender and Sexuality across Cultures (性別、性與人類學)
  • Classic Works of Sociology (社會學經典名著)
  • Social and Cultural Analysis: Cross-cultural Comparison (社會文化分析: 跨文化比較)
  • Anthropology and the Intimate: Studies in Emotion and Action (人類學與親密：情感和行為) 
  • Gender Discourses (性別論述)