Leah Zani, Ph.D. (she, ze, they) is a public anthropologist, author, and poet. Zani earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, Irvine, where she studied the effects of air warfare in Laos. She trained as a researcher with the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the Nobel prize-winning Mines Advisory Group. She has presented her research in Laos to the United States Congress. Recently, she held the Human Rights Seat of the American Anthropological Association, where she advised leadership on global issues of academic freedom. Zani currently serves as a Scholar Rescue Fund Ambassador, assisting displaced scholars as they seek asylum in the United States. She has written for Cultural Anthropology, Kenyon Review, Consequence, and SAPIENS, among others. She is the author of Strike Patterns, winner of the 2023 IPPY Gold Prize for Creative Nonfiction.
Climate-related issues, Disability, Ethnic discrimination or persecution, Ex-combatant reintegration, Healthcare access/health systems capacity, Journalist persecution, LGBTQ, Mental illness, Political persecution, Religious discrimination or persecution, Government/state actor persecution, Risk of retaliation, Safe internal relocation, Specialized medical services, Sufficiency of protection, Tribal discrimination or persecution, War and postwar issues such as battlefield reclamation, military waste, intergenerational trauma, etc.
My work in Laos included research into the Vietnam War diaspora. More than a quarter of Laos' population fled during the conflict, plus massive internal migration due to the effects of air warfare. This has led to long term refugee issues that continue to play out in Laos and the United States. Beginning under Trump, large numbers of Hmong and Lao war refugees are being deported back to Laos, where they will certainly be targeted as enemies of the communist state. Many were supporters of America's Secret War who sought refuge in the United States, their supposed ally, and have now lived here for forty years. In 2022, Biden revoked some parts of a Trump ban that prohibited travel and immigration visas to people in Laos. Other parts of the ban remain in effect. These bans and deportations ignore the very real history of America's Secret War in Laos and its ongoing impact. While serving as the Human Rights Seat for the American Anthropological Association (AAA) from 2019-2022, I facilitated a new partnership between the AAA and Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF), a leading global assistance program for scholars fleeing their countries of origin. I lobbied the AAA to provide free memberships to SRF Fellows, among other assistance. At the AAA, I organized events about academic freedom and the experiences of scholar refugees. I currently volunteer as an SRF Ambassador, where I assist SRF Fellows as they resettle in the US by providing professional mentoring, language training, and help with life tasks such as getting a driver's license. I have never written a formal country of origin expert report or given formal testimony, but I have consulted informally in support of one SRF applicant's case. My experience with exiled scholars has given me insight into the challenges of refugees and asylum seekers.
Strike Patterns: Notes on Postwar Laos (Redwood Press, 2022)
Bomb Children: Life in the Former Battlefields of Laos (Duke University Press, 2019)