If you are going to spend a lot of time with someone, it’s a good idea to get to know them, right? So, I thought I should start off by introducing myself, what I do, and what some of my interests are. I hope this will make you feel more comfortable listening to our show, and also that it will help build trust in our little community. So, here’s my curriculum vitae and self-introduction!

I originally came from Dayton, Ohio, and played the cello in the music magnet program while a middle school student at Stivers School for the Arts, then attended high school at Phillips Andover Academy before going on to major in American History/American Civilization at Brown University, from where I graduated in 1994. I then spent two years in Korea on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, where I taught as a middle school teacher for two years, learned Korean, and developed a research interest in this country.

From 1996, I began working on my Ph.D. at UC Berkeley in the Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies and at present, am still finishing my dissertation, which centers around Korean ethnic nationalism. I have received two separate Fulbright grants – one as an ETA and one as a full grantee – and have been active in the academic community, having presented papers on Korean national identity at several academic conferences, including conferences at Yonsei and Harvard Universities, as well as given a presentation on my photo work as a Fulbright.

From 2003, I began working part-time at the Korean branch of UNESCO, where I am a consulting editor for the Korea Journal, an academic journal in Korean studies. At the same time, I also taught US History at Daewon Foreign Language High School for one-and-a-half years, then teaching advanced placement (AP) American History at the new boarding school in Yongin (외대부속외국어고등학교), before working somewhere far closer to home, presently teaching at Ehwa Girls’ Foreign Language High School, also in the subject of US History.

Also, I have taught “Introduction to American Culture” and “Current Events in the US” at 외대, in addition to continuing to teach a course called “Social Issues in Korea” in that school’s summer Korean Studies program.

I have also taught photography and video in Seoul alternative schools (스스로넷 and 하자센터), am an avid street photographer, which led to my present interest in street fashion, and held an exhibition as well as had many photographs published in various Korean magazines and newspapers.

I am also interested in how “UCC” and Web 2.0 content and technologies will change in the Korean market, when the large Korean portal sites and media companies finally realize that their top-down “UCC” model isn’t the path to follow. So I am trying to develop interesting “UCC” and other interactive web content in the Korean market, both for personal and commercial interests.