About
What is your advising philosophy? I believe that an academic advisor supports and engages students in their own education. This work begins by helping students to identify interests, to locate resources, to consider new possibilities, and to make thoughtful choices. It is a process devised to ensure that the successful completion of a degree coincides, or at least intersects, with the path of self-discovery.
What was your path to Newnan? Prior to working at Newnan, I was teaching anthropology and Chinese studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. My path has included conducting research with retired revolutionaries in China, cataloguing a private textile collection for donation to the Peabody Essex Museum, running a native plant nursery at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, training at a Zen Buddhist Temple in Taiwan, and other oddities.
What do you enjoy about working in Newnan? Newnan has afforded me colleagues are who are diverse in interest and generous in spirit, and advisees who teach me new things on a daily basis. Wonderful!
Class you loved and why? I loved studying Chinese—in college with Feng Minghui, by living abroad in Taipei and Beijing, and through research in the People’s Republic of China. Why? Because leaning a foreign language opens up new ways of seeing, acting, and being in the world.
Interests and hobbies: Traveling abroad, cooking for loved ones, learning about textiles, biking through the countryside, communing with plants, studying the Japanese tea ceremony, being serious and silly with friends