Contributors

Paula Curtis

Paula Curtis is currently a PhD student of History at the University of Michigan. She obtained a Master’s degree in East Asian Studies (premodern Japan specialization) at the Ohio State University (2011) and has a B.A. in Japanese Studies from Gettysburg College (2008) with a minor in East Asian Art History. Her present research is on Japanese artisans in the late medieval period. She is the creator, primary editor, and a writer of this blog.

contact: curtpa01@gmail.com
website: LinkedIn profile

Leah Zoller

Leah Zoller is currently the content manager of the art magazine The Art of Japan: Kanazawa and art-based tourism company Discover Kanazawa which focuses on the traditional and contemporary arts and crafts of Kanazawa, Ishikawa. After earning a BA in Cultural and Critical Studies (’07) from the University of Denver and an MA in Japan Studies from the University of Michigan (’09), she participated in the JET Programme as a Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) (2009-2011) in Ishikawa Prefecture (ishikawajet.wordpress.com).

Tony Nguyen

Tony Nguyen has a BA in Japanese and International Studies from Ohio State University. He recently completed his MLIS from the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University. Information about Tony can be found at　www.nguyen411.com and yes, he is looking for employment.

Danielle Reed

Danielle is currently an administrative assistant in the Economics Section at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C and has been since August 2008. She graduated from Gettysburg College in May 2008 with a double major in Japanese Studies and International Affairs.

contact: reedda02@gmail.com

Rachel Reed

Rachel Reed graduated from Gettysburg College in 2008 with a BA in Japanese Studies. She worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Political Section at the Embassy of Japan in Washington DC for two years (2008-2010). Currently, she is starting her third year working for the Japanese government as an Assistant Language Teacher with the JET program, in Gojome, a small, rural town in Akita Prefecture.

contact:  reedra01@gmail.com

Nyssa Shannon

Nyssa Shannon received a B.A. in Japanese Studies with a minor in Anthropology from Gettysburg College in 2008.  She is a former JET Programme participant and served as a Coordinator of International Relations in Nishiaizu-machi, Fukushima (2008-2010). She was an administrative assistant with School Year Abroad Japan, helping to set up cultural experiences for American high school students in Japan for the program’s pilot year.  Currently, Nyssa is relocating to the US and looking for employment in study abroad.

contact: shannon.nyssa@gmail.com
website: LinkedIn profile

Morgan Suity

Morgan Suity graduated in August 2010 from The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences.  She received her B.A. in English, with a Japanese Studies minor from Gettysburg College in 2008.  She is currently working in public libraries. Morgan is a primary content editor of this blog.

contact: morgan.suity@gmail.com
website: Online Portfolio

Laura Symborski

Laura Symborski graduated from Gettysburg College in winter 2009 with a B.A. in Japanese Studies and a minor in Political Science. She worked as the Japan Bowl Assistant for the Japan-America Society of Washington DC in spring 2010 and then entered the JET Programme that summer. She currently works as an ALT in southern Osaka, looking out at the mountains that border Nara.

contact: laura.symborski@gmail.com

Katie McDaniel

Katie McDaniel graduated from Gettysburg College with a BA in Japanese Studies and a minor in Political Science (2009).  After working a year with ESE elementary students, she was commissioned an officer in the Navy through Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS).

contact: tropicalsakura@MSN.com

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Guest Writers

Amanda Ciervo

Amanda Ciervo graduated from Gettysburg College in 2009 with a B.A. in Japanese Studies. She is currently an elementary school English teacher with the GEPIK program in Osan, South Korea.

contact: importedmegami@gmail.com

Jen Logan

Jen Logan is in her final year of Loyola University Maryland’s Speech-Language Pathology M.S. program. She received a B.A. in Japanese Studies and Psychology from Gettysburg College (2008). She is also currently serving as the Technical Director of the Baltimore Zen Center.

contact: logaje01@gmail.com

website: Baltimore Zen Center

Jen Cammarn

Jennifer graduated from Gettysburg College in 2010 with a BA in Japanese Studies. She is currently on the JET Programme as an ALT and is teaching in Hakuba, Nagano, site of the ski jump, downhill, and cross country ski competitions in the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

website: LinkedIn profile

Steve Hashimawari

Steve Hashimawari graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2004 with a B.A. in Global and International Studies.  He subsequently moved to Japan to teach English and also worked and traveled with the Japan-based international NGO and NPO, PEACE BOAT.  He is currently living in Southern California and working as an HR Consultant for Interplace Inc.

Reimer Struve

Reimer Struve is currently working for WIP Japan Corp as translation coordinator. WIP Japan Corp has 15 years of experience in the translation industry and one of the ten biggest translation companies in Japan. He made it into the translation business by sending applications to numerous Japanese translation agencies, finally getting accepted at WIP Japan as an intern (an unusual way to enter a Japanese company, where internships are still mostly unheard of).

Thien-Kieu Lam

Thien-Kieu Lam is an artist who is producingBound in Japan. Bound in Japan is a community book art project that aims to promote awareness about diversity in Japan and enhance intercultural understanding by engaging native and non-native residents in the creation and sharing of book art.

Chuck D.

Chuck D. is a contributor for the website Tokyograph.com. Founded in 2006, Tokyograph.com is a news and information website dedicated to Japanese pop culture.

Karen Curtin

Karen Curtin graduated from The Ohio State University in 2008 with an M.A. from the East Asian Languages and Literatures Department and a concentration in Japanese Language Pedagogy.  She attended the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies 2009-2010.  She is currently a Japanese Language Lecturer at The Ohio State University.

Dave K.

Dave K. lives in Baltimore, and has been published in the Gettysburg Mercury, Front Porch Journal, Welter, ULA Redux, and The Light Ekphrastic. He is also a regular contributor to Adfreak and the Gettysburg Times. Visit him on the web at www.beeohdee.blogspot.com.

Alissa Murray

Alissa Murray graduated from the University of Montana in 2008 with degrees in Japanese Language and English Creative Writing. She attended the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in 2009-2010, then returned to Montana where she spends her free time writing stories and stabbing people with swords at the University Fencing Club. She will be applying for graduate programs in International Relations in the upcoming year.

David C.

David C. is a salary-man living in Tokyo. He would write more but TPS reports don’t write themselves at 3AM.

Chris Kern

Chris Kern is currently a PhD student of Japanese literature at The Ohio State University. He obtained a Master’s degree in Japanese at the Ohio State University (2007) and has a B.A. in Computer Science from Grinnell College (2002). His present research is on Kamakura and Edo-period commentaries on the Tale of Genji.

Travis Seifman

Travis Seifman is completing an MA in Art History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and is hoping to go on to a PhD in History (of Japan) in Fall 2012. He has interned at several major museums, including the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and New York’s Japan Society. He has studied in Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kyoto, and looks forward to returning to Japan soon.

Ai-Lin Sui

Ai-Lin Sui is currently a MA student at the Center of Japanese Studies at the University of Michigan. She earned her BA in East Asian Studies with a focus on Japanese literature at Washington University in St. Louis (2009) with a minor in Biology. She was a Native English Teacher for the AEON*Amity Corporation in Kobe, Japan (2009-2011).

contact: my3foldutopia@gmail.com