EDUCATION

·        Columbia University:

o       Ed.D. (1988)      Applied Linguistics,

Minor in Bilingual Education 

o       Ed.M. (1983)     Applied Linguistics

o       M.A. (1981)      Teaching English as a Second Language

·        University of Hong Kong: B.A. (1978)    Comparative Literature &

 Chinese Literature

WORK EXPERIENCE

Artist

·        2008-2009  Visiting Scholar, Tsinghua University, Academy of Art and Design

·        Selected for the Fukuoka Workshop: Japan-China-Korea Connection. Focused on Asian Art from 1890 to present (Japan, June 2008).

·        Recipient of Freeman Foundation grant for Japan Studies Program in Hawaii, summer 2005. Focused on the Nihonga movement since the Meiji period and researched Ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock and its influence on Impressionism.

·        Studied with Cheung Wei Jian (2002-2004) to combine techniques of Chinese painting with oil painting.

·        Studied with Lam Tian Xing (summer 2002 and 2005) of Hong Kong, a master painter graduated from Beijing Art University, and presently president of the Art Association of Hong Kong. His work was displayed as background artwork during a meeting of Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Jian Wah and former President Clinton.  Studied with Mr. Lam the technique of bomo to achieve the abstract penetrating effects of landscape painting.

·        Studied with Bao Siu Yao (1970-1975) at the Lai Jin Art Institute in Hong Kong. Mr. Bao was a master of the Lingnan school of painting and a renowned artist well-known in Japan.  He was a leading artist in Hong Kong for half a century until his death.

 ·        Associate Professor of English, Department of English, Division of Liberal Arts, Community College of Philadelphia

·        1992—2001

·        Assistant Professor of English, Department of English, Division of Liberal Arts, Community College of Philadelphia

RECENT ART AND ASIAN STUDIES LECTURE PRESENTATIONS

ART AND HUMANITY LECTURE PRESENTATIONS FROM 2003 TO NOW

 Philadelphia Biblical University, March 27, 2008

Talk: Globalization in Art: Aestheticism Impacts of Japanese and Chinese Art on Impressionism. This talk was a presidential event after the inauguration of Dr.  Todd Williams in February, 2008. The presentation featured multiculturalism in art between the East and West that began in the late nineteenth century and its effects on modern art even in areas such as aestheticism, religion and various social issues.

             “Impressionism Rooted in Chinese and Japanese Aesthetics.” Asian Studies Development

            Program National Conference, Chicago, March 2008

Tsinghua University, Beijing, April 2007

Considered the "MIT of China," Tsinghua University is the alma mater of current Chinese president Hu Jintao and ex-president Jiang Zemin. My solo art show was a fusion of art, Western poetry, my creative poetry, calligraphy and academics. My talk stemmed from my participating in the Japan Studies Seminar of the Japan Studies Association, funded by the Freeman Foundation.  My exhibit and talk were connected with the 96^th anniversary celebration of the university.

·        Talk: "Globalization of Art: Roots of Impressionism in Japanese Woodblock Ukiyo-e." 

·        Exhibit: "Thy Neighbors: Venice and Zhouzhuang."

 "International Borrowing: Aesthetic Values of Japanese Woodblocks on Impressionism." Free Library of Philadelphia (the first library founded in the United States by Benjaimin Franklin), April 16, 2007

 "Intercultural Crossover in Art between East and West: Investigating Impressionism and Japanese Art." Japan Studies Association Annual Conference, Hawaii, January 2006

 "Ukiyo-e and Impressionism: Hiroshige and Monet." Community College of Philadelphia, 2005

  “Humor, Literature, and Chinese Identity.” 32^nd Mid-Atlantic Region Association for  Asian Studies, Washington D.C., October 2003

“Humor Literature as a Lens to Chinese Identity.” 9^th National Conference of Asian Studies Development Program, Arizona, March 2003

“Chinese Humor in Lu Hsun's The Diary of Ah Q and Woodblock Prints of His Contemporaries.” 19^th Annual International Festival of Community College of Philadelphia, spring 2003

SOLO ART EXHIBITS

Tsinghua University, Beijing, April 2007

Considered the "MIT of China," Tsinghua University is the alma mater of current Chinese president Hu Jintao and former president Jiang Zemin. My project is a fusion of

art, Western poetry, my creative poetry, calligraphy and academics. A part of my talk stems from my participating in the Japan Studies Seminar of the Japan Studies Association, funded by the Freeman Foundation.  My exhibit and talk are connected with the 96^th anniversary celebration of the university.

·        Solo Exhibit: "Thy Neighbors: Venice and Zhouzhuang."

·        Talk: "Globalization of Art: Fusion of Impressionism and Ukiyo-e." 

Burrison Gallery of the University of Pennsylvania, September - October 2006

Solo exhibit: “Zhouzhuang and Venice: Fusing Chinese and Western Art, Poetry and Calligraphy.” This exhibit presents Western poetry and my creative poetry.

Friends Select School, Philadelphia

·        Solo Exhibit:  “An Arena of Western and Chinese Delights,” February 2006

·        Talk: "Humor as Seen in Chinese Cartoons and Literature," January 2006

Community College of Philadelphia Art Show, September – October 2005

·        Solo Exhibit: “A Window of Color and Life.”  

·        Talk: "Ukiyo-e and Impressionism: Hiroshige and Monet."  

Episcopal Academy, Merion PA, February 2005

Solo Exhibit: “Sunlight and Vibrancy in Midst of Winter.”  

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITS

·        Immaculata University Art Show, juried art exhibition, Pennsylvania, January 2006

·        Smithtown Township [New York] Arts Council: Juried Fine Arts exhibit, October-December 2005 (juror Claudia Altman-Siegel, director of Luhring Augustine)

·        Pen and Brush Gallery, New York City: Juried Art Exhibition, October-November 2005 (jurors Violet Baxter and Wendy Gittler)

·        Historic Yellow Springs, Pennsylvania

o       Yellow Springs Art Show, Juried Art Exhibition, 2005 and 2004

o       Holiday Art Show, 2004

·        Chinatown Community Art Show, Philadelphia, June 2004

·        Community College of Philadelphia Faculty Art Show, Philadelphia, 2000-2005

·        Art World, New York City, 2003

·        Frame Station Gallery, Berwyn, Pennsylvania, 2003 to present

PUBLICATION

 “Humor Literature as a Lens to Chinese Identity.” East-West Connections: Review of Asian Studies. A publication of the Asian Studies Development Program National Centers, Volume 2, Number 1, 2003

AWARDS AND HONORS

 Summer 2006: Recipient of the Freeman Foundation grant for Japan Studies Program in Hawaii. Have focused on the Nihonga movement since the Meiji period and researched Ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock and its influence on Impressionism.

2002 Student Club Advisor of the Year, Advisor of the Chinese Student Fellowship, CCP

1998: Recipient of Mini-grant, Department of Institutional Advancement, CCP

1996—1997 Grantee of the CCP Title VI Project to infuse China Japan Studies in Advanced Reading/Writing courses.

1986 Minority Grant Scholarship, Columbia University

1981—1985 Title VII Teacher Training Fellowship

1980—1981 Title VII Teacher Training Grant

1977—1978 Brown Scholarship, University of Hong Kong

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

 The Chinatown Academy (a Chinese school for American-born Chinese, with classes offered from kindergarten through 7^th Grade): Founder and Principal (1994 to present)

 The Hong Kong Academy (a Chinese school for American-born Chinese from kindergarten through 6^th Grade): Founder and Principal (1992 to 1995)

 The Independence Branch, Free Library of Philadelphia: Advisory Committee Member (2000-2003)

 The Chinese Poetry Association: Founder and President (1998—2003)

 CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

English 098/099 (Fundamentals of Reading and Writing), Fall 2006

The implementation of a Japan Studies Module: To use the Japanese novel Kokoro and to compare this work with a number of Andrew Wyeth's paintings in the atmosphere portrayed through the literary theme and the visual images of death, isolation and disorientation. From Westernization to globalization, we discuss Japan's Meiji transformation and its borrowing traditions and draw parallels of students' multicultural and global exposures after residing in the United States.

 English 098/099 (Fundamentals of Reading and Writing), Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 The implementation of a three-week module entitled "What can we learn from the Japanese history of intercultural borrowing?"  Students explored the phenomenon of international borrowing and Japan was a model adapted due to its long history of borrowing such as in the disciplines of linguistics, art, philosophy, religion, architecture, music, science, government, science from the East and West. Students made parallel comparisons with different aspects of the United States, such as the U.S. government structure with that of Meiji era Japan. In conjunction with the movie The Last Samurai, students explored the unique experience of cultural conflicts while living in a country with clashing values. The emphasis of the novel and film is to examine the new era of progress through cultural borrowing and intercultural borrowing for personal development.

 English 098/099 (Fundamentals of Reading and Writing), Fall 1997 and Spring 1998

The implementation of a Chinese Studies Module text entitled From Humanizing to Dehumanizing: Integrity Selected Chinese Philosophy and Literature. Students discussed the philosophy of Confucius and Zhuangzi and selective poetic works of Li Po, Tu Fu and So Tongpo and their respective influences from these philosophy schools. Students then identified elements of humanity and humanization in these studies in the first few centuries AD and contrasted with the dehumanizing components during the Cultural Revolution and it subsequent rebuilt in the 1980s.