• PhD Cultural Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• MA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• CHI101 First-year Chinese I
• CHI102 First-year Chinese II
• CHI201 Second-year Chinese I
• CHI202 Second-year Chinese II
• CHI306 Intermediate Conversation
• CHI310 Advanced Conversation
• CHI311 Intermediate Reading and Writing
• CHI312 Advanced Reading and Writing
• CHI313 Classical Poem and Text Appreciation
• CHI401 Cultural History of China
• CHI410 Chinese Literature and Film
• CHI415 Contemporary Issues in China
• Peace, Education, and NGOs
• Immigrants in the United States
• Ethnic Minorities in Yunnan China: Tradition, Identity, and Modernization
• Searching for Interpretations of Happiness
• Tibetan Refugees: The Struggle for Identity

• Intercultural competence through study abroad
• Culture, politics and social change
• Health care among the Yi in China
• Foreign Language Pedagogy

Selected Publications

• On the Importance of Host Country Culture: the case of American campus culture. In Chinese Language International Education: present situations and strategies. Edited by Mingbao Jiang. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press. 2013.
• The Significance of Matrilineal Elements in the Yi’s Social History. In Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 4 No. 1, January 2013.
• A Study of Moso Matrilineal System. Co-authored with Yan Ruxian. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press. 2012.
• Matrilineal System, the Visit, and Modernization among Minorities in China. In Diversity and Change: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Marriage and the Family. Edited by Mingan Qu and Chuan-Kang Shih. Intellectual Property Press: Beijing. 2011.
• Research on the Na and Academic Integrity. In Critique of Anthropology 28(3). Sage Publications. September 2008.
• A Mirror of Magic and Sciences: Health Care among the Yi. Kunming: Yunnan People’s Press. 2007.

Selected Presentations

• Red songs in Chinese Society. Presented at the Third International Symposium on Chinese Language and Discourse, at Birkbeck University of London, June 11–13, 2014.
• Teaching and Studying Abroad Complement Each Other: the case of Soka University of America. Presented at the Third Forum on Fostering the International Chinese Language Teachers at the Open University of China, Beijing, July 12–14, 2013.
• Border Crossing and Tibetan Identity. Presented at the 111th AAA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA November 14–18, 2012.
• Understanding Campus Culture, Teaching Chinese with Ease. at the Forum on Fostering the International Chinese Language Teachers at the Open University of China, Beijing, July 20–21, 2012.
• Classroom Teaching of the Particle “了” at The Chinese Language Teachers' Association of Southern California Spring 2012 Chinese Pedagogy Workshop at University of California, Irvine. May 5, 2012.
• Matrilineal Elements and Their Implications in the Yi Society, Key Note Speaker at International Conference on the Origin of Ancient Yi Culture. Xichang, China, August 3–5, 2010.
• Medical Culture and Famous Prefecture Building, at Chuxiong Culture Prefecture Building Forum. Chuxion, China. August 1–3, 2009.
• Pursuing a Better Life and Carrying on Cultural Tradition: Solutions of the Moso and the Zhaba, at the 16th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. Kunming, China. July 27–31, 2009.
• Chinese Peasants in the Market Economy: A Preliminary Research Project, at the Pacific Coast 43rd Annual Conference. SUA, Aliso Viejo. June 19–21, 2009.
• Modernization and Human Rights in 20th Century China, at the Conference “El Estado en las tres Culturas (The State in the Three Cultures)” University of Sevilla. April 16–17, 2008.
• Tourism and Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China, at the Symposium of China in Transition. SUA, Aliso Viejo. May 12th, 2007.

• 2019-2021, Director for the Pacific Basin Research Center
• 2017-2021, Professor of Chinese Language and Culture, Soka University of America
• 2012-2015, Director of Language and Culture Program, Soka University of America
• 2008-2017, Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Culture, Soka University of America
• 2004-2008, Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Culture, Soka University of America
• 1999-2004, Lecturer, Northwestern University
• 1998-1998, Instructor, Northeastern Illinois University

• 2010-2011, Professor of the Year. Soka University of America.
• 2008, PBRC Summer Research Stipend
• 2004-2005, Professor of the Year. Soka University of America.
• 2002-2003, Faculty/Administrator Honor Roll. Northwestern University.