I lived in China and did ethnographic fieldwork among ethnic minority groups in Yunnan Province from 2001 to 2003. For my first project as a Fulbright student, I researched various forms of learning among Moso people and their neighbors in northwest Yunnan Province. Later, I volunteered with the Lijiang Culture and Gender Research Center and also collaborated with Chinese scholars on an opium alternative research project on the borders of Yunnan and Myanmar.

In 2005, I continued working with Moso people but shifted gears to look at filmmaking practices and mediation in the Moso tourist zones around Lugu Lake. The interactions between Moso and outside mediators are the subject of my doctoral dissertation, which was inspired by my earlier work helping a cable television channel produce a film about Moso in 2003. I developed a collaborative research project to take a closer look at how Moso people shape their own images and respond to their role in the cultural spotlight. In partnership with the Moso Folk Museum, we organized one of the first-ever village film festivals in China, the Moso Film Festival (January 2006), and trained villagers in media production methods.

After completing my dissertation, I plan to return to my original research on Moso learning by revisiting the four villages where I worked at the start of this decade. I will examine how expanded access to schooling has affected children's and young adults' life courses, looking at where they choose to live and work, and what ties they retain with their home communities. Many are choosing long-term employment in urban areas. How will this affect the subsistence lifestyle of the people who remain in villages? And are young people satisfied with the outcomes of their educations? These are questions which I hope to explore.

Related to my research on education in China, I helped found the Cool Mountain Education Fund in 2005 and continue to serve as a board member. Our fund assists students in Sichuan, China, and promotes educational innovation in their schools. Part of my work with this organization involves developing locally appropriate pedagogical strategies for use in this Nuosu (ethnic minority) community. I conducted a teacher training for the Yangjuan Primary School in March 2006 using these strategies.

I am currently a Fellow in the Platforms for Public Scholarship initiative at the University of Washington Simpson Center for Public Humanities. With this support, I am developing media-based outreach activities to share my research experiences with Americans interested in learning more about Na culture.

A detailed statement of my research interests is available here.