Connect
J. Megan Greene
Director, Associate Professor of History
Assoc. Prof. (Ph.D. Washington University in St. Louis, 1997; M.A. University of Chicago, 1988; B.A. Cornell University, 1984). Professor Greene's field of study is the history of the Republic of China under the KMT both in China and on Taiwan. Specific research interests include nation and state-building projects in the areas of science and the economy, academia, and ideology. She teaches courses on modern China and East Asia.
She is currently working on a book on contemporary narratives of Taiwan's history. She is the author of The Origins of the Developmental State in Taiwan: Science Policy and the Quest for Modernization (Harvard, 2008), a study of industrial science policy under the KMT, and co-editor with Robert Ash of Taiwan in the 21st Century: Aspects and Limitations of a Development Model (Routledge, 2007). She also collaborated with William Bowman and Frank Chiteji on Imperialism in the Modern World: Sources and Interpretations (Prentice Hall, 2006).
She can be reached at 785-864-3887 or mgreene@ku.edu
Ayako Mizumura
Assistant Director
Ayako Mizumura earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Kansas. She also has a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Oregon. She was born in Saitama, Japan and worked at international travel agencies in Tokyo for several years before moving to the United States. As a tour coordinator, she traveled to many Asian countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam as well as to Russia and several East European countries. Along with this travel experience, the study of sociology helped broaden her viewpoints. As a scholar, she has developed a methodological orientation to cross-cultural and comparative perspectives. Her research interests are interracial marriage, sociology of Japan, Asian military wives, and globalization in East Asia. She has taught numerous courses across the disciplines at KU, including Social Problems and American Values, Gender and Globalization in East Asia, East Asian Society in Global Context, Eastern Civilizations, and Japanese language.
At the Center for East Asian Studies she manages CEAS’s new graduate (Master’s Degree) program in Contemporary East Asian Studies, which is expected to earn approval in the 2013-2014 academic year. She is enthusiastic about developing and managing this fascinating program and looks forward to meeting new graduate students and welcoming them to the program. At KU, she continues offering courses on East Asia.
She can be reached at mizu@ku.edu
Randi Hacker
Outreach Director
Randi Hacker has been a professional writer for most of her adult life specializing in educational material for children. After spending many years in New York City as an editor at several publishing companies including Children's Television Workshop, she created and published her own magazine -- P3, an environmental magazine for children. Her work has appeared in Punch, The New York Times Book Review, The National Lampoon and Rolling Stone, among other publications. Her young adult novel, Life as I Knew It, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2006 and named one of the Books for the Teen Age 2007 by the New York Public Library. Her book How to Live Cheap, Green and Happy (Stackpole Press) continues to enjoy a cult following.
Randi also spent many years teaching in public schools in northern Vermont and developed several successful community outreach programs in her capacity as librarian at Montgomery Elementary School. She holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan and an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language from St. Michael's College in Vermont.
She can be contacted at rhacker@ku.edu or at 785-864-3832.
Susan Henderson
Susan Henderson joined the CEAS staff in August 2012. She is a Lawrence native and holds a BS in Journalism from the University of Kansas. Prior to joining CEAS, Susan spent eleven years with the Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau as Marketing Manager and Director and prior to that worked in consumer products marketing for a local manufacturing company. She has experience working with a variety of community organizations and looks forward to continuing those relationships, and building new ones, in her role at CEAS.
Jun Fu
Accountant/FLAS Coordinator
Jun Fu joined the CEAS staff in January 2004. She is from Wuhan, China and has lived in Norway and Germany. She received an associate's degree from Neosho County Community College after coming to Lawrence from California. Before joining CEAS, she worked at the Commercial & Industry Bank of China, the Enlin Corporation, and Microtech Computers, Inc.
In addition to her duties at CEAS, Jun is a member of the Confucius Institute Executive Committee and a founding member of the Board of the Lawrence Chinese School. She likes to cook Chinese food (she is an excellent cook) and travel. She is a font of knowledge about Chinese dietary principles and other useful subjects.
She can be reached at 785-864-3857 or junfu@ku.edu.
Associate Program Staff
Sheree Willis
Executive Director, KU Confucius Institute
Sheree Willis was named the new director of the Confucius Institute during the summer of 2008.
Before joining CEAS, she worked on China projects for the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) and for the Office of Study Abroad. Sheree has also worked as a consultant and freelance Chinese-English interpreter and translator for over ten years. She was a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State from 1984 to 1992, serving primarily in Asia. She has M.A. and B.A. degrees from KU in East Asian Languages and Cultures and has studied in Zhengzhou and Taipei.
She can be reached at 913-897-8612 or sawillis@ku.edu.
Nancy Hope
Associate Director, Kansas Consortium for Teaching about Asia (KCTA), Associate Director for Special Projects, Confucius Institute
Nancy Hope has MA degrees in education, fine arts and Asian art history. She has lived in Japan for nearly nine years, first as an officer in the United States Navy and then in Kyoto as a designer and dyer of kimono for a Japanese firm. Prior to this, she was involved in educational and community outreach at the Children's Museum in Boston.Her email is nfhope@ku.edu and her telephone number is 785-864-3918.
Ed Canda, Professor of Social Welfare, University of Kansas
Japan Outreach Coordinator
Erika Norikami
Erika is from Osaka prefecture, Japan's third largest city and known as the country's kitchen. She graduated with a degree in English language from Kansai Gaidai University in 2009. During her college career, she studied abroad at the University of Colorado at Boulder for 10 months as an exchange student. Outside of the classroom, she served as a resident assistant at an international students' dormitory helping them with their daily lives and their Japanese studies. Since graduating from university, Erika spent time working as a global training and operations client coordinator in the English education industry then took a six-month course to become an English instructor for children. Through a grant provided by the Japan Outreach Initiative, Erika will spend two years as the CEAS Japan Outreach Coordinator promoting Japanese language and culture and conducting Japan-related activities at schools and community organizations.Student Assistant
Pam Wang
top