East Asian Studies Center

Qiong Jiang

Qiong Jiang is the outreach coordinator of EASC. She holds an MA in Mass Communication from the University of Oregon, specializing in international communication. During her graduate studies, she acted as a media specialist for the Oregon Chinese K-16 Flagship Program. Before coming to the United States, she worked as a journalist in China for over five years, where she produced radio programs that focused on cultural exchange. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, salsa dancing, and listening to NPR.

Cathy Gao

Cathy Gao is a first-year Master’s student of Arts Administration. While studying at Indiana University Bloomington, she also works part time as an outreach assistant at EASC. Before beginning graduate studies, she worked as an IB Economics teacher for three years at a leading private school in Shanghai and then as a marketing assistant at the Shanghai Branch of a St. Louis-based architecture firm.

Richard Bohr

Faculty expert Richard Bohr is a history professor and the Director of Asian Studies at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Minnesota. He writes, presents, and consults on U.S.-China relations and intercultural communications. He appears regularly on Minnesota Public Radio and has done China-related documentary and commentary for PBS Television, including The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly. Since 1980, he has organized and led study tours of China for students, faculty, and business people and is now developing an interdisciplinary course on doing business with China.
Bohr holds a Ph.D. in Modern Chinese History from the University of California, Davis; an M.A. in East Asian Studies and M.Div. degrees from Harvard University; and a B.A. degree, summa cum laude, in East Asian History from the University of California, Davis.

John Frank

Tour Curriculum Consultant John Frank is a history teacher at Center Grove High School in the Indianapolis area. John has developed curriculum materials for EASC and traveled to China, Japan, and Korea on many occasions. His hobbies include hiking, reading about history, and travel.

Nancy Bader

After beginning my teaching career in California in 1991, I moved back to Minnesota in 1998 and currently teach AP and regular World History at Stillwater Area High School, Stillwater, MN. My three grown children and 1 1/2 grandchildren still live on the West Coast. I have traveled to Europe, but this trip to China will be my first experience in Asia.

Jerry Bizjak

I teach World History and Economics at Albert Lea High School in Minnesota which is 100 miles straight south Minneapolis St. Paul. This is my 15th year of teaching and coaching in southern Minnesota. My wife Rachelle and three young daughters are incredibly understanding about me pursuing my passion for travel. In my brief spare time, I like to downhill ski, golf, and exercise. I’m really looking forward to experiencing China.

Melanie Boulet

I learned to work on the back deck of my father’s shrimp boat in Louisiana. I studied development economics at Princeton and curriculum instruction at Harvard and was in the Peace Corps in Paraguay. I am married to an Austrian; we have 3 Cajun-Austrian children. I love teaching, gardening, traveling, reading, and working to restore Louisiana’s coast.

Loren Roumell

I am a high school social studies teacher and have taught a variety of history courses. I love traveling and bringing my experiences back into the classroom. I look forward to sharing the experiences in China as I have never been to that part of the world before.

Susan Smith

I’m a historian, genealogist, avid volleyball competitor, tennis player, roller blader, biker, tent camper and current events analyst. Visiting China has long been a personal goal. I also lived in Brazil for a year as a foreign exchange student and read several languages.