Staff Bios
Beginning in fall 2010, Dr. Kirsten Jensen, Resident Director, has extensive experience in Japanese language pedagogy, administration, ESL, and intercultural training, with over 30 years of teaching and training experience in Japan, Australia, and the U.S. Dr. Jensen received her doctorate in Higher Education focusing on International Education from Old Dominion University in May 2007. Dr. Jensen also earned a B.A. with Honors with a double major in German and Japanese from the University of Melbourne and an M.A. in German and a Diploma in Education in foreign language education, from the University of Queensland. Most recently, Dr. Jensen served in the role of Associate Director at the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute in Blacksburg, VA.
Shannon Quinn, Manager of Student Services, grew up in Seattle and received her B.A. in International Studies and her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration at the University of Washington. In 2005 Shannon received a Blakemore Freeman Fellowship to study at the Stanford University-administered Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama. Her professional experience in international education includes teaching English in rural Shikoku through the JET Program, advising university students in the U.S. and Japan, and leading JET Program advising at Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Hiroko Watanabe, Program Coordinator, has a B.A. in International Studies with a minor in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Hiroko provides administrative support and serves as the liaison to Sophia University. As a native of Harujuku in Tokyo, Hiroko provides important support and knowledge of Tokyo which deeply benefits the student experience on the program.
Dr. David Slater, Faculty Advisor to the CIEE program, is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Sophia University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Dr. Slater’s professional interests include issues surrounding the semiotics of city space, class, and urban culture. He currently teaches the following courses at Sophia University: Anthropology of Japan, Anthropological Research 1, and Anthropology Practicum. Dr. Slater participates in the CIEE orientation and serves as a guest lecturer throughout each term on the program.