Asian Studies Faculty
Associate Professor
Department of Communications
yanrong.chang@utrgv.edu
ELABS 151
Phone: 956-665-7205
Dr. Yanrong (Yvonne) Chang (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, USA. She was the recipient of the 2003 Dissertation Award of the Language & Social Interaction Division of the National Communication Association (NCA). Her research interests are culture and communication, language & social interaction, cultural identities, persuasion, and ethnography of communication. Her works have appeared in Communication Teacher, Chinese Journal of Communication, China Media Research, the International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Journal of Intercultural Communication, Narrative Inquiry, Discourse & Society, and so on.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychological Science
ruby.charak@utrgv.edu
Edinburg
Phone: 956-665-3329
Associate Professor
Department of Writing and Language Studies
minhee.eom@utrgv.edu
ELABS 241
Phone: 956-665-3424
Dr. Minhee Eom (Ph.D, University of Iowa) is an associate professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Writing & Language Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in descriptive linguistics, language and culture, assessment, and research methodology. Her research interests include language assessment, ESL/EFL education, quantitative research designs and third language acquisition.
Assistant Professor in Ceramics
College of Art
raheleh.filsoofi@utrgv.edu
VABL 1.332B
Raheleh Filsoofi is a multi-disciplinary artist. Through her work she synthesizes issues regarding society and the human condition from a personal and social perspective. She utilizes ancient and contemporary art media – ceramics, poetry, ambient sound and video – to make fundamental statements about perception and memory through a holistic sensory experience. Clay, the ancient medium of her Persian ancestry, is a source of pride and an outlet for metaphorical expression and visual poetry. Her initial academic training came in Iran, where she also completed several public and private commissions. She moved to the United States in 2003 and worked with several renowned American Ceramic artists on public art projects in Coral Springs and Miami, and she completed a number of important commissions, including in 2010 a work for the Crocker Mansion in Mahwah, New Jersey. She is an active participant in juried art exhibitions both in Iran and the United States, including the recent International Fair Festival in Tehran (2015), a solo exhibition at The Cultural Council of Palm Beach in Lake Worth, Florida (2016), and ‘Artistically Speaking,’ a group exhibition of South Florida female artists at the Cornell Museum in Delray Beach, Florida (2016). She has received several awards including a Dave Bown project award in 2017. Raheleh Filsoofi lives and works between Tehran, Iran, Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A. and Edinburg, Texas, U.S.A. where she is Assistant Professor of Ceramics in the School of Art at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She holds an M.F.A. in Fine Arts from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida and her B.F.A. in Ceramics from Al-zahra University in Tehran, Iran.
Website: www.rahelehfilsoofi.com
Associate Professor
Department of History
robert.hoppens@utrgv.edu
ELABS 343C
Phone: 956-665-2323
Dr. Robert Hoppens (Ph.D, University of Washington) is Associate Professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he teaches Japanese, Chinese, East Asian and world history. He received a Ph.D. in Modern Japanese History from the University of Washington and his research interests focus on the history of Sino-Japanese relations, Cold War history and issues of national identity in East Asia. He is the author of The China Problem in Postwar Japan: Japanese National Identity and Sino-Japanese Relations, published by Bloomsbury Press as part of the series SOAS Studies in Modern and Contemporary Japan.
Professor
Department of Management
joo.jung@utrgv.edu
EBUSA 222E
Phone: 956-665-7137
Dr. Joo Jung is a professor of Management in the College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Prior to academic career, he had engineering and project management experiences with ABB, Westinghouse, and LG Electronics.
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
stephen.leach@utrgv.edu
ELABS 364
Phone: 956-665-8797
Dr. Stephen C. Leach (Ph.D, University of New Mexico) has taught at UTRGV (formerly UTPA) for more than a dozen years, specializing in courses in Asian Philosophy, Film Philosophy, and Religious Traditions and the Environment; he also teaches a Study Abroad course in Japan. He has published in the Acta Kierkegaardiana and the International Kierkeggard Commentary, among other venues. He has been the recipient of a Japan Studies Institute / Nippon Foundation/AASCU joint Fellowship at San Diego State University, a JSI Japan Fellowship in Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, and Beppu), an NEH Fellowship (Buddhist Traditions of Tibet and the Himalayas, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA), and several summer fellowships at the Kierkegaard Library, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN. His current research interests include Watsuji Tetsuro and Dōgen Zenji.
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
jake.lin@utrgv.edu
ELABN 222
Phone: 956-665-8097
Dr Jake Lin is assistant professor at the Department of Political Science. He is also an associate fellow at the Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University in Germany. He was JSPS postdoctoral fellow at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies after receiving his PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His current research explores labor migration and social policy reconfiguration in Global China and Vietnam, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant.
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
mison.kim@utrgv.edu
ELABN 213
Phone: (956) 665-3808
Dr. Mi-son Kim earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Iowa in 2015. Her research interests include political parties’ strategic behavior in response to public opinion, campaigns and elections, economic inequality and political participation with a regional focus on East Asia (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) and the U.S. at the national and local levels. Her recent publications examine immigration attitudes and political participation in the Rio Grande Valley. The courses she teaches include East Asian Democracies, Comparative Politics of Developing Nations, Campaigns and Elections, Political Socialization and Civic Engagement, and Welfare State and Inequality.
Lecturer
Department of Writing and Language Studies
mijin.ohvillarreal@utrgv.edu
Edinburg
Prof. Mijin Oh-Villarreal (MA, Duksung Women's University in Seoul, South Korea) is a lecturer of Korean language at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She is a multi-year national Korean storytelling champion. Her teaching of Korean extends to the training of Korean traditional musical and cultural performances. She has been actively involved in community outreach activities and service learning projects.
Associate Professor
School of Art & Design
ping.xu@utrgv.edu
Edinburg
Prof. Ping Xu is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at UTRGV School of Art & Design and an award-winning designer. Ping’s expertise includes identity design, poster design, collateral design, advertising design, interactive design, digital photography, and typography. His research interest is to create visual concepts through practical experiments and contemporary media and deliver ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers and target audiences.
Assistant Professor
Human and Performance
soo.yoo@utrgv.edu
EHPE1 108
Phone: 956-665-7341
Dr. Soojin Yoo (Ph.D. University of Nevada) is an assistant professor of health and human performance, obtained her PhD in sport pedagogy emphasized on physical activity and health promotion at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her research focuses on promotion of physical activity, physical fitness and health in the various populations including clinical settings (diabetes, obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, etc.), worksites, schools and community. Also, her work on physical activity intervention has emphasized; 1) the utility of technology; consumer based wearable monitors and applications for behavior and health outcome change programming; and 2) development of healthy and active environments (schools, worksites, parks and community settings).