At last, a photo of meeeee! I'm with Jen (on the left) and Nancy (on the right). Jen's a religion major who wrote a huge senior thesis in order to graduate with distinction. It was on women in Chinese healing, especially in the contemporary US, and how it's changed since pre-communist China. I was the first reader on it and her work was better than some MA theses I've read. Nancy is a bio major and Jen's roommate. She took my big Intro Asian class and seemed to really enjoy it. She was definitely one of my favorite students in the class.
Here are Jonathan and Jenny, two fellow Columbiaites who had the foresight to buy their robes. I should have done that, since I wasn't enjoying the generic black robe as much as I would have this snazzy set.
This was taken at the convocation ceremony. This is Joe, one of my favorite students of all time. He took Zen, Japanese Religion, Women in East Asian Religion and one more class with me that I forget (Buddhism?) and wrote a whole bunch of interesting and original papers for me. One of them was on Meitantei Conan, for all you manga fans. I also went to see him in a play by Christopher Marlowe that some English majors put on, and he was very dramatic in it. He's going to Japan on the JET program in August.
Garth, flanked by Brad and Maria. Brad got his phd a few years ago and just got a job at Marymount Manhattan college, and his wife, Maria, just got her ma in religion and lit. note the swanky wood-panelled room. it's steve the dept chair's office.
Left to right, this is Sean, who got a PhD in Daoism and was graduating, some other PhD graduate, Karen, THE departmental administrator; the woman who knows everything and pulls money for tas out of thin air, and Emily, another PhD grad, who's off to a job at San Francisco State U. Lucky her!
I took this just as Garth's hat was falling to the ground.
Chris and Garth, left to right. Garth actually does have a neck.
Religion department convocation
Elizabeth is one of the department administrators. She organized the whole convocation that follows.
