Although I arrived in Oxford four years ago as a visiting professor, I was subsequently hired in a tenure-track position to teach social theory and culture as an assistant professor. Now Mississippi is my home � in a sense one of many homes, including New York City and Seoul. I am interested in a range of topics: cultural globalization, cultural meanings attached to consumption, East Asian identities in transition, virtual communities, contrasting discourses on methodology, varying forms of civic engagement, everyday strategies, and diasporas. I approach these topics from a multidisciplinary perspective, drawing on sociology, history, anthropology, literary theory, and economics.