Hesung Chun Koh, Ph.D., the co-founder and Chair of East Rock Institute and the Director Emerita, Research, HRAF, Yale University has been the Director of an annual ERI summer Teachers' Conference on Korean History and Culture since 2005. Dr. Koh earned her Ph.D. in Sociology and Anthropology from Boston University and did post-doctoral work in Chinese Studies at Harvard and Georgetown Universities. She has taught sociology and human relations at Boston University (1956-1959), East Asian law and society at Yale Law School (1964-1966), Korean society and culture and also on gender roles at Yale College (1974-1988) and Women, Society and Culture at Albertus Magnus College (1971-73). Concurrently she served on the faculty at the Yale Department of Sociology and Human Relations Area Files (1961-1985). Dr. Koh also was visiting professor at the National Museum of Ethnology in Japan and International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, Japan during 1979-1980, 1996-1999. In 1967-70, Hesung Koh was elected to the first chair of the Korean Studies Committee of the Association for Asian Studies and continued to serve the Committee during 1983-1986. As the Chair of the Wilson Center Task Force on Korean Studies, she led the first-ever Korean Culture and History Curriculum Development and teacher training Project at Yale University (1985-1987) with a three year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This project helped to train nationally selected high school teachers and to develop high school curriculum on Korean culture. After 24 years of teaching and research at HRAF and Yale University, in 1985, she became the chair and President of East Rock Institute, the successor of the Korea Institute formerly located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Today, ERI is among the oldest non-profit research and cultural organizations related to Korea in the United States. With a grant from the Korea Foundation, Dr. Koh developed an award- winning website dedicated to teaching and research on Korean Culture and History for high school and college-level education (www.instrok.org). She is the author or editor of five books and numerous articles on various aspects of Korean culture, society, women, information systems, and comparative culture research. Her book, Authentic Leadership in a Multicultural Society has been on the best-seller list and is being translated into Korean and Chinese by Random House, Asia. She is the founder and editor of the semi-annual journal Korean and Korean American Studies Bulletin (1984-present) the only such journal in the field. Together with her late husband Dr. Kwang Lim Koh and her two sons, Dr. Howard Koh and Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh, Dr. Hesung Koh was named as one of the 100 leading Korean- Americans in the first century of Korean immigration to the United States (1903-2003) by the National Korean American Centennial Commission in 2004. She has received many awards from both Korea and in the United States including the Republic of Korea Prime Minister's Award. Her Autobiography, published in 1996, brought about a series of TV programs and documentaries and received recognition in Korea and in the US. Presently, she serves on numerous educational, religious, and community organizations and gives lectures nationally and internationally. In 1985, ERI held its first summer teachers' conference at Yale University with the sponsorship of the Wilson Center National Task Force for Korean Studies and a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since then, ERI has sponsored eight other regional and national teachers' conferences or workshops; some in cooperation with the National Association for Korean Schools. In 2005, ERI launched the Teach Korea Corps organization in cooperation with Korean-American young professionals, which helps to sponsor this year's teachers' conference in New Haven. Hesung Koh also contributed as a key speaker and organizer of a number of state and national teachers' conferences for educators who teach in independent schools. Today, she is proud mother of 6 professional children and grandmother of 11.

Mark Peterson , Ph.D., is a professor of Korean Studies at Brigham Young University. His PhD is from Harvard in East Asian Languages and Civilization with an emphasis on Korean history and a secondary field in pre-modern literature. He has been at BYU for 24 years, prior to which he was the director of the Fulbright Program in Korea. Altogether, he has lived for about 15 years in Korea. He is active in the Association for Asian Studies and the Committee on Korean Studies where he has been a member of the board and chair. He has been the book review editor for the Journal for Asian Studies and has published numerous articles. He is the author of Korean Adoption and Inheritance: Case Studies in the Creation of a Classic Confucian Society and co-editor with Laurel Kendall of Korean Women: View from the Inner Room, published by East Rock Press. He is active in outreach programs sponsored by the Korea Society in New York, and KAFE (Korean American Foundation for Education) in Los Angeles.

Harold Attridge , Dean of Yale Divinity School, is a distinguished New Testament scholar, with many academic accolades, books and articles to his credit. But his expertise has been sought in a number of public venues also-during the past several years particularly, when he has spoken at numerous non-academic gatherings, been quoted in the popular press, and appeared before national television audience. Publication of the blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code provided Dean Attridge a welcome, if unexpected, platform for discussing some of the intricacies of scholarship that would normally not be considered outside the confines of a seminary or art history classroom. The book's popularity and creative assertions led to a number of speaking invitations for Dean Attridge, who is an expert in New Testament exegesis, the study of Hellenistic Judaism and the history of the early church. During the past several years the dean was busy debunking the novel's claims of historical accuracy at church and alumni gatherings in New England, the Atlantic seaboard states, California, Texas and even overseas-at the Yale Club of Singapore. In addition, his critique of The Da Vinci Code was shared before national television audiences on CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown, Deborah Norville Tonight on MSNBC and on PBS's Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. The print media were also very interested in Dean Attridge's impressions of the transition to a new pope, and his comments appeared in publications such as the Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle and BusinessWeek. Dean Attridge, who is also the Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament at YDS, has been an editorial board member of Catholic Biblical Quarterly, the Harvard Theological Review, the Journal of Biblical Literature, and the Hermenia Commentary Series. He is active in the Society of Biblical Literature and previously served as its president. He is the general editor of the revised edition of The HarperCollins Study Bible, 2006. He earned his B.A. at Boston College; an M.A. at Cambridge University (Marshall Scholar); and his Ph.D. at Harvard University (Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows). His publications include Hebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, First-Century Cynicism in the Epistles of Heraclitus, The Interpretation of Biblical History in the Antiquitates Judaicae of Flavius Josephus, and Nag Hammadi Codex I: The Jung Codex, as well as numerous book chapters and articles in scholarly journals. He has edited eleven books, most recently, with Margot Fassler, Psalms in Community. Dean Attridge previously taught at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. When he left Notre Dame for Yale in 1997, he was dean of the College of Arts and Letters.

Keun Soo Lee , Ph.D. & CPA, has been an accounting professor at Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea since 1982. He got his Master's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ph.D. degree from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. In 1983, he was first introduced to Korean tea at Kaewoonsa temple, by a Buddhist monk Zi-Sun and soon became indulged in the sublime world of green tea. Since then, he has been a lifelong friend and advocate of Korean tea. He has written numerous articles and essays on tea and published his first tea book, Love Letters Written to Tea Leaves in 2003. Now he is preparing his second book to be published in this fall. He represented Korea in the tea conference named 'A Season of Tea - Contemporary and traditional tea cultures of China, Korea and Japan' held at Cornell University in the spring of 2003. He established several tea meetings in the United States as well as in Korea and has held many classes and lectures on tea, including the annual conference of NAKS (National Association for Korean Schools). Some of these topics include: 'Some Misunderstandings on Korean Tea Tradition' (Atlanta, GA 2004), 'The Spirit of Korean Tea Culture and Its Literary Revelation' (Houston, TX 2005), and 'The Hallyu and the Aesthetics of Korean Tea Culture' (Denver, CO 2006).

Christopher Yongchul Park, M.D., Ph.D., is honored to be able to call himself an ERI volunteer for nearly 20 years, and looks forward to both learning and teaching about Korean culture and history at this year's TKC conference. Chris currently serves on the steering committee of NamMae, the young professional group of ERI, as well as ERI's Board of Directors. After graduating from Yale College in 1992, he attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and completed his M.D. and Ph.D. studies in 2001. He has served as a teaching volunteer in several capacities - as a music instructor in elementary schools in New Haven, as a physiology instructor in a New York state-sponsored program for gifted teenagers, and as a moderator for discussions on race/ethinic stereotypes in Bronx high schools for the NY Civil Liberties Union. After leaving New York in 2001, Chris completed a residency in anatomic pathology and fellowship in hematopathology at Stanford Medical School. Currently, he teaches Stanford medical students and residents the finer points of hematopathology while serving as an Instructor and Attending Pathologist; however, he spends most of his time studying the molecular and genetic basis of leukemias and other diseases of the blood system. Chris is a second generation Korean American born in Grand Coulee, WA, and raised in San Antonio, TX. Go, Spurs, Go!

Heseung Ann Song , Ed.D., has worked with Dr. Hesung Chun Koh, the founder of East Rock Institute, as a teaching assistant in developing and presenting several Teach Korea Corps workshops and Instrok.org (interactive online lessons based on TKC material). She received a Bachelor's in English from Yale University and a Master's and Doctorate in Education from Harvard University. Her dissertation focused on new explanations of the persistent (racial/class) achievement gap. Heseung is also President/CEO of Osiris Group, Inc., a Philadelphia-based business strategy and communications firm she co-founded in 2000 that serves a diverse roster of for-profits and nonprofits, including biotechnology start-ups, land conservation trusts, and educational concerns, including the School District of Philadelphia. Heseung also spent many years teaching in public and private high schools. She has received the Philadelphia Business Journal's 40 Under Forty Award, the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Korean American Women's Conference, and a commendation from the President and Fellows of Yale University for Outstanding Leadership in the Service of the New Haven Community. She is a board member of the Union Benevolent Association, the nation's oldest charitable organization, and East Rock Institute. She was born in Seoul, raised in Baltimore and will die a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Yoon-Ho Alex Lee , J.D. & Ph.D., is excited to be part of this year's TeachKorea Corps. Raised in Seoul , Korea, Alex came over to the States at age twelve and grew up in New Haven, CT. Alex currently works as a law clerk to Honorable Thomas B. Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Starting in September of 2007, Alex will join the Office of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an Economic Fellow. He has worked with East Rock Institute since 2005 and is an organizing member of NamMae. He received both of his graduate degrees from Yale University. While in graduate school, he spent his summers at the U.S. Department of Justice, the President's Council of Economic Advisers, and Cleary Gottlieb. Prior to coming to Yale, Alex received a master's degree in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, England and a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Harvard College.

Sang Sup Lee M.A, currently lives in suburban Philadelphia. He learned Pongsan Mask dance-drama in 1976 from Master Seonbong Kim-one of the great masters of the Pongsan Mask Dance-Drama and designated as the Intangible Cultural Property No.17 by the Korean government. During 1976-78, Sangsup Lee performed over 60 mask-dances as a member of Christian Academy for various cultural classes and college festivals in Korea. In 1977, he founded the Mask Dance Club and taught Dongguk University students. In 1984 Sangsup Lee immigrated to US. In the U.S., Lee has performed at many Korean and American organizations and cultural events including adopted families and Korean American Societies. He has also taught Mask Dance at many colleges and universities including University of Pennsylvania.

Matthew Kim is a senior who is currently attending East Catholic High School after graduating as the Valedictorian of Assumption Middle School in 2004. He had received the President's Education Award and was presently accepted into The National Honors Society of High School Scholars and was elected as the treasurer. He had received the Fairfield University Book Award which is given to a junior with an outstanding academic record, leadership qualities, and is involved in community service. Matthew was nominated and attended the Congressional Student Leadership Conference in 2006 which was held at Fordham University. He was accepted into this year's UCONN Mentorship Connection Program for Gifted High School Students with a full scholarship; where he will experience teaching English as a second language to high school, undergraduate and graduate students from all over the world. Matthew has been volunteering at East Rock Institute since 2006 as a Youth Volunteer in order to gain more knowledge about his own Korean culture and background.

SangAh Chun is a graduate student at Columbia University School of Social Work. She graduated from Ewha Womans University in Korea with B.A. in Social Welfare and Psychology. Her focus is Social Enterprise Administration and Family, Youth, Children. Currently she is interning at a foster care agency in Harlem, counseling foster children and families. Next year, she will be working with Asian immigrant population in Chinatown. In Korea, she worked with North Korean defectors teaching English and planning events. She is interested in working with populations experiencing transculturation process such as immigrants, refugees, and adoptee.

TaeIm Chung , J.D., welcomes her first opportunity to participate in Teach Korea Corp. She has practiced law in Connecticut for the past three years. Prior to that she clerked for various State Court Judges as a Legal Research Clerk for the Judicial Branch of the State of Connecticut. She earned her J.D. at St. John's University School of Law and her B.S. in Business Administration and Management at Boston University. In addition to admission in Connecticut, she is also admitted to practice law in New York and Massachusetts. Currently, she is a member of the executive committee of the Young Lawyers' Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, where she has also served as the chair of the Workers' Compensation Section for the past two years. Tae Im is a first generation Korean-American born in Seoul and raised on the East Coast.

Shobhana Jagan was born in India and came to the United States with her family at the age of eleven. She received a B.A. in German with a concentration in International Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.ED. from Louisiana Tech University. Shobhana has been teaching for 15 years, with the past eight years as a high school history teacher in the Bridgeport Public Schools. Her initiation to Korean culture began in 1995 with a one-year assignment teaching conversational English at a Korean elementary school and boys high school in Kangwon Province. Shobhana attended the ERI Conference in 2006 and has since become a member of ERIK. Shobhana has also presented workshops at the Northeast Regional Council for the Social Studies and the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies Conferences.

Sandra Wirth, Ed.D. (Educational Administration from the University of Delaware), is presently the Associate Headmaster of Cheshire Academy in Cheshire, CT and has held the positions of Dean, Upper School Head, and Assistant Head of School at Westtown School (PA), Harrisburg Academy (PA), and West Nottingham Academy (MD), respectively. A current passion is to increase the understanding of Korean culture in independent schools. Dr. Wirth organized a workshop in April at Cheshire Academy, "Issues and Opportunities: Korean Students on Independent School Campuses," and has proposed similar workshops at both the TABS and NAIS national conference. She is a new member of the East Rock Institute Board of Trustees and Co-Chairperson of this year's Conference Planning Committee. Dr. Wirth has published several articles on independent school issues on such topics as student attrition, transitions to independent school, and preparation for college and has presented at state and national conferences on teen cyberspace activity, using research to effect change in schools, and student retention. A lifelong learner, Dr. Wirth is an NATA certified athletic trainer and holds licenses or certificates in Fund Raising, Drug and Alcohol Education, and Real Estate sales. She lives with her family, including two children ages 19 and 7, in Cheshire, CT.

Peter N. Herndon has taught history in the New Haven Public Schools for the past thirty-six years. He has been a member of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute since its founding in 1975 and has written over a dozen published curriculum units under the direction of Yale University professors. Since its inception in 1990, he has been Facilitator for the Cooperative International Studies Program in which urban and suburban high school students engage in collaborative learning projects. Peter's interest in Korea began thirty years ago when he and his wife Pam adopted their first of two Korean-born children. Presently Peter is retired from classroom teaching and works as an Instructional Coach in the New Haven Public Schools.

Sharon Powers is a teacher of Modern World History at Cheshire High School in Cheshire Connecticut. Sharon has been a secondary teacher for 25 years. She has gradually incorporated more lessons into her curriculum on Asia. Sharon realized that Asia was often shortchanged in World History and that the textbooks tended to be very Euro-centered. Her interest in Asian history and culture has benefited form the many institutes she has participated in. Sharon has attended summer workshops on China, Japan and Korea in Colorado, Washington and in New Haven. Sharon was a participant in last year's ERIK summer workshop on Korea and has remained an active participant throughout the year including helping to plan this summer's program. Sharon was chosen as one of 20 educators form Connecticut to participate in a ten day visit to China last April through the Connecticut- Shandong sister school exchange program. Sharon has put to good use the many wonderful resources and the wealth of knowledge that she has acquired from these institutes and experiences into her classroom.

Nestor Quinones, J.D., holds a Law Degree with a Certificate in Intellectual Property from the University of Connecticut. He is originally from Puerto Rico, where he completed his undergraduate studies in Industrial Engineering, with additional studies in Economics and Political Science at the University of Puerto Rico. Currently, he is the Chief Administrative Officer of Prime Technology, LLC, a Connecticut company specializing in the design and manufacture of military and commercial measurement and control electronics. Nestor also serves as a private software consultant for the private and public sectors.

Sunghee Pyun has been working at East Rock Institute as an administrative assistant since March 2007. After graduating at Yonsei University in 2001, she worked as an assistant manager and a head of planning department for E.land Company. While there, Sunghee planned and launched a new underwear brand 'Bodypops' in February 2006. Sunghee has long been interested in music, especially praise and was a member of 'Praising People' as a vocalist from 1998 to 2000. In 2005, she toured Korea with another praising group, 'Korean continental singers.' Sunghee has recorded some albums as a main vocal, duet or chorus, including 'Praising people, 5th in 2003', 'Hyun Ok's 2nd album in 2001', and 'Sam yeol Lee's Messiah in 1999.'