Kiri Lee

Professor Kiri Lee received her Ph.D in Linguistics from Harvard University. Her expertise is linguistic pragmatics, and she has done extensive research especially on the usage of case-markers in Japanese, territory of information theory, and terms of address. Prof. Lee enjoys teaching all levels of Japanese language because, by teaching the Japanese language to American students, she has found what is needed to be explained in Japanese grammar, and that gives her inspiration to delve further into her research. Two years ago, Prof. Lee developed a course in Asian-American Studies and offers it every other year. Her interest in Asian-American Studies stems from her own experience growing up in Japan with a Korean father and a Japanese mother, and also raising her own children in this country. In her spare time, Prof. Lee enjoys cooking, walking, and gardening, but at this point in her life, she enjoys being Mom to her two children the most.