I am a PhD Candidate at The Ohio State University, where for the past five years I have taught beginner and intermediate Japanese while also building and researching VR learning solutions. My research exists in the intersection between language pedagogy, instructional design, and virtual reality technology.

My teaching focuses on context, cultural awareness, and strengthening my students' understanding of persona—that is, how their behaviors, choices, and language will be perceived in a Japanese-speaking context. Being a foreigner in Japan presents an immediate challenge, as one often stands out physically, or through the mindset shaped by one's native culture. I urge my students to continually re-examine every aspect of their own persona to better understand how they will be perceived in their target culture.

My research began before I entered graduate school, when I asked myself how I could give other learners of Japanese access to authentic environments where the language and culture both lives and breathes. This question became the catalyst for my work. I started by creating accessibility-enhanced language textbooks but soon found my focus shifting firmly to the world of virtual reality (VR). Now, I use VR to create contextualized and embodied learning experiences, placing students in settings like a Japanese office or an apartment to complete some communicative task. My primary goals are to investigate the efficacy of these materials and teach others how to create them from both a technical and theoretical standpoint. Our learning solutions are only as good as our praxis, and solid theory is necessary for creating, captivating, self-justiying, effective learning solutions. Otherwise, we risk making technologically advanced materials that took thousands of hours to build but offer little to no pedagogical benefit.