As a US Fulbright Senior Scholar at National Taiwan University, I have interest in understanding urbanization patterns in Southeast Asia. How and why cities evolve and who is impacted by this evolution is what I hope to learn.

In Taipei, I am in the process of exploring informal settlements and indigenous architecture. Settlements typically form as a resulting need for housing, particularly affordable housing.

Dong-Eui University welcomed me to Busan, South Korea to discuss these issues and how they are impacting Busan. Busan has a history of urban settlements and is experiencing extreme shifts in real estate pricing. I delivered a lecture on Global Perspectives on Gentrification, Displacement, and Spatial Storytelling.

While visiting, I had the opportunity to meet with Dean Rieu of the Department of Architecture to discuss a potential exhibit highlighting the similarities and differences between gentrification in Taipei, Brooklyn, and Busan. In my lecture, I discussed how we are bringing community planning topics into the design studios and inviting a cross-disciplinary perspective with lecturers from a variety of fields. This topic opened up the potentially of integrating similar techniques within design studios at Dong-Eui University as well.