Meet Terry

 

Terry K. Park, CEO/Founder

I am...a teacher.

Most tenure-track and tenured professors are researchers. They are not trained to teach nor are they incentivized to be a good teacher. In fact, they are incentivized by their university to de-prioritize teaching in favor of conducting and publishing peer-reviewed research targeting a very small audience. Research, not teaching, is what many large private and public universities value. For those who attended such a university, you probably experienced brilliant professors who were poor teachers. Professors who were incapable or unwilling to spend the time to ensure a productive learning experience. Professors who phoned it in, laying the burden of teaching on their teaching assistants. That does not mean there aren’t tenure-track or tenured professors who aren’t also good teachers--there are many. But when it comes to entrusting your time and money on a course, you don’t want a brilliant researcher teaching you. You want a brilliant teacher teaching you--to effectively communicate the work of Asian American studies research into ways that are clear, dynamic, and meaningful. 

I am that teacher. For over fifteen years, I taught courses in Asian American Studies at over seven institutions of higher education. I also conducted research, writing for peer-reviewed journals and presenting at major academic conferences around the world. But that wasn’t my focus. My focus was on teaching. 

Additionally, I am a…

 
 

Community Servant

 As someone who deeply believes in social change through political and cultural activism, I’ve tried to leave each community that I’ve had the honor of inhabiting a bit better than how I found it. In New York City, I helped co-found Sulu Series, a pan-Asian American monthly venue, which lives on as Sulu DC. I also worked for EarSay, a nonprofit arts organization based in Queens that highlights the stories of immigrants and new refugees, most notably in their award-winning museum exhibition and book, Crossing the BLVD.  I currently serve on the Advisory Board of EarSay. In the Bay Area, I served as a CAAMbassdor for the Center for Asian American Media, co-hosted RAMA’s monthly Go!Ohana variety show, and participated in the Asian Prisoners Support Committee, whom I represented at the 2011 Mr. Hyphen Contest.  I also curated a monthly Korean/Asian film series at The New Parkway Theater in Oakland, called “Oppa Oakland Style”

I’ve been long involved with Korean/Korean American activist communities, from serving as the international coordinator of BASE21.org (the first online English-language progressive news network in Korea) to organizing a cultural performance night for a gathering of Korean American/Canadian activists in Berkeley.  I participated in both KEEP (Korean Education and Exposure Program) and DEEP (DPRK Education and Exposure Program), and served as the study coordinator for the Bay Area DEEP 2011 delegation. My August 2013 op-ed piece for the Korea Policy Institute explores the meanings and possibilities of Dennis Rodman’s proposed return trip to North Korea.

I’ve been interviewed, featured, and quoted in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Korea Daily News, Hyphen Magazine, Asian Outlook of SUNY Binghamton, National Public Radio, The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, Pacifica Radio, The Joey Reynolds Show, Thick Dumpling Skin, Crunchyroll.com, and others.

I also appeared in the music video for “I Got My,” featuring Magnetic North, Taiyo Na, and MC Jin. But my crowning achievement was fulfilling a life-long dream of becoming a model–for Retrofit Republic/Thick Dumpling Skin’s “Real Bodies Manifesto” Lookbook.  I’m working on a model pose, which I call “Yellow Steel.”

Public Speaker & Host

Bring me to your school or let me host your event.  You won’t be disappointed.

As an award-winning Asian American Studies professor, former executive director of an award-winning, nationally-published Asian American magazine, and former actor/performance artist, I am well-trained to lead interactive workshops/discussions/lectures on a range of topics, including:

  • Asian Americans in the media

  • Asian American masculinity

  • Asian American histories

  • Asian American social movements

  • Asian American performance

  • Science Fiction and Asian Americans

  • Sports and Asian Americans

  • Linsanity

  • Korean American activism

  • The Korean War and Korean American Culture

  • Understanding North Korea

  • Model Minority Mutiny: Black/Asian solidarity

  • …and more!

I’ve spoken at the following institutions/spaces:

  • Arena Stage Theater (Washington, D.C.)

  • Friends of Korea

  • Harvard University

  • Joe’s Movement Emporium (Mount Rainier, Maryland)

  • Georgetown University

  • Northeastern University

  • Piedmont Hills High School (San Jose, CA)

  • San Francisco State University

  • Stanford University

  • Temple University

  • University of Kentucky

  • University of Maryland, College Park

  • University of Utah

  • Wellesley College

  • Vassar College