Curriculum vitae
Anne McKnight
Visiting Assistant Professor
Asian Languages and Cultures, UCLA
1134 E Lexington Dr., #20
Glendale, California 91206 USA
tel (h): 323-230-5588 (c): 310-499-3326
email: amck@ucla.edu
blog: http://www.annemcknight.com
Expert in Japanese literature, popular culture and food systems with experience
in nonprofit, think tank, and academic settings
QUALIFICATIONS and SKILLS
-
Certified Master Gardener with ongoing continuing education in best practices for
sustainable ag
- Developed and taught five courses with hands-on garden labs to students at USC and UCLA
(*see attached syllabi)
- Successfully integrate experiential learning into class-based curricula. Received multiple
awards for teaching innovations in classes on food and food systems (see
http://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/943/celis-and-mcknight-awarded-technology-prize/)
- Work with low-income residents of South LA to design, install and cultivate home gardens
- Managed USC community garden and trained undergrads in gardening, with emphasis on
edible plants and Asian vegetables. Trained students in site assessment, plant cultivation,
documenting their gardens, and critical use of reference tools, garden tools, and blogging
tools, connecting classroom, neighborhood and garden
- Collaborate with UCLA undergrads to maintain Sunset Canyon Rec Center community
garden
- Maintain active relations with LA-area academics and urban ag practitioners as Higher Ed
liaison for LA Food Policy Council
- Effectively use digital humanities frameworks to organize and disseminate information.
Created and maintain LA Urban Ag Research website with annotated urban ag
bibliography, links to syllabi and curricula, and information on campus initiatives in urban
ag in US and Canada
- Successfully wrote over $110,000 in grants raising funds for research and teaching from
US, Japanese and Québecois governments, public and private universities and foundations
- Administered grants in architecture and design for Massachusetts state government
RELATED EXPERIENCE
Community gardening
-
Founder and core member, LA Green Grounds Los Angeles, CA 2010-present. Website:
http://lagreengrounds.org
-
Work with Green Grounds members to plan and build edible gardens (one per month) in
low-income neighborhoods of South LA
Teach local residents hands-on workshops in garden skills and maintenance
Write action plans for volunteers including needs assessments, scheduling and logistics
Build relationships with policy makers and other nonprofit organizations with similar
missions
Teaching and program development
-
-
Co-coordinator (with Edna Bonacich, UCR and LA Food Policy Council / urban ag working
group) of project on urban ag for MA students at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs,
2012-13
Design, develop and teach popular courses on Japanese literature, pop culture and food
history to groups of 10 to 150 undergraduates and graduates
Oversaw and advised independent student research, examination preparation and
dissertations; served on 13 PhD committees at USC (EALC, Cinema, History, Art History)
Conceived and developed honors program in East Asian Languages and Cultures at USC
Coordinated Honours programme in East Asian Studies at McGill from 2004-2006; every
single student received full funding for ongoing graduate study in US, Canada or Europe
Supervised training of teaching assistants
Outreach—building academic/community/practitioner relations
-
-
Designed and maintain LA Urban Ag Research
(http://laurbanagresearch.humanities.ucla.edu) website of annotated key bibliography on
urban gardening in California contexts, sample syllabi and curricula in sustainable and
urban gardening, and student-driven and other campus initiatives
Maintained department diplomatic relations with Japan Foundation and Japanese
government in US and Canada
Give interviews to organizations and media including National Public Radio (NPR),
Angeleno Magazine, The New Yorker, Spike TV, and the Beverly Hills School District
Recent conference papers and invited lectures—food and gardenrelated
“Common Grains” film series: programmed films about rice with accompanying lectures and
booklet on cultural histories of rice, based on original research from Japanese sources.
Sponsored by Cool Japan program/Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
(METI) and Shinmei Rice, Atwater Crossing, Los Angeles, February 3 and 4, 2012.
“Japanese culture in/and food systems”: presentation on natural farming methods of
FUKUOKA Masanobu and connections to Los Angeles. JAG, UC-system Japan Arts and
Globalization working group, UCLA, April 9, 2012.
“Summer of setsuden [power outages]”: presentation to LA County Master Gardeners on food
security in Japan after Fukushima, December 10, 2011.
“On Food Politics,” invited panel, Graduate and Professional Student Senate, USC, February 3,
2011.
"Rice Riots and Bok Choy Fingers: Mapping the Taisho Foodscape”: presentation at
“Performing Politics in Japan and Modern East Asia.” JAG, UC-system Japan Arts and
Globalization working group, UCLA, December 4, 2010.
Major grants—food and garden-related
2010 Northeast Asia Council, Association for Asian Studies, travel grant to Japan to research
early twentieth-century philosophies of vitalism and the history of food security in
modern Japan. $3000.
Selected courses—food and garden related
2013: Urban agriculture in Los Angeles: Environmental Studies 188B, UCLA. Onequarter upper-division class on history of urban ag in LA, current topics and movements
(homesteading, food deserts, new businesses and foodie cultures), as well as a hands-on
lab.
2012:
Food and Foodies in Japan: J70, Asian Languages & Cultures, UCLA.
One-quarter lower division course on Japanese food in literature and film—with garden
lab. Course blog on line at http://foodandfoodiesinjapan.wordpress.com/
2011: Maymester in edible education, USC. Intensive five-week summer course for USC
study abroad students repatriated from Japan after Fukushima/earthquake—with
garden lab. Course blog on line at: http://edibleeducation.wordpress.com/
2011: Globalization 303: Comparative Literature, USC. One-semester upper division
course on globalization and food—with garden lab. Course blog on line at
http://globalization303.wordpress.com/
2010:
Modernology 100g: General Education, USC. General education /writing
intensive course on Japanese food in literature and film—with garden lab. Satisfied
diversity requirement.
Education
PhD
UC Berkeley
Comparative Literature
Researcher Tokyo University Information and Linguistics
Intensive language study
Inter-University Center, Yokohama Japan
MA
UC Berkeley
Comparative Literature
BA
Wellesley College English
Certificate UC extension service
2011
2001
1996-9
1994-5
1992
1988
Master Gardener certification
Publications and full academic dossier available on line at
http://www.annemcknight.com/?page_id=22
(formal CV follows short resumé)