Faces of Reading

I grew up in the rural countryside of Taiwan. Though Taiwan is known for its democracy and LGBTQ rights, Taiwan was more traditional 25 years ago. Since I was little, I was unfairly mistreated by my elementary school teachers due to my family background and personality traits. Seeing my teachers conduct themselves in this way made me want to become a teacher so that I could bring a better and positive energy towards my students. As a kid, I even told myself, one day, when I become a good teacher, I would replace a bad teacher, so this world can become a better place. 

In 2013, I embarked on my PhD journey in Finance at the Australian National University (ANU). Following this, I was appointed as a Lecturer in Real Estate Finance at Henley Business School. I am committed to continual improvement as a passionate educator and researcher at Henley Business School. One of my teaching philosophies is to ensure that we create a safe, happy, and inclusive environment for our students to study. I believe that each of our students has their potential and I aim to help them reach their potential.  has helped me reach my current role as Deputy Director of Studies for Real Estate and Planning. 

As an early career researcher, I have so many new things to learn. In additional to the academic support from my mentor, many of my colleagues provide me with helpful guidance and support to develop my research and teaching profiles.  

The University of Reading values diversity and inclusion. In my department, the members of staff are from around the globe including Argentina, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Taiwan, Turkey, UK, US and more. I enjoy working in this diverse environment and being part of this community and network indeed gives me a chance to develop international collaboration. I highly recommend Reading for either study or work!

It's particularly satisfying to make a custom piece of glassware for researchers and get involved in the design process, which can involve multiple iterations to achieve a successful result.

I've got a very friendly working environment. Diversity and inclusion is something the University wholeheartedly embraces, which is great.

I'm asexual and have been involved in visibility work for AVEN (the Asexual Visibility and Education Network), of which I'm a member. This has involved TV and radio appearances, and contributing to newspaper and magazine articles.

When the University was applying to become a Stonewall Diversity Champion, I went to meetings to raise awareness of the asexual community. This resulted in the Staff and RUSU LGBTQIA+ organisations holding an Asexual Awareness Week, to which I was happy to contribute.

Asexual people are thought to make up about 1% of the population, which means there could be somewhere between 30 and 40 asexual people working at the University, even more in the student population.

I think it's important there's visibility for asexual people, and those who think they may be asexual, in particular, to have someone to talk to who is asexual.

When the TAEDS courses closed down in 2018, I started lecturing initially for BA Education Studies and more recently became the SEND Pathway Lead for the PGCE students specialising in SEN education.

Since 2017, I have been working for the Institution-Wide Language Programme, within the Department of Languages and Culture, where I have taught BSL at all three stages with its linguistics and history, and had very positive feedback.

I'm originally from London and my parents were from the Middle East; my father was born in Egypt and my mother in Syria. I remember seeing Arabic, French and Hebrew being spoken. I knew a little, however I fully absorbed the Middle Eastern culture, particularly cooking.

I'm the only deaf person in my family. My family never learned any sign language, so I relied on lip reading. I've had some fantastic students; most aren't deaf, but they have a passion for teaching and learning sign language.

A lot of my students have become teachers, usually in special needs education. Others have become interpreters, actors and drama therapists. I'd like to think I've played a small part in their career choices.

I teach a module on ancient education, which is my research speciality. Reading students are fun to teach and that’s something I really enjoy.

I also run the ancient schoolroom. Over a period of two weeks, we have up to 60 children a day coming in, and I’m responsible for providing all kinds of different activities, all related to ancient education.

I’ve written several books on how Greek speakers learned Latin and how Latin speakers learned Greek. I discovered some ancient Latin textbooks, edited them, and published Learning Latin The Ancient Way a year ago and now the whole world has got them.

I came to Reading in 2013. I had been the only linguist in a classics department for a really long time, but here there are three of us. That’s much better for my research.

I live in Oxford and work part time. It works well, as I don’t have to commute in five days a week.

I’m involved in the LGBTQIA+ group at Reading, but it’s not a place where, as a lesbian, you feel isolated. British universities are good places to be a lesbian; everybody is very welcoming. And it’s nice to have colleagues as LGBTQIA+ allies.