Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Jonathan GoldbergBelle has served as Director of Study Away Programs at the University of Illinois Springfield for the past 25 years. He holds a Ph.D. in South Asian Language and Literature from the University of Wisconsin with a focus on the study of the great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, both in their classical and present-day forms. Jonathan remains a student of South Asian Literature, particularly contemporary fiction, and of Asian Philosophy and Religion with an interest in the development and spread of Buddhism from India throughout Asia.  

His most recent university courses include “Colonial and Post-Colonial Identity in South Asia," and "Nationalism and Identity in Vietnam".

Jonathan has been in the field of International Education for 40 years.  He has organized and led over 40 study programs to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.  Most recently he has taken groups to Rome/Malta, China, Korea, Japan, India, and Thailand.  He has served as an expert on Smithsonian Journey excursions to Japan, Vietnam, and India.