Jonathan GoldbergBelle

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.

Barry Till

Barry Till is a Curator Emeritus of Asian art at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in Canada. With a wide-ranging knowledge of Asia's history, archaeology, and cultures, Barry has travelled extensively and lectured on numerous expeditions—including trips to China, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar—for more than thirty years. He has published more than 100 exhibition catalogues (including The Buddhist Arts of Asia), books, and articles on various Asian art topics, and is an enthusiastic and engaging speaker. In 2008, Barry received the Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Museums Association. He speaks Chinese, holds degrees in Far Eastern Studies, and studied at Oxford and at Nanjing University in China.

Sharon Ullman

Professor Ullman is a professor of American history at Bryn Mawr College. She received her PhD at the University of California at Berkeley in 1990.  She specializes in 20th-century America with an emphasis on media and memory, gender, and the social history of American Cold War policies in Asia after WWII. After publishing two books on the history of gender and sexuality in the U.S., her more recent research has turned to the ways in which the Korean and  Vietnam Wars impacted American society from 1950-1980, particularly focusing on the often forgotten prisoners of war from the Korean conflict. Her courses at Bryn Mawr College include such topics as  “Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War,” “Political Culture of the Cold War,” and “Movies and History: The Past Lives Forever.” Professor Ullman has taught in China for the Bryn Mawr College summer program and has been the study leader on multiple trips for the Bryn Mawr College Alumni Travel Program, including to Vietnam.

Elvira Masson

Elvira Masson, College Professor of History and Director of the Confucius Institute at New Mexico State University, teaches courses in Asian history and Chinese literature and language. Elvira holds a Master’s degree in Chinese from Stanford University, has traveled widely in Asia, and lived for many years in Beijing. She returns often to Asia, (especially China, Korea, and Vietnam) as you will recognize when she discusses contemporary issues. You can also count on her to recommend a favorite restaurant or specialty market and invite you for morning walks through the local neighborhoods.  For the Smithsonian, Elvira has also been a “Beyond the Podium” Speaker for a Southeast Asia Cruise and an Invited Lecturer for the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program’s “Campus on the Mall.”