Education:

• B.A. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• M.A. University of Chicago
• Ph.D. University of Chicago

Research and teaching interests:

• Comparative politics
• International relations
• Asian studies
• National identity formation
• Comparative immigration and citizenship regimes
• National-local government relations in Japan

Curriculum Vitae

Professor Tegtmeyer Pak joined the St. Olaf College faculty in 2003, after five years as a faculty member at New College of Florida. She is currently completing a book (tentative title: Naming the People) arguing that Japan’s experience of abrupt decolonization produced an exclusionary migration regime that has profoundly shaped contemporary national identity by closing Japan off from transnational migration flows for four decades. Prior publications include three book chapters on local government and citizenship in Japan and the political agenda and motivations of Japan’s non-governmental organizations that actively support migrants. She has also recently written on the pedagogy of the Asian Conversations program.

Since coming to St. Olaf, Professor Tegtmeyer Pak has enjoyed working with students and other faculty on the Fulbright Advisory Committee, Pi Sigma Alpha, and as Director of Asian Conversations.

Outside of St. Olaf, Professor Tegtmeyer Pak is busy with her two young children, Evan and Lia, and her husband Steve – cooking, gardening, helping out at a community supported farm, reading voraciously, and practicing yoga.