Name:	Sonja Hillman   shillman@weber.ucsd.edu
Education:	My name is Sonja Hillman. I received my BA from UC Berkeley in Literature Magna Cum Laude in 1999. I focused primarily on concepts of evolution and symbiotic relationships in narrative. I also concentrated on gender in authorship in English, Russian and US storytelling. I then studied Secondary Education though CSU Northridge.
Background:	I worked as an English teacher for 6th, 7th and 8th grades in LAUSD. I then went corporate for a stint, as a national corporate technology trainer, I traveled extensively with Belkin and an MGM affiliate (SMP). This opportunity allowed me to work with a broad array of adults in nearly every nook of the US. On a personal note, I have been designing jewelry and working with stone sculpture for 17 years.
Research Interests:	Accordingly, and rather broadly, I am attracted to the subjects of art production internationally as well as multimodal education and development with youth and adults. I am interested in particular, with the road of creative production (often by women) into international consumer markets; along with the messages and social symbolism in design, adornment, advertisement and in the material culture of urban space. In terms of education and development, my strong interests are in emerging film and technologies of popular culture; the socialization of international and diversified youth, consumerism and the movement to provide forms of edutainment by means of advertisement and TV narrative. Additionally, job related aptitude tests and pop psychology used as social and personal way finding devices pique my interest. Additionally: Changing materiality in educational activity and patterns in labor: craft play to computer games. Class construction, labor and economics. Non linear learning by means of story telling, visual representations, craft, game playing and humor. The Olympic Games and the international peace/competition factors during such 'play'. Competition patterns in sports and military. Border mentality, national and international. Security. Spectacle of Popular Media. Evolution. The use of technology to replace touch. Design and meaning in built environment.