I'm Jonathan! I completed my BA in History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. I then went on to complete an MA in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, before finishing a PhD in History at the University of California, Berkeley, where I wrote a dissertation on the history of Japan and West Germany's commercial atomic energy programs. I am broadly interested in modern global history and the history of science with a geographical focus on East Asia and Europe. I have been awarded numerous grants and awards to support my research and writing, including fellowships from the Fulbright Program, the Social Science Research Council, the German Academic Exchange Service, and Phi Beta Kappa.

I spent much of the previous decade teaching both at home and abroad. After completing my MA, I spent three years as an English as a Foreign Language teacher in Japan, where I taught group courses and private lessons and tutored students of all ages. At the University of California, I taught a range of courses covering the histories of Japan, Germany, and China. Recently, I designed and taught a college writing seminar on the global history of nuclear energy and an upper-level historiography seminar on the comparative history of Japan and Germany. I enjoy working with humanities, social sciences, and STEM students as they tackle the unique challenges posed by high school and college-level history courses as well as foreign language acquisition. I have also worked with advanced high school students in crafting independent research projects and have assisted many college graduates with their master's and doctoral admissions.

Aside from teaching and writing history, my other great passion is music. I spend most of my free time writing and improvising with guitars, basses, synthesizers, and drums while tinkering with recording equipment. I would be delighted to teach you guitar, bass, or drums!