Having essentially crafted her own undergraduate and graduate career in interdisciplinary fashion, it is no wonder that Asst. Prof. Ellen Fuller calls both the department of Asian and Middle Eastern languages and cultures and the studies in women and gender interdisciplinary program home.
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Fuller said, while going to a high school with primarily of white students, she took a course during her sophomore year called "Non-Western History" that grasped her interest.
"It was the first time I got a true spark," she said.
At first, Fuller said she was most fascinated by Indian studies, but in college, her interests shifted towards Japan and China because of one of her professors' influences.
Also in high school, Fuller said she became very interested in what was then called women's issues but is now referred to as gender issues. Fuller said in the mid to late-70s such issues of gender were a "part of the social fabric," which became a "part of my identity."
"You just sit up and take notice, and somehow, it just speaks to you," Fuller said. "It's something you've never seen or heard before, and it's like it answers a question you didn't know you were necessarily asking."
For her undergraduate career, Fuller received her bachelor's degree from Beloit College in Wisconsin in 1978, when she graduated as the first-ever East Asian Studies major.
Fuller went on to receive two masters' degrees from the University of Washington: one in international studies, specializing in China, in 1986, and the second in business in 1990.
Fuller said she pursued her business degree because she didn't originally think she would go for her doctorate Some of her work experiences between pursuing her various degrees include social work and teaching English in Japan, but it was her time working at a small college in California helping to develop an international business component to their M.B.A. program that Fuller said influenced her to go for her doctorate.
Fuller received a full scholarship as a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. In 2002, she received her doctorate in the sociology of education. Once again designing her own program of study, Fuller said she completed most of her theoretical course work in sociology and Japanese studies, and she finally wrote a "very interdisciplinary doctoral thesis."
Fuller said she finished her doctoral dissertation at the University because her husband, history Prof. Brad Reed, was working here. Fuller's career at the University began when she was hired in the spring of 2001, after having been asked last minute to fill in as a teaching assistant for a SWAG 210 class the semester prior. Previously, Fuller said she was not sure she wanted to pursue a career in academia at all.
"Because I saw through my intellectual work and research that I can achieve a number of ends, I finally decided to try to have a career as a professor," Fuller said.
Fuller said this decision was also motivated by the fact that she liked teaching at the University, in particular, because these students "make teaching a rewarding experience."
"I have always done things my own way," Fuller said. "I feel very supported by the University of Virginia, and I appreciate the fact that they recognize the contribution that I make here."
Coming to the University was overall a positive experience for Fuller, but adjusting to life in Charlottesville, with a less influential Asian presence than the west coast, was a bit surprising, Fuller said.
"It was just a reminder that different historical influences have led to different geographic realities," Fuller said.
Currently, Fuller teaches courses in the SWAG program and the department of Asian and Middle Eastern languages and cultures, as well as some sociology courses. Fuller speaks both Chinese and Japanese and has lived and studied in both countries in the past.
"I think that if you are passionate about what you do, this often really encourages students to care about the topic that you're teaching," Fuller said.
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