In terms of my background, I'm from Los Angeles, California, in the U.S. I went to UCLA and later received an MSc in TESOL and an MBA from Anaheim University. I've been teaching for over 35 years and have recently ended 16 years at Nagoya City University. I volunteered with Japan AIDS Prevention Awareness Network (JAPANetwork), an AIDS education organization, for over 25 years. Quite a lot of my earlier research was focused on the issue of HIV/AIDS education in the English language classroom.

I have been interested in social issues in song ever since I can remember. I grew up in the 1960s, and turning on the radio, I heard a variety of songs by Joan Baez, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. At the time, I knew a lot of singers were upset about things (Young folks walking round with their heads in the sky, the cities ablaze in the summertime...), but as a child, I didn't fully understand the deeper meaning.

Fast forward to 9/11 in 2001. President Bush said, "Why do they hate us?" I thought that was a good question, so I started doing some research. I learned some very interesting things about history.

In 2003, there was a worldwide movement to try to stop the war in Iraq from happening. Somehow, I heard some songs about that effort... and I was hooked. I searched the web for sites that offered free downloads of songs. YouTube didn't exist yet, so there wasn't any one place to look. There were some pretty famous people who were writing and performing these songs: Willie Nelson, Dar Williams, R.E.M., Cris Williamson & Holly Near, Neil Young, Steve Earle, anad Michael Franti & Spearhead. There were many more I'd never heard of, for example, Beanie the Dog. I don't think he's had a hit recording since.

I went back to look at some of the songs from the Vietnam War period of the 1960s. I did a critical analysis of those lyrics and songs from the Iraq War period (which you can find on this site under the Research link).

For the past five years or so, I've started teaching about the history behind not only songs from these historical periods but from other places and eras. The students here in Japan have said they found the courses enlightening and useful in putting names and faces of real-life participants to the boring textbook history they learned in school.

And that brings me to why I'm offering this project. To allow others to get their feet wet with history and music and the people who create both.