Meet Our Advisory Board
Audrey Williams is a PhD candidate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Carter School at George Mason University, where she is also the Lab Manager of The Narrative Transformation Lab. Her dissertation research focuses on the role of narrative, worldbuilding, and musical craft in conflict transformation. She earned a Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the Carter School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and French from the University of Iowa. She was a 2015–16 Fulbright Research Fellow in Ankara, Turkey, and a Fall 2013 Scoville Peace Fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC.
Audrey Williams
(Narrative Design/Musicking Advisor)
Since 2020, YoungJu Jung has been active as a composer, creating over 100 Korean art songs and children’s songs based on renowned Korean poetry, while steadily continuing her creative and performance activities.
Her digital albums include Climate Album – Wind Garden, Until the Peonies Bloom, The Cross, Self-Portrait, Seungmu, and a set of 12 songs based on Yun Dong-ju’s poetry titled Humanitas – Yun Dong-ju. She is also preparing releases of Gashiri, Azaleas, Spring Rain, Prologue, and Counting the Stars at Night.
Through Sousino, a society dedicated to the study of Korean art song, more than 60 of her works have been premiered. In 2025, she presented two composition recitals through Sousino and successfully held a Korean art song recital, Counting the Stars at Night, in collaboration with baritone Gun Kim under the project Music Painted with Poetry.
Jung is devoted to conveying the beauty of Korean art song inspired by Korea’s celebrated poetry through Music Painted with Poetry, while also striving to make the genre more accessible to wider audiences. She actively runs the YouTube channel Novel Music to expand the reach of her music.
YoungJu Jung (Artistic Director)
Soojung Paek is a researcher, cultural programmer, translator, and PR & marketing specialist with a deep commitment to exploring the intersection of art, society, and conflict resolution. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies at George Mason University, where her research focuses on urban visual culture, the culture industry, and the sense of belonging.
With over a decade of experience in cultural exchange, programming, community facilitation, and marketing across the arts, culture, and tourism sectors, Paek brings a unique cross-cultural perspective to her work. As a graduate professional assistant at the Provisions Research Center for Art and Social Change and Mason Exhibitions, she actively contributes to exhibition research and serves as an art and social change librarian. Paek was awarded the Virginia Mediation Network Andrew R. Pizzi Scholarship for the 2024 academic year, supporting her exploration of visual art’s transformative role in conflict resolution and peacebuilding
Soojung Baik
(Cultural Planning Advisor)
Michael Smith
(Intercultural Dialogue Advisor)
Michael Smith is an Internationalization Liaison and a member of the Academic English faculty. He teaches lower-level Core classes and collaborative elective courses in which INTO Mason students meet and work with traditional Mason students. He has taught in Mason’s Academic English program since 1998.
Smith earned a Master of Education degree from Mason in 1993, a Cambridge CELTA at International House, Madrid, Spain, in 1999, a London Chamber of Commerce Certificate in Teaching English for Business at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, in 2006, and a graduate certificate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Mason in 2009. He studied French at Le Centre International d'Études Françaises, Université Nice, Nice, France, and Spanish at Centro de Estudios de Español Pop Wuj, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.
He has taught ESL at Georgetown Preparatory School in Rockville, Maryland, Arlington County Public Schools, Northern Virginia Community College, and Fairfax County Adult Education. He has also taught workplace English for Radio Free Asia, Introductory Psychology at Strayer University, and has been a guest ESL instructor for Voice of America. He is an alumnus of the Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive. In 2013, his play, Passaggio, was produced by the Mason Players, and he gave a TEDx talk, “Practical Dialogue for a Global Society,” for TEDx George Mason University.
He currently serves on the Mason International Collaborative, the Tobacco-Free Mason committee, and the Arts in Context Advisory Committee. He was recently awarded a Mason Curriculum Impact Grant and is working with other Mason units to develop a collaborative course in which INTO Mason students study global health issues with Mason students from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and from the College of Health and Human Services.
Professor Lee's professional works and research focus on the integration of technology into event management and convention/event management including venues.
He worked as a computer programmer and assistant manager of technology professional development and IT strategy planning team for SAMSUNG in South Korea. He worked as a convention/meeting planner for the Association of Science and Technology Centers and director of special events for Korean-American Centennial National Gala in Washington, D.C. He also worked as a meeting technology research specialist for Continuing and Professional Education at Virginia Tech.
He has published his research in the areas of meeting/convention/event management and impacts of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the meeting/event industry in various peer reviewed academic journals. He also presented his research at the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Education (I-CHRIE), International Special Event Society (ISES) Annual Professional Development Conference, Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Professional Convention Management Association annual convention, International Hospitality and Convention Expo, and the Educational Technology Leadership Conference. His other research area is the impacts of economic circumstances on the event industry. He conducted the impact study with an exclusive partnership with International Festival and Event Association (IFEA) and Dr. Joe Goldblatt at Queens Margaret University in Scotland. He was an invited speaker at the IFEAs 55th annual convention in St. Louis, MO. He also conducted research for the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) and ISES. He served and is serving as a committee member or board member for industry associations, including MPI, ISES, Hospitality Technology Strategic Initiative Council, and Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association.
Dr. Lee is the editor of The Wiley Event Management Series and an editorial board member of the Journal of Convention and Event Tourism and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Cases by ICHRIE..
Seungwon “Shawn” Lee, PhD
(Event Management Advisor)