Our story
Kathleen Connell is a Master’s student at SOAS Univerity of London studying International Development. She speaks Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Quechua, and Mongolian. Kathleen became fascinated by Mongolia after watching her first foreign-language film The Story of the Weeping Camel in her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Kathleen became interested in Central and Inner Asia after a High School exchange in northeastern China (Heilongjiang Province, which could be thought of as a physiographic extension of southern Siberia). Kathleen has since studied in Peru, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Taiwan. In 2019, she conducted anthropological research on women’s health issues in western Mongolia. She is currently researching the impacts of globalization among Indigenous groups in the Peruvian Andes. She also teaches the Chinese language online.
Kathleen’s ideal day consists of reading, learning languages, and wrapping dumplings with her family and friends.