Metamorphica
Self introduction
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Part of the old Mckenzie Fish Hatchery. |
My name is Ovid. I grew up at on old fish hatchery on the Mckenzie River, a bit outside of Eugene, Oregon, USA. My grandparents came from Ireland (Boyd), Germany (Keifer), Sweden (Larsson) and the US (Treat). My mom's family lives in Ohio. My dad's lived in Indiana, but had mostly moved to Oregon before I was born. I have a brother who is just 2 years younger than me called Calder.
My mom was an art teacher and my dad worked at Lane County in deeds and records. We were caretakers of public park land that makes up the old McKenzie Fish Hatchery. Lane County used to be a prosperous logging region, but the economy had collapsed by the time I was born. The area is known for its rain, forests and politics.
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I went to the small rural McKenzie Elementary school. I was a smart kid, particularly at math and science, and so I kept getting bumped up grades grades until I was 4-5 years ahead of my classmates in Math and Science by the time I graduated high school.
When I was a teen, my family moved to Lubbock, Texas, so that my mom could take a job as an art education professor at the local university. It was then my dad's turn to follow his interests--he had always had a large garden, was an expert at foraging the forests for food and always in charge of cooking--and so he became a full-time volunteer for the food bank. Texas and Oregon are quite different places and wasn't always easy to adjust during awkward teen years. By the time I completed junior high at Cavazos, I realized I had taken enough math and science to fulfill not only my high school, but also university requirements and so I haven't studied math since I was 14. I graduated from Lubbock High School a year early and worked a bit in graphic/web design prior to attending college.
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graduation day at the University of Oregon |
I returned to Eugene to attend the University of Oregon. While I considered that I might be interested in studying natural or computer science, I found myself more interested in social fairness and so got my degree in International Studies and Anthropology with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. My studies focused on international development and equality.
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After graduating from the University of Oregon, I moved to China to work as an English teacher. First at an elementary school and then at a college. China is one of the most important and dynamic countries in the world today, and a very exciting place to be.
Now, I have completed an Electronic Government master degree in Örebro, Sweden. I am particularly interested in how information and communication technologies can help enable participatory democracy. My master research has investigated direct and deliberative e-participation promoted by new grassroots political parties. I have also done some work for DEMO-net, a European e-participation network, while here.
Ever since I was little and played with our Commodore 64, I have always been interested in how technologies can improve improve our lives. I look forward to continuing to explore how technologies can contribute to development, democracy and more responsive organizations in the future.