User:DePendery

Who wields me, wields the world!

My real name is David Pendery. I am currently a student in a doctoral English literature program in Taipei, Taiwan. I live here and work as an English teacher and editor.

I have been editing on Wikipedia since about August 2006. My first edit was on Richard Rodriguez, while I was teaching a high-school student here, and we were reading one of Rodriguez's stories. Later I was doing some research for a paper I was working on, and I edited Philosophy of History. Since then I have provided many additions and edits to a variety of topics, generally focusing on literature and drama, history, some philosophy, and adding details to the entries on various academics. I am very interested in what Wikidpedia is doing, and strongly believe in the value of this approach to learning and organizing information. In August 2007 I gave two presentations at the Wikipedia international conference in Taipei, one entitled "Wikipedia and Taiwanese Students: A Good Mix," focusing on the value of Wikipedia for Asian students studying English. The second, a theoretical discussion and model about the "structure" of Wikipedia, was entitled "Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: The Mind of Wikipedia." I tried to show that the “mind” (structure) of Wikipedia mirrors the structure of human consciousness, which is a key reason that Wikipedia works as well and as fluently as it does. The title and content of this presentation was taken from a book of the same name by Dr. Gerald Edelman, a Nobel Prize winner in Medicine and expert in human consciousness studies.

I am a serious student, scholar and writer, and I have published numerous popular and scholarly works. My most recent publication was an opinion and analysis about Taiwanese history, entitled On a more apt history of Taiwan and published in the Taipei Times. You can also find many of my works conveniently located at Scribd.com. I try to write with an academic/professional attitude on Wikipedia. I think I have made some good additions, and I always try to follow the rules strictly, and contribute well-written pieces. I don't have the time to contribute regularly to Wikipedia, but as recently as a few days ago I was adding to the entry about the philosopher Richard Rorty, the Montevideo Convention, and Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook.

Right now I am working on my dissertation, the topic of which is the relationship of narrative and history. I have completed about 150 pages, and I am organizing a committee of five professors to review the work. I hope to have my P.hD. by the end of 2009.