I find that one of the coolest questions you can ask someone is “Who are you?”
Some people define who they are by their studies, their jobs, their friends, their physical characteristics, or perhaps just their simple name. Our identities are complicated and always changing – yet static in some sense.
So who am I?
I am a loving, passionate individual who yearns to make a difference in the world – in the lives of others as well as my own. Intensity and enthusiasm flows through my veins. I find meaning and value in creating, connecting, and helping people. I see leadership as service, and take point often – I conspire to inspire. I’m also active and assertive – in more than one sense. I’m a thinker, a dreamer, and still yet a realist with a pinch of curiosity.
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So poetic hogwash aside, here’s what I tell the hob-nobs in academe:

Jeff Ginger is a second year graduate student studying sociology and library & information science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He attended UIUC for his undergraduate career as well where he fostered his love for sociology and hatred for computer science. He comes from a Science and Technology Studies (STS) disciplinary background (the insurgents of soc really), a hefty helping of race/ethnicity studies (with intergroup dialogue too!), and is perhaps most famous for his Masters Paper and other research on Facebook.com. His current studies revolve around social & community informatics, battling the digital divide, and human-computer interactions (HCI) and his ultimate PhD work will be some blend of the three.

Jeff also occasionally makes websites, pretends to be an artist, records fun noises, and likes to teach. You can shoot harpoons at his Hindenburg-esq ego here.