Megumu Burress

Megumu (Meg) Burress is a Teaching Professor of Japanese in the Department of World Languages & Cultures at the University of Tennessee.  Originally from Japan, her interest in language learning and cross-cultural exchange was sparked by a study abroad experience in New Zealand.  She later came to the U.S. and earned a PhD in Education with a cognate in Foreign/Second Language Education at UT.

Meg began teaching Japanese as a graduate student and has been a member of the UT faculty ever since.  Her teaching has been recognized with awards, including the Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2025).  Her scholarly interests focus on transformative learning, collaborative learning, and qualitative inquiry, through which she explores lived experience and meaning-making as they unfold in social and cultural contexts.

Email: mburress@utk.edu