University of Southern California People At USC

View All
Marina Brenden
Marina Brenden

Marina Brenden ’08

USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

After earning her bachelor’s degree in English literature and political science, Marina Brenden decided to combine her interests in an unexpected way: She’s spending a year abroad, in Korea.

As one of USC’s 16 Fulbright student grant recipients for 2008, Brenden is serving as an English teaching assistant in a secondary school program in the Republic of Korea. And when she’s not teaching English to Koreans, she is investigating the country’s dramatic transformation from a relatively undeveloped country to a world power.

“Korea is an anomaly as far as development is concerned,” Brenden said. “The country’s transformation from a very poor nation into an economic powerhouse in such a short time is virtually unheard of in today’s world.” Working in conjunction with organizations that focus on human rights, poverty and political accountability in Korea, she wants to better understand that development.

Brenden developed her research interests during the course of her undergraduate career. A second-generation Trojan (her father also attended USC), she wasn’t sure what she wanted to study when she enrolled at the university. “But I knew I’d get a good education at USC, whatever I decided to pursue,” she said. “It was my dream school.”