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  5. Dylan Hallingstad O'Brien

Dylan Hallingstad O'Brien

Dylan Hallingstad O’Brien is a cultural anthropologist whose work examines the intertwining of philosophy and political participation in everyday Japanese life. As an undergraduate student at Hamline University (St. Paul, Minnesota), Dylan double-majored in East Asian Studies & Global Studies, with two minors in Anthropology and Women’s Studies. In 2017, Dylan began his PhD at the University of California, San Diego. For his doctoral work, he has been working with chefs, organizers, teachers, and writers involved in the Japanese wellness philosophy of macrobiotics. His doctoral research specifically inquires into how current debates about key macrobiotic concepts are used to imagine a distinctly ‘macrobiotic’ community as an alternative to the ways that society produces illness and inequality. At UCSD, Dylan leads the Anthropology Mentor-Protégé Program, which pairs undergraduate students with graduate student mentors.