At age 13, Marina considered herself a cosmopolitan, and continued to optimistically believe in the beauty of a cosmopolitan attitude in life, even if living abroad for 15 years made her aware that cultural roots are as important as the new branches reaching up to the sky. She researches (at Utrecht University) and teaches in a number of humanistic fields: literature, history, art history and new media, and is particularly interested - as a mother and a researcher - in the role of technologies and multiculturalism in education.