Graduate Fellowship Awardees

PhD, History

Hana traveled to Japan to continue research concerning the Jewish diaspora and mobility in the Pacific. While in Tokyo, she visited the Tokyo Jewish Community Center where she accessed archival documents and records such as a “conversion log book.” While in Kobe she was granted access to private archival records and conducted interviews with community members, including the current priest of the Ikuta Shrine, leaders in the Kobe Japanese Christian community, community members of the Ohel Shelmo Synagogue, and the caretakers of the Choueke Residence.

PhD, EALC

Nicholas visited Taipei, Taiwan over the summer to take Chinese language courses at National Taiwan University. During his time in Taiwan, he also visited the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute and produced a paper on Qiu Miaojin’s student film, Ghost Carnival.

PhD, Linguistics

Jack traveled to Yilan County, Taiwan to engage with the Yilan Creole speaking community. While in Yilan County, Jack worked with Yawiy, a local and native speaker of Yilan Creole, who brought Jack into the community and participated in Atayal events. Jack also received elicitations about the linguistic makeup of Yilan Creole from Yawiy and another community member, Wawa.

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PhD, EALC

Jaewuk traveled to Korea to visit the Korean Film Archive (KOFA) to view films unobtainable in the US and produce fieldwork research. He also attended the University of Seoul Modern Korean Literature Symposium and Djuna’s 30th Anniversary Conference at Sogang University.

PhD, EALC

Katherine traveled to Beijing, China to explore archival documents for her dissertaion work. She visited the First Historical Archive in Beijing to access Qing documents, including memorials and tiben. Additionally, Katherine participated in the training program on “New Materials and New Approaches to the Study of Chinese Rural Society,” co-organized by the Harvard-Yenching Institute and Xiamen University in Yongtai County, Fuzhou.

PhD, Art History

Hyojung visited Xi’an and Dunhuang in China to continue research for her dissertation. In Xi’an, Joomi visited the Xi’an Museum, the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum, and the Shaanxi History Museum then visited the nearby Qianling Mausoleum. In Dunhuang, Joomi visited special caves, on-site artist studios, the conservation center, the library, the digitization center and the local museum.

PhD, EALC

Seoyeon spent her time in Hong Kong and Taiwan pursuing archival resources and interviews to further develop her dissertation chapters on women’s and queer science fiction. In Hong Kong, Seoyeon visited the University of Hong Kong Science and Technology and presented her paper on Chinese and Korean women’s speculative fiction and engaged with science fiction authors at the conference. In Taiwan, she visited the National Taiwan University in Taipei to explore their archives and collections and interviewed science fiction author Ta-Wei Chi.

PhD, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture

Chloe traveled to France to explore the archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Archives Nationales d’Outre-mer. In France, she studied the history of laborers from China, Vietnam, and Japan and the term “coolie.”

MA, EAAS

Seth traveled to Japan to conduct interviews for his thesis. In Kyoto, he interviewed Push the Limit’s co-owner. While in Kyoto, Seth made day-trips to Kasagi to interview local climbers. Seth plans to interview with the Japanese Alpine Association.

PhD, EALC

Lillian used the graduate fellowship funds to further her dissertation research. During this period, she worked on two chapters: one centered on Lai Teck in Ho Tzu Nyen’s Audio-visual Reimagination and another on Lai Teck in Ng Kim Chew’s Malayan Communist Writing.

MA, EAAS

Zerui traveled to Hokkaido to participate in the Summer Program at Hokkaido International Foundation. During the program, Zerui engaged in language programs, as well as cultural programs such as Judo, soba making, and flower arrangement. In the program, Zerui conducted a small-scale survey on the views of marriage and childbirth from college students in Hakodate.

PhD, Art History

Jiyoon traveled to China to visit museums and Buddhist cave sites. In Datong, she visited the Yungang Caves, the main topic of her dissertation. Later in Dunhuang, Jiyoon visited artist studios, the conservation center, library, the digitization center, and the Mogao Caves.

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PhD, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture

Jun enrolled in a Japanese language program at the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies administered by Columbia University. Jun also performed preliminary research at the archives of the Japanese Overseas Migration Museum, obtaining materials on the Nikkei people. At the Mori Museum in Tokyo, Jun also visited American artist Theaster Gates’ special exhibition, “Afro Mingei.”

PhD, EALC

Sayo visited Japan to di archival research. In Tokyo, she visited the National Diet Library where she obtained articles from local newspapers and magazines concerning contemporary audience/consumer’s reception of countryside/rural hometowns during Japan’s rapid economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s. Sayo also viewed the original version of the 1940 film China Nights which is rarely available in its original form.

PhD, EALC

Tian Jing conducted archival research at the Southern University College’s Malaysian Chinese Literature Museum in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. During his research, Tian Jing focused specifically on Jiao Feng, a literary magazine. The Southern University College invited Tian Jing to deliver a lecture on literary creation and he attended the Fuzhou Cultural Symposium in Sibu.

PhD, American Studies and Ethnicity

Ann traveled to Hong Kong to conduct archival research at the Government Public Records Office in Kwun Tong. Ann’s archival material will be used in her dissertation exploring the exodus of Vietnamese refugees following the Vietnam War. During her trip, she found files and materials from microfilms detailing British and Hong Kong correspondence concerning Vietnamese and Chinese refugees in the 1970s to police reports and newspapers following Vietnamese boat refugees.

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PhD, American Studies and Ethnicity

Carlo traveled to Hong Kong to conduct ethnographic work for his research. In Hong Kong, he observed the Symphony of Lights and document his findings for his paper.

PhD, EALC

Di visited China to observe Buddhist cave sites. Between Mogao Caves, Western Thousand Buddha Caves, and Yulin Caves, Di visited thirty-three Buddhist cave sites along the Silk Road. During these visits, she also organized a workshop with Dunhuang Academy to engage with Chinese scholars on her research topic.

PhD, History

Kurt visited Hong Kong and Taiwan to engage in Chinese language immersion experience. In Hong Kong, Kurt visited the Hong Kong Public Records Office to work with city level archives and gained access to the HSBC archives. He also visited the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. In Taiwan, he visited the Evergreen Maritime Museum and the National Palace.

PhD, EALC

Kaiyang visited the Central Studio of Newsreels Production in Beijing, National Library of China, and archives at China Central Television to find archival material concerning her dissertation on Sino-African interactions. Among the material, Kaiyang found scripts and videos documenting the construction of the TAZARA Railway, documentaries on Sino-African solidarity, and official documents from Mao Zedong’s administration. Her gathered materials will be used in her dissertation chapter concerning the Chinese state media’s configuration of Sino-African relationships.

PhD, Gerontology

Mengzhao used fellowship funds to advance her research on the utilization of home modifications for aging in place among older East Asians. She was able to interview older adults (aged 70 to 95) and their caregivers to further understand demographics and desired home improvements.

PhD, EALC

Wenxian enrolled in the intensive nine-week Intermediate Japanese course at UCLA. She also visited Paris to attend the Imagining Tourists and Tourism: Fiction, Practices and Representations 2024 conference. During the event, she presented the phenomenon of lanweilou (unfinished buildings) tourism in the southwest of China.

PhD, History

Ruohan visited Shanghai, China to conduct archival research for his ongoing project concerning containerization, the reconfiguration of global trade, industrial, and urban geography, and the rise of the Asia-Pacific Economic Zone. In Shanghai, Ruohan visited the Shanghai Municipal Archive to read documents concerning Shanghai city trade and transportation developments.

EASC Student Feature

MA, EAAS
Kuper enrolled in in an intensive Japanese language course during the summer session at UCLA. The course provided access to the UCLA Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library. Kuper aims to use his new understanding of Japanese and comprehension to more accurately review Japanese legislation and official communication in Japanese, and to compare the original script with the official English translations, and domestic political discourse as it relates to the Japanese-Chinese bilateral political relationship. This course aided in preparation for his thesis.

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PhD, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture
Douglas used the funding to study Chinese in the Signature Summer Program at National Taiwan Normal University’s Mandarin Training Center.

PhD, EALC
Caitlyn attended a ten-week Korean language program at Yonsei University with an emphasis on writing and academic-level Korean langauge skills. Outside of her time at Yonsei, Caitlyn would spend time at film festivals, such as the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and the Queer Film Festival. The fellowship grant was also used to aid in transportation and housing costs.

PhD, History
Hana conducted research in Japan focusing on the histories of Jewish diasporas and mobilities in the Pacific. Much of her research was conducted via interviews with strangers in Tokyo, Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka. Hana was in contact with various Jewish communities, centers, and networks, and was given access to records, documents, and libraries to help further her research.

PhD, Linguistics
Darby conducted research concerning the structure of languages and a subfield of linguistics known as phonology.

PhD, Communication
Kyooeun conducted research in South Korea centered on information consumption, literacy, and misinformation. Her studied involved 112 participants divided among two groups (92% women, 8% male; all elderly). Kyooeun plans to use this research for a submission to the International Communications Association’s annual conference in 2024.

EASC Student Feature

PhD, EALC
Lindsay attended the 20th Seoul International Eco Film Festival. Outside of the film festival, she visited environment-related museums and eco-gardens to get a better sense of the current ecological situation in Korea and Seoul Forest Park.

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PhD, EALC
Katherine continued her research on the grain transport system, institutions, and soldiers at the Fung Ping Shan Library of The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Research at HKU allowed Katherine to learn about the development of the grain transport system from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, which will be the foundation of a chapter in her future dissertation. While at HKU, she gained access to books and databases to aid in her research.

PhD, EALC
Seoyeon conducted research concerning contemporary Chinese/Sinophone and Korean science fiction literature and culture.

PhD, History
Issay conducted research in Japan to further his work on his academic journal submission tentatively titled “The Muumuu Tribe Finds Naked Paradise: Japanese Women and Trans-Pacific Aloha Wear, 1960s and 1970s.”

PhD, EALC
Lillian visited Singapore to conduct research concerning transpacific cultural relations between Chinese-speaking regions and Vietnam cultural communities. The stipend helped cover travel expenses. In her archival research, Lillian gained access to rare books in libraries and local bookstores. She also conducted interviews with a professor and local video artist.

PhD, History
Lina attended the Middle Period Conference at Yale University.

EASC Student Feature

PhD, Communication
Becky visited Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to conduct research concerning the Hallyu influence on digital culture in Vietnamese youth (18-24). She conducted interviews with 22 youth.

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PhD, EALC
Sayo visited Japan to do archival research, meet scholars, and participate in research workshops. In Japan, Sayo visited the National Diet Library. She also attended a graduate seminar on popular music at Osaka University and “Trajectories in Sonic Japan,” a study workshop on Japanese popular music and sound studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

EASC Student Feature

PhD, EALC
Kirsten visited Japan to conduct research in preparation of her thesis defense. Kirsten visited archives gaining access to exhibitions, film journals, and other periodicals. Kirsten visited the Jinbōchō publishing district to purchase popular culture magazines, print materials, and DVDs that archives do not collect. Her research in Japan lead to the publication of her peer-reviewed article “Exploding Girls, Imploding Strategies: Media-Mixed Bodies in Late 1970s to 1980s Japanese Women’s Professional Wrestling,” published in the new issue of Mechademia: Second Arc (Winter 2023)

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PhD, American Studies and Ethnicity
Suiyi participated in two research trips funded by the fellowship: one to the DuPont Corporation Archives at the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, and another to the Kyoto Costume Institute and Kobe Fashion Museum (and its attached library) in Japan. At DuPont, she gathered about 5,000 pages of material across approximately seventy years of DuPont company history. During her visit to the Kobe Fashion Museum and Kyoto Costume Institute, Suiyi discovered a wealth of resources on 20th century European, American, and Japanese design, especially centered around nylon.

PhD, EALC
Tian-jing enrolled in an intensive Korean language training at Sungkyunkwan University in Korea. During his time at Sungkyunkwan, he also explored more about Korean culture and social trends and visited a Korean art performance (a combination of dance and painting).

PhD, American Studies and Ethnicity
Carlo enrolled in an intensive Mandarin language course at UCLA and used some of the funding to pay for private Cantonese language lessons. He worked on a research paper concerning airport temporalities in Hong Kong.

PhD, EALC
Di used the funding to visit Xi’an, China and explore the Shaanxi History Museum to inspect the the stone couch of An Jia (安伽) and the mural paintings of the royal members of the Tang Dynasty for her research.

EASC Student Feature
EASC Student Feature

PhD, EALC
Tiara used the funding to attend Yonsei International Summer School (YISS) to study the cultural dynamics of South Korea and provided her with an opportunity to see the overlaps between scholarship and advocacy. YISS offered a course on Korean culture that helped further Tiara’s understanding of the dynamism embedded in Korean culture due to the mixing and clashing of Confucian and capitalist values. YISS also offered a course on the history of Korean music that gave her a greater understanding of traditional Korean music and how Western music was introduced to Korea.

PhD, EALC
Kaiyang visited Kenya and China to conduct research. In Kenya she Kaiyang interviewed Chinese people doing media-related work including documentary making, vlog making, and operating media technology companies. In Yiwu and Guangzhou, Kaiyang talked to shop owners and observed business negotiation between Chinese, African and other foreign merchants, she enhanced her understanding of how interpersonal interactions lying on very specific issues emerge dissolve general ideological bias in cross-cultural and interracial relations.

PhD, EALC
Xinhui visited the United Kingdom (UK) to consult materials for her dissertation research, which centers on the art of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts from the 9th to 13th centuries. Xinhui visited four sites: the British Library, the British Museum, Weston Library at the University of Oxford, and Cambridge University Library. In these libraries, Xinhui had the opportunity to view manuscripts and folios.

PhD, EALC
Wenxian visited Yanbian and Guizhou in China. In Yanbian, Wenxian visited the Yanbian Ethnic Minority Museum and expressed interest in the conversation surrounding “Koreanness” in Yanbian that differ from the prevailing “Koreanness” of South Korea and the “Northeastern Chineseness” of China. In Guizhou, Wenxian explored the nuances of an “internal” borderland. Guizhou has been constructed as a national tourist site.

PhD, Cinema
Yayu visited Taiwan to conduct research concerning queer media content creation and media.

EASC Student Feature

MFA, Cinema
Miao finished her work on her short film titled Norika.

PhD, EALC
Hayun conducted research in South Korea, focusing on Korean feminist studies in film. Hayun attended meetings with five feminist scholars and visited the Korean Film Archive.

PhD, Urban Planning and Development
Soyoon conduced research in South Korea to further her dissertation titled “Just Artist: socially engaged art and just city agendas in Seoul, South Korea.” Soyoon engaged in field-research during her travels, including participant observation and exhibitions. Some of the funds were used to purchase academic books and utilize translation services.

PhD, American Studies and Ethnicity
Sam traveled to the University of Hawai’i to completed a Korean language course and to connect with Okinawan residents to recount their oral histories. One of Sam’s dissertation chapters centered on noise pollution lawsuits against the U.S. military in Okinawa. Another chapter centered on the legacies of the Korean War and Japanese imperialism in Korea.

PhD, EALC
Hyejoo completed Intermediate Modern Japanese 6 at UCLA. The intensive language study was noted to help Hyejoo in her dissertation.

PhD, Economics
Jung Hyuk conducted in-person interviews with college students in Korea to gather in-depth qualitative evidence on their job search behaviors and further discern discrimination and segregation in occupational choices.

PhD, EALC
Seoyeon purchased a membership in Asian literature and culture associations and her paper titled “In Search of Alternative Space-Time: Orphan Girls in Contemporary Chinese and Korean Sci-Fi Films” was selected for two conferences: the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA) conference and the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA) conference. Some of the funds were also used to purchase books from China and South Korea.

PhD, Sociology
Ruiyi conducted a pilot study for her dissertation project focused on unpacking how commercial education agencies in China prepare Chinese high schoolers for applying to American colleges. Ruiyi traveled to the east coast and interviewed Chinese international students and some of their parents.

PhD, Communication
Junyi returned home to Yangquan, Shanxi, China, to research coal transition Junyi spent much of her time there exploring historical archives, visiting museums and historical sites, interviewing community members, and participatory design research.

PhD, History
Issay enrolled in Stanford University’s Inter-University Center Japanese Summer Program. During the second half of the program, Issay was in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan, conducting research at the National Diet Library, the Library of Tourism Culture, and the Sumitomo Corporation Shiryokan, through the support of the Center for Transpacific Studies.

PhD, Cinema
Wakae pursued archival research in Japanese film archives and libraries. Wakae’s work in Japan culminated in a paper titled “The Feminist Politics of Amateurism: Rethinking the Radical Potential of Women’s Cinematic Explorations in Japan’s 1980s and 1990s,” and she plans to use her research in her thesis. Wakae submitted her paper to the annual conference for the Association for Asian Studies.

PhD, EALC
Lillian used the stiped to access Chinese-speaking materials on Sinophone-Vietnam cultural relations that are difficult to acquire in North America, including films and texts such as Ng Kim Chew’s Drizzle, Breeze. Lillian submitted a paper abstract entitled “Transpacific Inter-imperiality: Lai Teck in Ng Kim Chew’s South Seas” to the 2nd Biennial Conference of the Society of Sinophone Studies.

PhD, History
Lina used the grant money to conduct research concerning her thesis. Lina took a Kamkun workshop with Professor Joan Piggott, served as a student representative at the board for Song Yuan Studies Society, and conducted research work on her dissertation. With the grant, she purchased important books, subscribed journals, and signed up for memberships that are related to her project.

EASC Student Feature

MA, EAAS
Hanna pursued an internship and classes to further her Chinese language skills. With her classes, Hanna studied Chinese film and influencer culture. With her internship with RADII, a media company based in China, Hanna wrote articles related to Chinese youth culture, fashion, art, media, and film.

PhD, POIR
Pongkwan traveled to Thailand to investigate the Thai cabinet and foreign ministry documents related to Thailand’s relations with Great Britain, the United States, and Japan during World War II. In addition to the archival work, Pongkwan had an opportunity to conduct an unofficial interview with His Excellency Pradap Pibulsonggram – a grandson of Thailand’s wartime prime minister Phibul.

PhD, POIR
Stephen attended the Princeton in Beijing summer Chinese language program and made significant progress on his research into the political theory of Chinese politician and scholar Wang Huning.

DMA, Choral Music
Yu Hang traveled to Malaysia for 1.5 months to continue research on the influences of Malay gamelan on Malaysian folk-based choral works. A portion of the grant was used to fund Yu Hang’s trip from Kuala Lumpur to Lisbon for the 2022 World Choral Expo. Yu Hang’s research trip mainly resulted in observations, interviews, lessons, and presentation.

PhD, EALC
Di attended UCLA’s intensive Japanese summer class. The course prepared Di to take an advanced-level Japanese course at USC the following semester.

PhD, EALC
Kaiyang conducted research on Chinese state-made/sponsored documentaries on China-Africa friendship and Chinese travelers’ travelogue making in Africa by interviewing scholars.

PhD, Media Arts + Practice
Faye used the stipend to explore new forms in documentary media and visual anthropology, as well as prepare works in comics art and film for exhibition and publication. Faye also experimented with ethnographic film and continued editing existing work and planned to use the remaining funding from EASC to submit several films to anthropological and mainstream documentary film festivals with fall deadlines.

PhD, Cinema
Yayu attended three conferences, including the North American Taiwan Studies Association Annual Conference at the George Washington University, and conducted research during summer.