East Asian Studies

Engaged East Asian Studies

Engaged East Asian Studies takes what you’re learning in your courses and puts it into practice through internships, research, study away, winter term, career exploration, and beyond.

Here’s a sampling of recent projects, field experiences, and post-graduate destinations for East Asian studies majors.

RISE at Oberlin
Research. Internships. Study Away. Experiential Learning.

Ways East Asian Studies Majors Rise

Research

  • The Endangerment Turn: Tracking the Transition of Vegetarian Discourse in Contemporary China
  • The Evolution of Korean Sex Work in Japan
  • Historical Memory of the Flying Tigers: Transnational Narratives of a World War II Collaboration (Chinese)
  • Rainbows and the Rising Sun: Queer Rights in Japan
  • The Chinese Student Commencement Speech Controversy: A Discourse Analysis of Responding Microblogs

Internships

  • VICE Media, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
  • Japan Airlines, Tokyo
  • White House Asia Economic Council, Washington, DC
  • Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies, Johns-Hopkins University, Md.
  • Intern, Kellogg School of Management, Ill.
  • Summer law clerk, Public Defender’s Office, San Francisco

Study Away

  • C.V. Starr-Middlebury Schools in Kunming and Hangzhou, China
  • Associated Kyoto Program at Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
  • Sogang University and Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • Associated Colleges in China, Beijing, China
  • National Taiwan University and National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan (Chinese)
  • Japan Study, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
  • CET Academic Programs in Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Kunming, and Taibei

Experiential Learning

  • The Paul and Edith Cooper International Learning Center, a state-of-the-art computer lab specializing in foreign languages, offers high-tech tools to gain proficiency.
  • The Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and Environmental Studies offer in-Asia and on-campus programs.
  • Shansi in-Asia Grants (China, Japan, Indonesia, and India)
  • Teaching Ex-Cos in Korean language and Chinese folklore and music
  • Aikido Ex-Co and Club

First Destinations of Recent East Asian Studies Majors

  • Graduate Schools:
    • MA in comparative education at University College London
    • MA in environmental change and management at University of Oxford
    • JD at University of San Francisco
    • PhD in psychology at University of Michigan
    • MA in policy organization and leadership at Stanford
    • MA in global affairs at Yale
    • MA in international politics at Peking University
    • MA in interaction design at Carnegie Mellon
    • Certificate in weather forecasting at Penn State
    • PhD in comparative literature at Duke
    • MA in Japanese literature at Columbia
    • MA in Japanese history at Stanford
  • Positions:
    • Oberlin Shansi fellow
    • Climate organizing fellow at NexGen Climate
    • Research assistant at Bay Aquarium Research Institute
    • Assistant language teacher at Japan Exchange Teaching
    • AmeriCorps Chicago
    • Fox News
    • Reuters World News
    • Fellow at United Nations Institute for Training and Research, Hiroshima
    • Community outreach manager at the Fresh Air Fund
    • Chef and culinary educator in N.C., The Telegraph, UK news outlet