qkhitai

Women and gender isn't area studies. Area studies is a blanket term for different fields pertaining to geographic areas, like the Middle East, America, Asia and so on. Gender studies is, well, gender studies, but its a similar interdisciplinary term that covers different fields pertaining to gender. There aren't usually problems transferring out of area studies and into more specific fields - I'm currently entertaining the idea of going into History from East Asian/Chinese Studies for my own PhD. You usually have to provide some evidence that you are competent in the field you are transferring into, but because area studies (and presumably gender studies) is naturally interdisciplinary, you usually have options to pursue your chosen field within the overall umbrella of the program. For example, in my UG area studies degree (and indeed in my forthcoming MA), I specialised in history and literature, as opposed to say, politics or anthropology or business. So from my own understanding and from talking to professors in specific fields such as history, there shouldn't really be in any obstacles. May of course depend on who you apply to work with and the program in question.

Thanks all for the comments, I'll take the advice on maturity and time management to heart. I definitely wouldn't want to submit something half-baked (although if it were that mediocre would it really get accepted to a decent journal?) and I can definitely use my first semester or two of MA level research as a barometer. The thing is, there are very few people who work in my area, so my work has decent publishing prospects (I assume), since it fills a nice niche. This may also be partly why my BA supervisor suggested I put it out there. Plus my MA institution heavily emphasises professional development and getting students on to top PhD programs, and they stressed that I will have opportunities to publish work should I so want to (with monetary incentives, not that that's a big factor for me). To clear up any confusion, I did mean publishing to a journal, rather than publishing a book. Just a relatively top tier journal, as opposed to an undergraduate/non-peer reviewed one. I know of one instance where a BA thesis was published as a book (after much revision), but this is quite rare in my field - at least in English; I know some MA students who have published books in Chinese. My BA thesis is only 12000 words though and even with some revision afterwards I doubt it will top 20000, because it's quite a narrow topic. A decent size for a journal article though.

I have a theory that area studies programs tend to breed more interdisciplinary scholars I'm in the same boat, vis a vis history/comp lit, which seems to bug 'pure' scholars on both sides when I talk to them, as they end up thinking I can't do either of them properly. I'm not sure about in the US, but in the UK area studies isn't doing well at all and departments are closing left right and centre - the Middle East Studies department at my current institution got axed last year, as did MA programs for other area studies departments. Staff are all leaving and/or transferring into other fields. So if the US is any the same, perhaps you'll struggle to find a job for area studies, which may mean you want to specialise in something (history, comp lit or religious studies) more acutely over the course of your PhD.

I've been looking to publish something during my time as an undergraduate, but things always seemed to conspire against me and I ended up doing more conferences than publishing. Now that I'm on the verge of graduating I don't really want to submit anything to an undergraduate journal, so I'm looking ahead to what I can do in real journals as a grad student. My current supervisor advised me to look into publishing my BA dissertation after I graduate, which I think could be a really neat idea and I would like to bulk up my CV during my time as an MA student over the next two years. Do grads often try to get their BA dissertations published in some form (I guess this might depend on discipline)? Did anyone here do that in their first year(s) as a post-grad? Any advice or stories?

Thank you both for the comprehensive answers, that's ace!

What tier of university did you attend in China? It unfortunately can matter quite a lot. A lot easier to go abroad if you studied at 浙大 instead of 浙师大, for example.

My backup plan was to go to Mongolia/Inner Mongolia for a year to learn Mongolian, funnily enough. I was kind of excited about it, but it wasn't to be. I study it on the side, but it's tough without a native teacher or indeed any language partners.

Naturally people list their funding and awards on their CVs, but should you list the values? For example: '2017, McAwesome Scholarship for Incredible Students, $1,000,000'. Or should you just list the name of the funding (and institution/agency etc)? I have some acquaintances who list the full values, but others who don't. Is it tactless to list how much they are worth, or is it beneficial? I'm in the process of revising mine and I'll be receiving two awards this year. I know the value of one, but the other is ambiguous and I don't know the actual amount. For the sake of consistency I was planning on leaving out the values. Also, as an addendum, should you list funding you decline? This seems reasonably common, but I just wanted to double check.

If you're already getting on to PhD programs now fresh from undergrad, your resume must be pretty strong already, so an MA will only improve that. A fully funded MA with a stipend is a pretty great deal. Don't get me wrong, so is the PhD offer, but it sounds like you could hold out for something better. I'd take the MA if I were you and see where you stand in two years time.

Although I'm not in the sciences, networking is certainly beneficial, if not essential. People I've networked with have come to find me when they hear about funding opportunities, as well as to put in good words for me with their friends at other institutions. I even heard second hand that my name has been bandied around at full-blown conferences between professors, which was pretty surreal.

Sadly my undergrad program is more focussed on late imperial-modern studies, but I have been able to do my final year dissertation on medieval lit! I mainly work with 'non-Chinese/barbarian' literature in northern China from c.200-c.1300, which is pretty fun. I'm actually a UK student and yes, I'll be attending in the fall How does your research work, if you don't mind my asking? Is it mainly looking at Korea/TW if it's Meiji colonial-orientated?

1) Yes, this is common - I had exactly the same thing. 2) I don't know about that, sorry. Something you need to ask the university about I imagine. 3) You should definitely be talking to current faculty/grad students at this point, especially if information so far has been limited. I'd probably start out with the professor you would most want to work with and see where it goes from there. You should also know what funding you will or will not be receiving before you accept anything.

I did the same thing recently, after my supervisor-to-be put in touch with one of the current grads. My general questions were: 1) What is your opinion of the department/what is the department atmosphere like? 2) What is your average day/week like? 3) TA responsibilities and workload etc 3) What is the campus like? (in a general atmosphere way, not a scenic way. Also campus rules and regulations that might affect you) 4) What is the city around/near the campus like? 5) Miscellaneous mini-questions about accommodation, extracurricular activities, department specific stuff

Cambridge was one of my Plan B choices too and I also worried about fitting in (class wise), although I wouldn't have had a good supervisor with similar research interests. I didn't end up applying, because I got my first choice acceptance very early so I didn't need to apply anywhere else. Cambridge is world class institution though and a PhD there will take you far. Funding is a major concern, because fees in the UK are insanely high (especially if you're international). Also Cambridge is one of the more...'socially progressive' campuses here, which might not be for everyone.

I'm not super familiar with the issue of indigenous people, although I know in my field it would be both a (potential) luxury and a rarity to have an indigenous supervisor, so most folks who go into that sub-field would have a non-indigenous teacher and they all seem to get by fine. I'm not sure having an indigenous teacher automatically guarantees superior research, but admittedly it's not my field. How renowned is your current professor vs indigenous prof? If you have worked with your current professor for three years, is it safe to assume she knows her stuff? Have you talked to her about these concerns? From my outside perspective, it sounds like you're getting a really good deal at your current institution (provided there's funding), and I would go with that option. I also turned down a program on the basis that my prospective supervisor was going to be on sabbatical as well - kind of a deal breaker for me, although it was only a one year program in all fairness. No point going to study with someone if they're not there, but if it's a 3+ year PhD program then it's a bit different.

Congrats on your acceptances @inoue77 and @melitree12! Lot of Japanese Studies folks here this year it seems, I'm feeling a bit lonely!

Everything is done on a first name basis at my university, even at undergraduate level, but maybe it's a British thing. Even in high school we didn't call teachers Mr/Mrs/Ms so-and-so, it was always first names, so the custom is already there before you go to university. I only really call people Dr/Professor so-and-so when writing emails to someone I haven't met, email etiquette and all that.

My supervisor-to-be told me what to read in preparation without my even asking, so it certainly isn't universally frowned upon.

My application deadlines were pretty scattered, so my first choice had a deadline of January, whilst other programs didn't even accept applications until April. I got in to my first choice, but my Plan B was a number of...let's say less than reputable universities (which admittedly had good funding). My Plan C was to return to China and/or Mongolia for a year to brush up on my language skills.

I had my CV (sparse as it was back then) online on academia.edu in my first year as an undergraduate. I've often seen other undergraduate and MA students post their own academic CV's online as well - it's certainly not a PhD only thing.

Sounds neat! I had a fun time with a paper on Akutagawa and Pu Songling a while ago, but that's more Meiji era I suppose. Let us know how the applications go! Sorry, I meant the undergrads I've never had an undergraduate EAS seminar with that many folks (~40) before. Yes you're right, it's only about six-ish MA students admitted per year at Alberta I think. Not too surprising it's a Chinese studies majority; hopefully there are some students doing other things this year coming, I always enjoy chatting to people who do Korean and Japanese. Well I've spent the last two and a half decades in the UK. Maybe not quite -20 all the time, but I'm not entirely unaccustomed to the cold. I'm sure my family will still freak out and buy me a ton of winter clothing all the same

Cheers! I did a quick bit of math and decided against applying anywhere else. Alberta's offer is too good to refuse really. Thanks for the info! I was going to say 130 is a big cohort, but I guess if it's Japanese, Chinese and Korean Studies combined it makes sense (it's about 50 tops for each individually here). I've heard some horror stories about the cold weather, so living on campus would definitely be beneficial! Good luck! What period do you work on?

Do you speak Korean? I was very close to applying to two English-language programs at Sungkyunkwan until I saw a tiny footnote that they required applicants to have a modest Korean proficiency. SNU also appears to require TOPIK 3, but it's a little ambiguous. IELTS 7 is fine, SNU only require 5.5; maybe the Linguistics department requires a higher score, but it's doubtful that would be over 7-7.5. I'm not sure about GPA.

@CoffeeFueledAnxietyThank you My brain might have been a bit frazzled when I posted first, it kind of hit me all at once that it was happening (doing an MA) and I felt a bit overwhelmed and under-prepared. I think taking it slow as you suggest is a good idea. I'll see if there are other people I can contact in regards to the campus/university itself (I'm mainly concerned about accommodation and campus rules that might be different to what we have here in the UK). @TakeruK Sorry for the confusion, the program is in Canada, not the US. I meant North America generally, which was I guess a little silly. In regards to my research, although my proposal was accepted, the sub-field I specialise in a quite niche (to the point that next to no one publishes on it). Obviously if my potential supervisor has signed off on it, then he's confident in supervising it, but I would naturally like to hear what he thinks about it and double-check a few things. I'm generally confident with the topic and the field, so I'm not worried about it in that regard, although there are a few details I would like to go over with him. I have a bit of an aversion to speaking over the phone with strangers (although in person in fine), so even though that would be a great idea, I would prefer to converse with him over email. I will try and narrow down the key questions I would like to ask specific to him though. Thanks all

Hi guys! So this cycle I have only applied to one MA program, to which I got accepted last week. I was planning to apply to more, but this is a North American program and the deadlines came up a lot sooner (I'm in the UK), so consequently I haven't put the wheels in motion for anything else. I have a tentative deadline of somewhere in March to decide, which may not be enough time to even apply anywhere else. I'm happy with that though and am keen to attend this particular program. However, I wasn't particularly optimistic of my chances when I applied. Thus I only had a very short exchange of emails with my potential supervisor, which pretty much amounted to making sure he could accommodate my research interests. Now I've been accepted, I realise I don't know him half as well as I do some of the other professors I was corresponding with vis-a-vis doing an MA with them (one main one who unfortunately transpired to be on research leave next year, which is why I'm not too concerned about not making other applications now). So naturally I have a ton of questions for this guy, including a more nuanced discussion of my proposed research, course structure and content, faculty/campus policies etc etc (their website is pretty sparse). Even though I'm 99% sure I'll accept the offer, I still worried there might be that one little deal-breaker somewhere that I could have found out before committing to the program. I just feel that I don't know enough about my potential supervisor or the program itself, and even though I will probably accept the offer, I still want to know these things before I accept. My question then is is it okay/normal to do this? At the moment it's looking like I'm going to bombard him with pages of questions, which seems a little rude/improper, even though he seems like a nice guy and has offered to answer my queries. Do most people wait until they accept their place before going through details, or is it normal to effectively interview your supervisor-to-be before you accept? I am thinking of emailing him to ask if asking him a ton of questions is okay (although that seems a little sad, and strange considering he's already offered to answer), but even so, I've never 'quizzed' an academic like this before. Should I just try and focus on a few key questions I absolutely need answers to? Or am I just overthinking this? (probably, but I do have a lot of questions for him..) Thank you