Naito
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Everything posted by Naito
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I think this is a very unpopular opinion of mine, and many, many people won't like it, but IMHO I think if one doesn't get into an elite PhD program, please just re-apply again next year. It's going to be a major time commitment. You want to get into the top program, which has better resources, placement record, etc. Do NOT settle. If academia doesn't work out, for example, you can leverage your elite PhD to do something else, for instance this founder of a consulting firm has a PhD from Harvard (and a BA from Middlebury, which has a very strong reputation for languages), which I imagine would help with pitching clients etc.: http://www.sinicaeducation.com/about/ Anyway do have plan B as even the top PhD grads studying with the top advisors don't get TT. Just my two cents, 僅供參考，我之愚見，諸公姑妄聼之！
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@Kongyiji 豈敢豈敢! I was afraid the poems would betray my lack of Chinese proficiency lol. Chinese is not even my 2nd or 3rd language actually, as I started French and Spanish first in high school and German and Japanese in freshman year, with Chinese -- and Korean -- coming much later, and I think my poems have some minor technical problems...But please overlook those small technical problems!! I'll try my best to conform to the rules... My Japanese haiku has no technical problems, though -- in fact, its 5-7-5 syllable structure is rigid, and the English translation of the haiku also conforms to the 5-7-5 syllable structure as well. By the way, one of my favorite Japanese poets is Matsuo Basho 松尾 芭蕉. Reading 王力先生的《诗词格律》、《诗词格律概要》、《诗词格律十讲》 http://www.wcai.net/poetry/gelu/gelu00.htm right now so I should have a good idea of how to improve on the small technical issues very soon.
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@BC2018 No problem. Did you end up getting into a PhD program this year? If not, try a mix of PhDs in political science and Asian Studies next year if you still want to study international relations. If not apply for an MA at Johns Hopkins, then retry for PhD. Good luck!
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@AnUglyBoringNerd Wahahaha the cat expression and grief utterances are classic!! Reminds me of a guqin piece that aptly describes your utterances in not only four tones, but in seven strings... 以音表心，甚妙！！問諸君，多愁之有？奉上一曲，以數君愁： 《幾多愁》 "春花秋月何时了 往事知多少小楼昨夜又东风 故国不堪回首月明中雕栏玉砌应犹在 只是朱颜改问君能有几多愁 恰似一江春水向东流"
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@AnUglyBoringNerd @Kongyiji @costevens @Ouyang @mxiongturquoiseI'd like to share this poem written by Luo Guanzhong 羅貫中 in Romance of the Three Kingdoms《三國演義》which captures my sentiment in waiting for further results. Both the Imperial Examination 科舉 and Recommendation System 察舉制 are so like graduate school admissions...(Even though I am 復古運動學派 like 歐陽修 was, I hate this!) There's a song for it, too. The last line is so me! "聊寄傲於琴書兮，以待天時" "鳳翱翔於千仞兮，非梧不棲； 士伏處於一方兮，非主不依。 樂躬耕於隴畝兮，吾愛吾廬； 聊寄傲於琴書兮，以待天時。” (Imperfect) translation by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor: "The phoenix dies high, O! And only will perch on a magnolia tree. The scholar is hidden, O! Till his lord appear he can patient be. He tills his fields, O! He is well-content and loves his home, He awaits his day, O! His books and his lute to leave and roam.
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For those who can't read Chinese, here's the rough translation for the other poem. 《待校信》 尚無回音，嗚呼痛哉 未知成否，長期久待 千慮萬愁，人豈不傷 何以忘憂，名揚金榜 時河悠悠，斷吾心腸！ "Waiting for Letter from the Schools" There are not yet any reply coming back from any schools, The lack of noise alone led to my tear-soaked sleeves. Not knowing if it's an acceptance or a rejection, I have to continue the long-winded path of anticipation. As the thousand thoughts and million worries build up, There won't be anyone who aren't affected by the wait. So how do we make ourselves forget the state of disquiet? Only when we are accepted, of course! The slow flow of the river of time is so sluggish, Yet its force is enough to place my heart in pain. -- 白駒子，2018年2月23日，美東
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Translations: 1st poem:《落志吟》 臘月風兮寒刺骨，雪景無垠兮白霜湖 落榜信兮驟然臨，凄清音兮悲楚琴！ 初高志兮今漸散，書生命兮空虛感！ 他日多兮需自勵，餘六校兮仍要悉 拜佛[1]祈福[2]兮願得一！ Notes 注解: [1] 佛者，佛祖之外亦為哈佛門校之略。[2]福者，福壽之外亦為斯坦福門校之略。兩者皆為美東美西之稷下學宮。一方喻言訪寺信佛求成，一方期盼仍有高中之望。 Translation: "Loss of Zeal Poem" In the 12th month of the lunar calendar, The cold wind gusting, its chill piercing. The landscape covered in boundless snow, The lake has turned into white dust. Suddenly news of rejection arrived, The cold, plaintive sound Of the guqin[1]cries the sorrow of lost Chu[2] My original high hope dispersed with the wind, My fate as a shusheng[3] has become an empty void, But wait, the days are still long, so I must self-encourage, Still six more schools that have yet to let me know of my fate I shall pray to the Buddha for fortune, to get into just one of these![4] 1. Guqin: Classical Chinese string musical instrument 2. Chu: One of the 7 major states in the Warring States of China that was destroyed by the armies of the First Emperor 3. Shusheng: Often used to imply someone who JUST knows how to study and nothing else 4. There's a pun/word play here that is easily lost in translation. But basically the transliterated sound for Harvard into Chinese has the word Buddha in it, and the transliterated sound for Stanford into Chinese has the word "Fortune" in it, so in addition to the verse having its literal meaning, the pun/word play implies "Between 'worshiping' Harvard and 'requesting' Stanford, I wish for one of the two!" 2nd poem:《贈無名女居士》 因緣僥相識 幸君賞我詩 無需見尊顏 知音連心思 Translation: "Gift to the Nameless Scholar" We met by a twist of Fate, a predestined relationship I cannot be more glad that you found in my poem poetic joy No need for me to see your venerable countenance Twin souls our tunes met, the meeting of the minds 3rd poem:《花見俳句》 （はなみはいく） 天(あま）の花（はな） 空（そら）から落（お）ちる 桜（さくら）海（うみ） Translation: Heavenly flowers Are falling from the high sky Cherry blossoms sea -- 白駒子，2018年2月22日，美東
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Thank you! Looking forward to your poems.
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@BC2018 Welcome to thread! Sorry I was drafting a response to your inquiry but was distracted by the poets' party lol. But in a nutshell, a few points: 1. Yes, like @BagelBabee said, having a US MA will really help you. The reasons are (a) your LORs from US MA program will come from professors that the PhD admission committee probably know well; (b) foreign professors may not really know how to write a LOR, as the genre really requires a different style (i.e. hyperbole) -- I was asked by a foreign friend to edit his foreign professor's LOR for him (as his prof let him see it) and it was full of grammar errors!; (c) they may not be familiar with how good of a preparation for doctoral programs your MA university is. Of course, there are people who have done MA abroad and gotten to top PhD programs. Robert Ashmore comes immediately to mind (MA Chinese, Beijing; PhD, Harvard), but getting a top MA program in the US helps getting into a top PhD in the US http://ealc.berkeley.edu/people/ashmore-robert 2. Have you taken TOPIK (한국어능력시험）? If you're still in Korea, give it a try, and push your linguistic competency in Korean to Level 5 or 6 (Advanced). Levels 5 and 6 are really just about learning more Hanja, idioms, and specialized vocab, so if you have a strong foundation in Korean grammar you'll not find Levels 5 and 6 difficult. If you are at Yonsei University, you can take courses at the KLI 연세대하교 한국어학당, and they will prepare you very well for taking the TOPIK. (If you want to improve on speaking, Sogang University's Korean program is probably better). Take the TOPIK, get the diploma, and strengthen your profile for re-application. 3. Since you seem to want to study international relations, why not apply to and get an MA from Johns Hopkins or Georgetown? Both have great MA programs and have limited funding available. If you get an MA from Johns Hopkins' Institute of Advanced International Studies, I imagine you would be a stronger candidate for your eventual re-application to PhD programs.
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@Kongyiji Wow!! Bravo!! 引詩仙導字之擧，善中之至善，風景生動若活畫，妙筆一揮手，呼春喚百花，君之詩無與倫比！！Thanks for re-igniting the poetic spirit in this thread! Please allow me the pleasure and honor to join the Party Poetica and offer three humble pieces: (1) 《落志吟》 (2) 《贈無名女居士》 (3) 花見俳句 I imagine this is similar to the gatherings of the literati during the early Imperial era -- often the officials would exchange poems and drink wine while watching traditional or martial dances (飲酒唱歌觀劍舞）!! (I'm a hopeless romantic-idealist haha). Even during the early Imperial period, it should be noted that many famous people who eventually went on to do great things in the Tang, such as 空前絕後詩聖杜甫 the first-and-the-last Poet Sage Du Fu, failed the Imperial Examination 唐科舉制. Joining the group of literati who failed the Imperial Examination was the Taoist Sage 妙道真君呂洞賓 who ended up choosing to follow the Dao (出世) rather than trying to become a scholar-official (入世). If they had not failed the Imperial Examination, the world might not have seen these two magnificent Poet and Taoist Sages! In other words, this may have been a blessing in disguise 禍兮福所倚 福兮禍所伏。 And, in fiction written by Lu Xun 魯迅,, we all know that Kong Yiji 孔乙己 never passed the exam (or really? The author never really told us what his ultimate fate was -- he could have passed the exam and still ended up being miserable or dead; we were only told, through the narrator's perspective and conjecture, that Kongyiji hasn't been seen therefore Kongyiji probably died: "我到現在終於沒有見——大約孔乙己的確死了。But in all likelihood, he would probably still die even if he passed the Imperial Examination somewhere down the road during the turbulent late Qing era anyway 生於清末之亂世難以苟全性命也！） 1. @costevens《落志吟》 As mentioned earlier, since I got rejected, here's the sequel to my 《待校信》, which is 《落志吟》. Unlike the prequel, the sequel employs the 兮 form of classical poetry originated from the State of Chu 楚, which Qu Yuan 屈原 was most famous for during the Warring States. 《落志吟》 臘月風兮寒刺骨，雪景無垠兮白霜湖 落榜信兮驟然臨，凄清音兮悲楚琴！ 初高志兮今漸散，書生命兮空虛感！ 他日多兮需自勵，餘六校兮仍要悉 拜佛[1]祈福[2]兮願得一！ Notes 注解: [1] 佛者，佛祖之外亦為哈佛門校之略。[2]福者，福壽之外亦為斯坦福門校之略。兩者皆為美東美西之稷下學宮。一方喻言訪寺信佛求成，一方期盼仍有高中之望。 -- 白駒子，2018年2月22日，美東 2. @AnUglyBoringNerd《贈無名女居士》 Like many Tang literati, the act of exchanging poems to their best friends (e.g. 杜甫 to 李白) -- or even new acquaintances (e.g. 李白之《贈汪倫》), served not only a romantic-idealist function of satisfying the poetic momentum of the poet, but also a way to promote both their own career, personality, and works, as well as the recipients of the gift poems (See Anna Shields, 《知我者》) . IMHO, 知音者，知其音而交其心，如箏風合一，雙劍合璧也，相逢足矣！ 《贈無名女居士》 因緣僥相識 幸君賞我詩 無需見尊顏 知音連心思 -- 白駒子，2018年2月22日，美東 3. @kotatsumuri And this is my haiku 俳句 inspired by my upcoming trip to Tokyo Japan in early April to see cherry blossoms haha. 《花見俳句》 （はなみはいく） 天(あま）の花（はな） 空（そら）から落（お）ちる 桜（さくら）海（うみ） -- 白駒子，2018年2月22日，美東
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Rejected from WUSTL and Berkeley here. 残念ながら不合格....
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@AnUglyBoringNerd You will go very far in life (and certainly academia). Respect. *tips off my hat*
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@costevens 8 years! Yikes... If you do a PhD, see #3 here, "Finish as quickly as possible": http://100rsns.blogspot.com/p/if-you-decide-to-go-anyway.html If you're willing to go abroad, there are always opportunities even for literature. I think you should choose EALC at the most prestigious schools (and you will), and eventually you'll also have options to go abroad to be a TT professor. See Lucas Klein whose specialty is Chinese poetry. I can totally imagine you becoming like Prof. Klein! http://www.chinese.hku.hk/main/dr-lucas-klein/
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@thesiswillbegreat Welcome to the forum and big congrats on your Harvard admit! If you want to find a TT job in China, I think you should go with Harvard. Obviously, the Harvard HEAL PhD is very clearly marketed as a history degree, not area studies one. Also as you said in China there's not really a difference between a history or an EALC degree. I think prestige probably matters more in Asia, so a Harvard PhD will open doors for you. Do you want to teach in mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, etc.) or one of the SARs (e.g. HK)? There's a City University of HK professor in the Chinese & History Department with a PhD from Harvard: https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/persons/huan-jin(36f84c25-06ee-4c7f-9e09-177491cb7982).html With a Harvard PhD you can even get appointments in a Department of Economics and Management 東北大学経済学部 like this Professor and keep doing research in East Asian history! http://www.econ.tohoku.ac.jp/econ///english/staff/member/matsutani.html Congrats again!!
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This is completely true, inasmuch as (1) history is a traditional discipline, (2) area studies are really "vague", and (3) there are more traditional departments like history than there are interdisciplinary studies departments. The academic market is really rough but you are making the right choice. Enjoy Columbia/Chicago!
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@niohesektu Welcome to the forum! It's a good sign that you got waitlisted. From what I heard, some professors just don't want to take too many students in any given year. You should reiterate your strong interest to do research with your POI in a LOCI (letter of continued interest) and hope that someone will decline their Harvard PhD offer. If things don't work out this year, you might have better luck next year. I have a friend who was waitlisted at another PhD program at Duke the first year, and then re-applied and got accepted to the same Duke PhD the second year, so don't lose heart! Fingers crossed for you, and best of luck!
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@AnUglyBoringNerd If you get into Princeton, please, please go to Princeton. Or will you still go to Columbia?!
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@mxiongturquoise I hope you get accepted this year to your top PhD programs!
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@mxiongturquoise Chicago and Oxford are both great programs! Is there a particular PhD program that you really want to get into or something?
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I think no one on here applied to UVA, but I was told that the UVA admission committee has met and decisions will be sent out in 2 weeks. If funding doesn't work out I'm going to go to UVA and pay in-state tuition.
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@AnUglyBoringNerd This is very good to know, and made me feel a bit better (and less bitter) -- like you, I didn't major in what I'm going to study lol. I didn't major in Chinese Lit nor Japanese Lit or Korean Lit, and I'm neither Japanese nor Chinese nor Korean so I'm not sure if the adcom will think I have what it takes to study for a research degree in EALC using primary sources and literary theories. But I really love classical Chinese literature. I hope to be a disciple of 法家法學派 (vs. 勢、術學派）！I guess I should have applied directly to Penn's PhD; I'm not going to be a cash cow to pay for their PhD students! Paul Goldin might have taken me in already had I applied for a PhD at Penn. He's a 法家學派之集大成者 in the US! I was too cautious and didn't think I should apply for PhD programs, as I don't have any MA yet. Sigh, 悔之晚矣！！！ Professor Philip Kafalas of Georgetown majored in something totally unrelated (English) for his BA and only switched to East Asian Studies (MA) and started learning Chinese after college, and still managed a PhD in Chinese so I hope without a major in Chinese/Japanese I can still get admitted... Fingers crossed for your Princeton acceptance! @costevens Hahaha where I work is really like a "club" -- the most conservative bastion of corporate America. And you'll probably think one of my college friends a nut too: she majored in Economics (because her parents wanted her to) and graduated summa cum laude in the major, but spent all 4 years studying Japanese and got JLPT N1 without taking a single Japanese class. I think given enough time anyone can learn a language. Plus proficiency exams are so formulaic like any other standardized tests (e.g. GRE) where you can do a lot of mock exams and pass...I have HSK 6 (and Advanced HSKK) and TOCFL Band C but I can barely speak Chinese (same situation with some of my friends in Japan who have JLPT N1 but aren't fluent because they work for US companies and don't have a chance to practice Japanese at work at all)...I have a hard time understanding modern Chinese because they speak too fast and use too many slangs. But Classical Chinese is easy! It probably helps that I learned Japanese first before starting Chinese. The traditional characters help. Now if you remove all the hiragana and katakana from a Japanese sentence, you have something similar to Classical Chinese there. So just use the methods I told you and you'll become a nut soon, LOL!
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I'm slowly reaching the conclusion that if I don't get accepted to a reasonable program, I will wait for one more year, stay at my job, and re-apply next year. If that doesn't work out either, then I'm not meant to be in academia. At least I have tried and failed. Then no regrets and continue to climb up the corporate ladder.
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@kotatsumuri I'm so sorry to hear that. As for the unfunded MA, yeah, it's a cash cow, so I'm ready to reject it here.
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WOW! Excellent! This is the best 對聯 I have ever seen in my life!
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Actually, one of my favorite dramas (and the sole reason why I want to go to Harvard -- lol JK!), is 러브스토리 인 하버드. To be more serious, it's probably the reason why I studied Korean lol. I can imagine myself as 김현우 (법과학생) hahaha. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Story_in_Harvard
