EALC / EALAC / EAS 2019

[potsupotsu]

Congrats @archimon! Columbia's a great school for EALC.

[archimon]

8 minutes ago, potsupotsu said:

Congrats @archimon! Columbia's a great school for EALC.

Thanks! ?

[Niochen]

7 hours ago, archimon said:

I just got got an official email from Columbia telling me that I’d been accepted, so presumably emails are coming out now. 

Congratulations! Do you have an interview before? cuz I'm going to have mine the day after tomorrow...

[archimon]

4 hours ago, Niochen said:

Congratulations! Do you have an interview before? cuz I'm going to have mine the day after tomorrow...

I didn’t have an interview as I’m already a Columbia student and thus a known quantity. If you have an interview scheduled you’re obviously still in consideration, so don’t sweat it. 

[Niochen]

44 minutes ago, archimon said:

I didn’t have an interview as I’m already a Columbia student and thus a known quantity. If you have an interview scheduled you’re obviously still in consideration, so don’t sweat it. 

Thank you for response archimon! 

[EAstudies]

15 hours ago, archimon said:

I just got got an official email from Columbia telling me that I’d been accepted, so presumably emails are coming out now. 

Congrats, archimon! Terrific program, indeed!

It seems like we have a pretty darn strong applicants on this website this year since so many of us are getting into great PhD programs. That being said, I wish everyone luck!

[potsupotsu]

Ahh I finally got my Harvard HEAL decision this morning! Accepted! The first e-mail was from a graduate student which kind of took me aback!

[archimon]

28 minutes ago, potsupotsu said:

Ahh I finally got my Harvard HEAL decision this morning! Accepted! The first e-mail was from a graduate student which kind of took me aback!

I haven’t heard anything, so presumably I didn’t get in. Congrats, in any case! Looks like you have quite the decision to make!

[potsupotsu]

1 hour ago, archimon said:

I haven’t heard anything, so presumably I didn’t get in. Congrats, in any case! Looks like you have quite the decision to make!

Thank you! Sorry to hear that, but Columbia is not exactly a consolation prize!

[archimon]

1 hour ago, potsupotsu said:

Thank you! Sorry to hear that, but Columbia is not exactly a consolation prize!

No it isn’t!

[EAstudies]

9 hours ago, potsupotsu said:

Ahh I finally got my Harvard HEAL decision this morning! Accepted! The first e-mail was from a graduate student which kind of took me aback!

Impressive! Congrats!!

[EAstudies]

 

On 2/12/2019 at 8:57 PM, archimon said:

I didn’t have an interview as I’m already a Columbia student and thus a known quantity. If you have an interview scheduled you’re obviously still in consideration, so don’t sweat it. 

By the way, just out of curiosity--Are you an undergraduate student at Columbia or are you attending their Master's program?

[archimon]

16 hours ago, EAstudies said:

 

By the way, just out of curiosity--Are you an undergraduate student at Columbia or are you attending their Master's program?

I’m an MA student.

[bugster88]

Hey All,

Not sure if this is the right place, but I wanted to ask your opinion about going into a Ph.D. program in the US in its current political state. I've been accepted to one the US schools I applied to (not UPenn, which is all quiet on the western front), and I'm so excited! But I'm also nervous about going into something this intense when the US looks about ready to eat itself.

As context, I'm currently living and working in Tokyo. I also have the opportunity to enter a PhD program at UTokyo, so it's not US or nothing for me.

Anyway, if anyone has any thought or words of advice, I'd love to hear it!

[bugster88]

btw, congrats to everyone and their acceptances! this thread is filled with amazing people!

[EAstudies]

7 hours ago, bugster88 said:

Hey All,

Not sure if this is the right place, but I wanted to ask your opinion about going into a Ph.D. program in the US in its current political state. I've been accepted to one the US schools I applied to (not UPenn, which is all quiet on the western front), and I'm so excited! But I'm also nervous about going into something this intense when the US looks about ready to eat itself.

As context, I'm currently living and working in Tokyo. I also have the opportunity to enter a PhD program at UTokyo, so it's not US or nothing for me.

Anyway, if anyone has any thought or words of advice, I'd love to hear it!

Just my personal opinion:

The U.S. is indeed in a precarious state, to put it generously. Nonetheless, I don't think the U.S. will completely "eat itself" in the next six or seven years to the point academia will also collapse. Major U.S. schools have large endowments compared to schools in other countries due to how they operate the schools, and they still have influential scholars, resources, and research networks here. State schools are indeed more dependent on the government grant, but if you're a student from the U.S., I don't think your stipend will be affected any time soon. And regional studies like EALC/EAS are not an exception.

If any, after doing a Ph.D. in the United States, you can be a professor in another country. Every year, there are quite a few Ph.D. recipients who get a tenure-track job in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, etc. This is a very common practice. However, the other way is simply not an option. There are numbers of scholars who have a B.A. or M.A. from East Asian schools, but all of them (or at least I haven't seen a single exception yet) have their final degrees, i.e., Ph.D., in the United States. This sounds unfair since this is East Asian studies, but this is the reality. So you should consider where you'd really like to stay after graduation. If you are sure that you only want to stay in Japan and nowhere else, then U Tokyo is a great option. But if you seriously want to remain in academia and do not work in an industry, a Ph.D. degree from the United States will open a bigger academic job market for you, and this includes moving back to Japan.

Lastly, you should remember that methodologies and the academic trend may differ in the United States and Japan. Even if you're studying the same discipline, let's say Japanology, the U.S. schools are becoming more and more inter-regional and interdisciplinary (though in varying degrees). Also, grad schools here and there have different cultures or vibes (e.g., a relationship between a grad student and professor), so that would be another thing to consider. 

And congrats on your acceptances!

[potsupotsu]

16 hours ago, bugster88 said:

Hey All,

Not sure if this is the right place, but I wanted to ask your opinion about going into a Ph.D. program in the US in its current political state. I've been accepted to one the US schools I applied to (not UPenn, which is all quiet on the western front), and I'm so excited! But I'm also nervous about going into something this intense when the US looks about ready to eat itself.

As context, I'm currently living and working in Tokyo. I also have the opportunity to enter a PhD program at UTokyo, so it's not US or nothing for me.

Anyway, if anyone has any thought or words of advice, I'd love to hear it!

Yes, I'd echo what @EAstudies said. I'm not an American citizen myself, and I definitely agree that the situation in the US seems incredibly scary, but remember that the current president is fairly unpopular and the election is coming up soon, so you will very likely not have to experience this for the entire 6 years you spend in graduate school in the US.

Also, while Toudai is a great school, keep in mind @EAstudies point about the way a foreign degree will be looked at in the US. I'd also encourage you to think about the way the training you will receive in Japan will be perceived in the US because there are major differences between Japanese-style scholarship and US-style scholarship. Japanese historians, for example, tend to produce works that are very descriptive and focus narrowly on a particular subject or particular documents, while in the US you will be encouraged to make a more analytic "big picture" argument. Both styles have their positives, but it might be difficult to make a name for yourself in the US if you produce Japanese-style work. 

[nekoinu]

Hello! This is my first-time post here!

This thread has been a great help for me! Especially, EAstudies and potsupotsu, thank you all for sharing great insights and updated information on admission status from the start of this forum. Your posts have been very encouraging to me! 

 

EAstudies, potsupotsu, and archimon, (or anybody who is willing to help me out on this!)

 

Would you share your insight on Columbia EALAC Ph.D.'s admission?

I haven't heard anything from them until now and had no interview. 

Do those who have not heard anything still have some chance? (Maybe after some admitted applicants choose schools which seem to send out results from now, like Harvard or Stanford?)

I am an international student doing an M.A. in the U.S.  

Thank you in advance!

[potsupotsu]

2 hours ago, nekoinu said:

 

Would you share your insight on Columbia EALAC Ph.D.'s admission?

Sorry to say I don't have any special insight into Columbia's admissions process, and I didn't apply there so I'm not sure if interviews are the norm or not. You can always call or e-mail them and ask if they've finished making decisions, but I'm not sure if they'll give you a satisfying answer.

[nekoinu]

25 minutes ago, potsupotsu said:

Sorry to say I don't have any special insight into Columbia's admissions process, and I didn't apply there so I'm not sure if interviews are the norm or not. You can always call or e-mail them and ask if they've finished making decisions, but I'm not sure if they'll give you a satisfying answer.

 

potsupotsu,

Oh, okay! Thank you so much for your reply! I will wait until around Mar. 10th, then! 

Congratulations on your excellent record of acceptance, too! I really wanted to join Princeton's program (I had a straight rejection! nooooo!).

[EAstudies]

12 hours ago, nekoinu said:

Would you share your insight on Columbia EALAC Ph.D.'s admission?

Unfortunately, I must say the same since I don't know much about their application process. But Archimon, as a current Columbia student who got into their PhD program, might have some knowledge. And as far as I remember, there was a current Columbia PhD student (might be from history dept. with the focus on East Asia, not EALAC) in this thread. If you want, you can try to go over the earlier parts of our conversation and send him or her a private message. 

[archimon]

2 minutes ago, EAstudies said:

Unfortunately, I must say the same since I don't know much about their application process. But Archimon, as a current Columbia student who got into their PhD program, might have some knowledge. And as far as I remember, there was a current Columbia PhD student (might be from history dept. with the focus on East Asia, not EALAC) in this thread. If you want, you can try to go over the earlier parts of our conversation and send him or her a private message. 

 

10 hours ago, potsupotsu said:

Sorry to say I don't have any special insight into Columbia's admissions process, and I didn't apply there so I'm not sure if interviews are the norm or not. You can always call or e-mail them and ask if they've finished making decisions, but I'm not sure if they'll give you a satisfying answer.

 

12 hours ago, nekoinu said:

Hello! This is my first-time post here!

This thread has been a great help for me! Especially, EAstudies and potsupotsu, thank you all for sharing great insights and updated information on admission status from the start of this forum. Your posts have been very encouraging to me! 

 

EAstudies, potsupotsu, and archimon, (or anybody who is willing to help me out on this!)

 

Would you share your insight on Columbia EALAC Ph.D.'s admission?

I haven't heard anything from them until now and had no interview. 

Do those who have not heard anything still have some chance? (Maybe after some admitted applicants choose schools which seem to send out results from now, like Harvard or Stanford?)

I am an international student doing an M.A. in the U.S.  

Thank you in advance!

I’ve replied to Nekoinu via PM.

[nekoinu]

6 hours ago, EAstudies said:

Unfortunately, I must say the same since I don't know much about their application process. But Archimon, as a current Columbia student who got into their PhD program, might have some knowledge. And as far as I remember, there was a current Columbia PhD student (might be from history dept. with the focus on East Asia, not EALAC) in this thread. If you want, you can try to go over the earlier parts of our conversation and send him or her a private message. 

2

 

6 hours ago, archimon said:

I’ve replied to Nekoinu via PM.

 

You guys are such awesome folks! I am glad I am in the same area of studies as you guys are! Thank you so much! 

[AnUglyBoringNerd]

15 hours ago, jpbends said:

Asian/American studies threads

There indeed is one thread in this forum about American Studies. 

[bugster88]

On 2/19/2019 at 8:53 PM, EAstudies said:

Just my personal opinion:

The U.S. is indeed in a precarious state, to put it generously. Nonetheless, I don't think the U.S. will completely "eat itself" in the next six or seven years to the point academia will also collapse. Major U.S. schools have large endowments compared to schools in other countries due to how they operate the schools, and they still have influential scholars, resources, and research networks here. State schools are indeed more dependent on the government grant, but if you're a student from the U.S., I don't think your stipend will be affected any time soon. And regional studies like EALC/EAS are not an exception.

If any, after doing a Ph.D. in the United States, you can be a professor in another country. Every year, there are quite a few Ph.D. recipients who get a tenure-track job in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, etc. This is a very common practice. However, the other way is simply not an option. There are numbers of scholars who have a B.A. or M.A. from East Asian schools, but all of them (or at least I haven't seen a single exception yet) have their final degrees, i.e., Ph.D., in the United States. This sounds unfair since this is East Asian studies, but this is the reality. So you should consider where you'd really like to stay after graduation. If you are sure that you only want to stay in Japan and nowhere else, then U Tokyo is a great option. But if you seriously want to remain in academia and do not work in an industry, a Ph.D. degree from the United States will open a bigger academic job market for you, and this includes moving back to Japan.

Lastly, you should remember that methodologies and the academic trend may differ in the United States and Japan. Even if you're studying the same discipline, let's say Japanology, the U.S. schools are becoming more and more inter-regional and interdisciplinary (though in varying degrees). Also, grad schools here and there have different cultures or vibes (e.g., a relationship between a grad student and professor), so that would be another thing to consider. 

And congrats on your acceptances!

 

On 2/20/2019 at 6:04 AM, potsupotsu said:

Yes, I'd echo what @EAstudies said. I'm not an American citizen myself, and I definitely agree that the situation in the US seems incredibly scary, but remember that the current president is fairly unpopular and the election is coming up soon, so you will very likely not have to experience this for the entire 6 years you spend in graduate school in the US.

Also, while Toudai is a great school, keep in mind @EAstudies point about the way a foreign degree will be looked at in the US. I'd also encourage you to think about the way the training you will receive in Japan will be perceived in the US because there are major differences between Japanese-style scholarship and US-style scholarship. Japanese historians, for example, tend to produce works that are very descriptive and focus narrowly on a particular subject or particular documents, while in the US you will be encouraged to make a more analytic "big picture" argument. Both styles have their positives, but it might be difficult to make a name for yourself in the US if you produce Japanese-style work. 

Thank you @EAstudies and @potsupotsu for your kind responses. It's given me a broader perspective from which to consider this: what kind of work do I want to do; what kind of scholar do I want to be? Thank you for reminding me of these questions. My stay in the US does not have to be permanent, but the training I receive at a US institution would indeed greatly influence my future prospects and capabilities as a researcher.

Now to weigh a US Ph.D. program against secure employment in a country with healthcare relatively figured out...a whole different sort of problem, haha.