EALC 2018

[Naito]

Yes, very true. In technical term this is called "impact factor." I edited law journals before (relating to East Asia) and certainly impact factor is incredibly important, and the chief editor routinely rejects articles that are trivial. Maybe this is apple and orange but the principle is parallel.

By the way, if you can somehow get your first book published by HUP and then also somehow get it translated to Chinese, Japanese, etc. (not by yourself, but maybe by professional translator/professors in those countries) then that will be bonus points to the impact factor. 

Happy writing!

Edited January 20, 2018 by NaitoBaron

[lordtiandao]

Honestly, getting your first book published by any of A ranking academic publishers is good enough. HUP is prestigious, but it's not the most prestigious publisher out there. In fact, I would argue that Cambridge University Press might even be more prestigious than Harvard. Most of the publisher rankings I've seen rank them by categories (A, B, C). Within the categories, all publishers are basically equal. 

For example, this is the A+ category of academic publishers for humanities according to the City University of Hong Kong (which should be similar to lists used by other HK universities):

• Cambridge University Press
• Cornell University Press
• Columbia University Press
• Duke University Press
• Harvard University Press
• John’s Hopkins University Press
• John Wiley & Sons
• MIT Press Cambridge Mass
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford University Press Clarendon
• PHAIDON
• Princeton University Press
• Stanford University Press
• University of California Press
• University of Chicago Press
• University of Pennsylvania Press
• Yale University Press

Full list here: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/scm/pbpr_roa/PBPR%20Final%20Draft.pdf

Edited January 21, 2018 by lordtiandao

[lordtiandao]

11 hours ago, pudewen said:

I'd like to point out that the difference between journals isn't all about prestige. One of my good friends works part-time for HJAS and one of my committee members is currently running the journal, and what I've heard consistently is that what leads a large number of HJAS submissions to be rejected is that they don't have a wide enough audience. The "rule" that I've heard for them is that to be published in HJAS your article needs to be of clear interest to someone who either works on a different East Asian country from you, on a different time period from you, or in a different field from you. So if your article deals with medieval Chinese lit, it needs to either be clearly important to a scholar of medieval Chinese history, or one of medieval Japanese lit, or one of late imperial Chinese lit. You can write an absolutely terrific article on Tang poetry, but if it doesn't appeal outside the field, it's not right for HJAS, and should go to a field specific journal. The same would be true for JAS, and similar things are true for top disciplinary journals (to be published in AHR, your article probably needs to interest a historian who works on a different place from you). So consider the aims of a journal when deciding where to (try to) publish. If your article doesn't have the right audience, it doesn't really matter how good it is.

Very true, but that's also why we have journals that cater to specific fields, for example Ming Studies for Ming dynasty related articles.

[Naito]

@costevens Recently there is a good historical drama regarding the Three Kingdoms. In preparation to read Tian Xiaobei's upcoming book this is a must-watch as background! And good for Classical Chinese practice (subtitles included)! Trailer below (full episodes on youku)

 

Edited January 22, 2018 by NaitoBaron

[lordtiandao]

3 hours ago, NaitoBaron said:

@costevens Recently there is a good historical drama regarding the Three Kingdoms. In preparation to read Tian Xiaobei's upcoming book this is a must-watch as background! And good for Classical Chinese practice (subtitles included)! Trailer below (full episodes on youku)

 

I never understood the appeal of this series. They basically turned it into some weird palace intrigue drama where the emperor's concubines are instead replaced by Cao Cao's sons. I would say that a better Three Kingdoms drama is this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Cao_(TV_series), which is based more on the SGZ and tries to paint Cao Cao in a more historically accurate light.

[Ouyang]

Hi, everyone. I'm from Taiwan, and I got MA degree last year. My interest field mainly focuses on Chinese intellectual history, but I'm also interested in issues, like Chinese Modernity, comparative studies. I decide to apply for PhD in United States this year because of my interest.

I've seen this website for a while, but I'd not noticed EALC forum until today! Anyway, it is really glad to know you guys!

[Naito]

@Ouyang Welcome, big welcome! I hope you get accepted to a PhD in the US! Nice to see an international student applying! 歡迎大駕光臨！ 子曰：“有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎?"  

Edited January 22, 2018 by NaitoBaron

[lordtiandao]

@Ouyang Hello! What kind of comparative studies are you interested in? East-West? China-Japan?

[Kaiwei]

@NaitoBaron The series looks like a great way to gain more exposure to Classical Chinese! 

 

@Ouyang Welcome! Is your name derived from 歐陽修? I wrote a thesis on Su Shi, and the two were often at odds, especially with the promulgation of Ouyang's "New Policies". Ouyang's political musings are quite intriguing--I intend on reading more about him in the future!

[bakedmanapua]

Welcome, @Ouyang! 

[Riby]

@Ouyang Welcome to the forum!

[narple]

Hey EALC, 

Just found this thread, because I spend most of my time over in history. I work on Korean and comparative history. I applied to mostly history departments with the exceptions of UCLA, Penn, and Harvard’s HEAL. 

Good luck all!

[Ouyang]

@lordtiandao Mainly in intellectual comparative study on East-West, like modern new-Confucianism, which compares Confucianism to German philosophy. Although I studied New-Confucianism in MA, I would turn to Ming Confucians in near future! Are you from Hong Kong?

@NaitoBaron @spicyramen @Riby Thanks a lot! 謝謝！

@costevens Yeah, 歐陽修 is my old ancestor haha! I think he will be happy to know his intellectual legacy has not been forgotten!

 

 

[lordtiandao]

@Ouyang That sounds interesting! Where have you applied? I know Peterson at Princeton does intellectual history, but he's getting close to retirement I believe. Peter Bol in Harvard is another major intellectual historian. I'm not from Hong Kong, but I am doing my MPhil here.

[Naito]

@Ouyang  Wow that is such a great honor to know Ou Yang Xiu's descendant!!! *bow*

[Ouyang]

@lordtiandao Yeah,  I did apply for Princeton and Harvard this year because of Professor Bol and Peterson. If there are more scholars who do Chinese intellectual history, I would have much more options (those two universities are too competitive to apply for me...)

[kotatsumuri]

Welcome to EALC, @Ouyang and @narple!! Best of luck to you both and keep us posted on how your applications are going

[archimon]

Just to let others that applied to HEAL know: I applied and was told on the 17th (of January) that I would not be accepted to the Ph.D., but that my application would be redirected to the RSEA M.A. program. Also, my POI said that they "really want you [i.e., me] to come here" - does this mean anything at this stage? Should I expect an acceptance?

Edited January 23, 2018 by archimon

[Naito]

23 minutes ago, archimon said:

Just to let others that applied to HEAL know: I applied and was told on the 17th (of January) that I would not be accepted to the Ph.D., but that my application would be redirected to the RSEA M.A. program. Also, my POI said that they "really want you [i.e., me] to come here" - does this mean anything at this stage? Should I expect an acceptance?

From what I heard, if your file goes from PhD to the AM program, this usually means you probably lack several things that the admission committee thinks can be improved during the AM so that your future re-application to the PhD will be stronger.

A professor told me that during an AM/MA, one should do all one can, inside and outside classes, in order to:

1. Push one's linguistic competence forward (classical/modern if applicable and one European language, usually français or deutsch)

2. Sharpen one's training in a discipline (e.g. literature, philosophy)

So if you are admitted to the AM program, you should work on those things for your re-application to the PhD! 

Now, the admission committees for the AM and the PhD are not necessarily the same people, but your chances are probably good if a professor roots for you, so fingers crossed for your acceptance to the AM program!  

Edited January 23, 2018 by NaitoBaron

[archimon]

10 minutes ago, NaitoBaron said:

From what I heard, if your file goes from PhD to the AM program, this usually means you probably lack several things that the admission committee thinks can be improved during the AM so that your future re-application to the PhD will be stronger.

A professor told me that during an AM/MA, one should do all one can, inside and outside classes, in order to:

1. Push one's linguistic competence forward (classical/modern if applicable and one European language, usually français or deutsch)

2. Sharpen one's training in a discipline (e.g. literature, philosophy)

So if you are admitted to the AM program, you should work on those things for your re-application to the PhD! 

Now, the admission committees for the AM and the PhD are not necessarily the same people, but your chances are probably good if a professor roots for you, so fingers crossed for your acceptance to the AM program!  

Thanks for the reply! I applied to the Ph.D. only because it seemed like there was nothing to lose - they generally redirect your application if you are a good fit for the school anyway. I am definitely aware that I need to work on language skills/deepen my competency as a research in the discipline (especially when it comes to working with Classical Chinese primary sources - my research interests are Song/Yuan/Ming social/cultural history), and their email to me seemed to imply that it was language skills that they were most concerned about. I suspect an MA would help quite a bit with this. 

 

Has anyone here done the Harvard A.M.? I'm quite interested in learning about what sorts of funding opportunities are available for foreign language study - I'd definitely like to get to work on Japanese as a masters student.

[lordtiandao]

32 minutes ago, archimon said:

Thanks for the reply! I applied to the Ph.D. only because it seemed like there was nothing to lose - they generally redirect your application if you are a good fit for the school anyway. I am definitely aware that I need to work on language skills/deepen my competency as a research in the discipline (especially when it comes to working with Classical Chinese primary sources - my research interests are Song/Yuan/Ming social/cultural history), and their email to me seemed to imply that it was language skills that they were most concerned about. I suspect an MA would help quite a bit with this. 

 

Has anyone here done the Harvard A.M.? I'm quite interested in learning about what sorts of funding opportunities are available for foreign language study - I'd definitely like to get to work on Japanese as a masters student.

Your posts seem to suggest that the committee wants you to work on your Classical Chinese. I'm not sure what level you are at currently, but for your stated interests, you will be coming into contact with a lot of Classical Chinese documents. As someone who studies the Song-Yuan-Ming transition, I can tell you that these documents, particularly Yuan-era texts, are not easy to read. My advice to you is to use your one year of M.A. to really work on your Classical Chinese and make sure you have a working competency. Japanese can wait, in fact, it's not a requirement to get into PhD and you'll probably have to take it during your PhD anyways. The department will usually provide some kind of funding to cover it (or apply for the FLAS grant) and you can even apply for summer programs in Japan. Obviously, it would be great to learn it as early as possible, but I would advise you to place the language of your primary source over languages needed for secondary sources.

[Naito]

@archimon You're welcome. Here are some suggestions (feel free to disregard):

1. Take either/or/both HSK 6 (漢語水平考試第六級) and TOCFL Band C (華語文能力測驗 流利精通級) and get Level 6 in the Band C. This is equivalent to CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) of linguistic competency C2. Then add that to your CV and keep a copy of each diploma, scan, and upload to your application eventually. 

2. Take Classical Chinese courses each semester at RSEA. Get Kroll's Student's Dictionary of Classical Chinese and Du's Handbook of Classical Chinese books. And, classical and medieval Chinese are akin to poetry, so try to note the pattern AND approximate it, e.g. a sample Chinese verse that is quite symmetrical here: 《論語‧季氏篇》「益者三友章」云：「孔子曰：益者三友，損者三友。友直，友諒，友多聞，益矣。友便辟，友善柔，友便佞，損矣。」. Note that approximating the pattern is extremely important because chinese wasn't written with punctuations (commas, period) back then so unless you read more well known texts the sentences are not punctuated for you in the archives.

3. If you're abroad, try to audit undergrad courses in Chinese, e.g. philosophy, literature,  etc. but taught in Chinese. 

Edited January 23, 2018 by NaitoBaron

[Naito]

@archimon Some more that I just remembered:

4. Once you're done with introductory/intermediate Classical Chinese and move on to Advanced Classical Chinese, you should consider using the annotations of other writers on the classical texts to study the texts. Classical Chinese can be worded to have many, many meanings. E.g.: "非澹泊無以明志，非寧靜無以致遠" (諸葛亮). So see what other ancient writers have annotated. Some prominent scholars have annotated classical texts before, and even published encyclopedia of annotations. You can use Emperor Kangxi's encyclopedia 《四庫全書》　for example.

5. Get Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (yellow book), Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar (blue book), and Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar (red book). With your knowledge of Chinese characters (preferably traditional because Japanese Kanji is more like traditional Chinese characters), you just need to study hiragana and katakana which should take less than a day, and then you just need to learn the grammar to be able to read Japanese.

[lordtiandao]

A good way to practice Classical Chinese is to translate them into English. Harvard used to (perhaps still does?) make all their students translate passages from the 資治通鑒. It's also what my adviser made me do. Classical Chinese is very difficult to translate but once you get into the habit of doing it, it's actually quite interesting.

[narple]

3 hours ago, archimon said:

Thanks for the reply! I applied to the Ph.D. only because it seemed like there was nothing to lose - they generally redirect your application if you are a good fit for the school anyway. I am definitely aware that I need to work on language skills/deepen my competency as a research in the discipline (especially when it comes to working with Classical Chinese primary sources - my research interests are Song/Yuan/Ming social/cultural history), and their email to me seemed to imply that it was language skills that they were most concerned about. I suspect an MA would help quite a bit with this. 

 

Has anyone here done the Harvard A.M.? I'm quite interested in learning about what sorts of funding opportunities are available for foreign language study - I'd definitely like to get to work on Japanese as a masters student.

I agree that it seems like Classical Chinese should be your focus. But in terms of funding check out the FLAS awards, I am not sure what Harvard offers except that I know they don't offer Korean. But if you get accepted you can sometimes talk with individuals in the funding office and access special awards for language training the summer before you enter. 

This is an option at Chicago, which is where I did my MA. Although it was a one year program so this was perhaps because you can't take classes during the academic year.