Asian Studies Department

Matthew McCandless ’23

For the first time since before the global COVID-19 pandemic began, a Berea College student will intern at the Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project (KEEP) in Berea’s sister region of Hokuto-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.  Asian Studies minor and Political Science major Matthew McCandless, who plans to graduate in December 2023, will be the first intern at KEEP from Berea since summer 2019.  We are excited about Matthew’s upcoming adventure and grateful to our partners at KEEP as well as the American Committee for KEEP for making it possible!

Olivia Cundiff ’18

We recently heard from Olivia Cundiff ’18, who now is based in Washington, D.C., where she works at the U.S. State Department on issues related to Pacific islands.  Olivia completed her M.A. in Asian Studies at George Washington University, supported by a U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, which provides a generous stipend in addition to covering the costs of tuition. She then was awarded a Presidential Management Fellowship — the U.S. government’s flagship leadership development program for advanced degree holders across all academic disciplines, which recruits and develop future government leaders by providing a two-year, full-time, paid fellowship at a federal agency.  In 2023, Olivia will transition to the U.S. Department of Commerce, where she will research emerging technology and export control with regard to China.  “Thanks to Berea,” says Olivia, “I now get to dabble in a bit of everything in East Asia!”

Olivia welcomes contact with any current students who share her interests in Asia, policy, and security issues.  We’re very proud of you, Olivia!

Congratulations to our December 2022 graduates:

Tia Bunton ’22 (double major in Asian Studies and Music) plans to take time off after graduation to refine her personal and professional goals and begin saving for graduate studies in ethnomusicology.  Tia studied abroad in China as part of her Berea experience.  After years of pandemic-induced isolation, she hopes to travel overseas again before beginning graduate school.

Noah Eubanks ’22 (major in Asian Studies) intends to begin a career as an undergraduate international student adviser.  Having studied abroad in South Korea, Noah’s long-term goals include traveling to Japan.

Heather Rapien ’22 (double major in Asian Studies and Communication) has applied to the JET Program and hopes to hear good news about an English teaching position in Japan sometime in spring 2023.  A member of the Epsilon Alpha Sigma, Lambda Pu Eta, and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies, she has accepted a position with the Guest Relations Association.

The Department of Asian Studies congratulates these graduates and wishes them all the best in the Year of the Water Rabbit and beyond!

Congratulations to Wendell “Hotfoot” Garnett ’05, who recently completed the first portion of the 17-year Geshe degree program of Tibetan Buddhist studies at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, India!  This program offers an intensive grounding in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy through the traditional method of debating key Buddhist texts.  On hand to help mark this achievement by Wendell and others was His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who has resided in Dharmashala since fleeing Tibet in 1959.  Having completed this initial 8-year portion of his studies, Wendell will continue to study for another 9 years in order to complete the program.  Once he has finished his studies, he will receive the title Geshe (Tibetan, “one who knows virtue”), the equivalent of a doctoral degree in Tibetan Buddhist academic traditions.

Continue reading Wendell “Hotfoot” Garnett ’05 Reaches Milestone in Tibetan Buddhist Studies →

Three faculty members in the Asian Studies Department are publishing books this fall:

• Jianfen Wang has edited Performed Culture in Action to Teach Chinese as a Foreign Language: Integrating PCA into Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment (Routledge, 2022) with Professor Junqing (Jessie) Jia of Hamilton College. This book explores best practices in implementing the Performed Culture Approach (PCA) in teaching Chinese as a foreign language (CFL).

• Jeff Richey has expanded his 2013 book, Confucius in East Asia: Confucianism’s History in China, Korea, Japan, and Viet Nam, which now is available in a second, revised edition from Columbia University Press as part of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS)’ Key Issues in Asian Studies series. The new version incorporates analysis of Confucianism’s impact on how East Asian societies have responded to recent events such as the global coronavirus epidemic, the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and recent legal developments and social media trends.

• Lauren McKee also is publishing a volume in the AAS’ Key Issues in Asian Studies series, Japanese Government and Politics (Columbia University Press, 2022). Her book takes a comparative approach to Japanese politics, covering topics such as political parties and elections, civil society, bureaucracy, and foreign relations, and shows that strengthening democratic institutions is an ongoing struggle throughout much of the world, including Japan.

Congratulations to these faculty authors!

Fatima King ’14, Nicole Manging ’19, and Michelle Mecham ’22

Every year, a handful of Berea seniors and graduates apply for the highly competitive Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. Since 1987, more than 70,000 college and university graduates from all around the world have taught their native languages in Japan through the JET Program, which is administered by the Japanese government in cooperation with 38 other national governments. For most of that time, only one applicant from Berea has been successful each year.  In 2019, however, six Berea graduates were accepted by the program, setting a new record, which was nearly matched by Berea’s success in 2020, when all four finalists from Berea were accepted.

Continue reading Three Berean Finalists Accepted by JET Program →

Congratulations to our December 2021 graduates:

Ericah Martinez ’21 (minor in Asian Studies, major in Education Studies) has applied for the JET Program and hopes to teach English in Japan or elsewhere in East Asia after graduation before eventually seeking a master’s degree in the education field.

Kirstan McClendon ’21 (minor in Asian Studies, major in Spanish) plans to take post-graduate year off to improve both her Japanese and Spanish language skills while tutoring online to explore teaching as a career path.

Kurtis Shannon ’21 (major in Asian Studies) intends to remain in Kentucky and seek employment in a public library, with the goal of enrolling in a graduate program in library science or archivist studies in the near future.

Destiny Walker ’21 (major in Asian Studies) hopes to pursue a career as a librarian after spending the next year honing and developing her skills.

The Department of Asian Studies congratulates these graduates and wishes them all the best in the Year of the Water Tiger and beyond!