Asian Studies Department

Erica Berejnoi ’16

In less than a month, Erica Berejnoi ’16 will defend her Ph.D. dissertation in Sustainability at Arizona State University.  This monumental educational achievement is a milestone in a journey of learning that began at Berea College, where she majored in Asian Studies and Business Administration.  As a Berea student, Erica spent time in China and discovered a love for Chinese culture that later blossomed into an exploration of holistic spiritual traditions that have informed her work as a scholar of sustainability.  “The classes I took on Asian Studies have helped me a lot during my time at the Ph.D. program at ASU,” says Erica, who has authored or co-authored six scholarly articles and one book chapter thus far. Her dissertation, entitled Dancing through the Inner Dimension of Sustainability: An Autoethnography, investigates the connections between sustainability, spirituality, and happiness – research that was supported, in part, by a Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award.  She writes, “Sustainability goes beyond the numbers: you can see it at the table with the foods you eat (or do not have), on the streets with people and animals passing by (if you are fortunate to live in a place where you interact with animals outside the home), on your ability to get up from bed each day, or how you treat yourself and others…Sustainability is a journey we live every day.”  Congratulations, Erica!  We are very proud of you!

Video game designer and entrepreneur Tristan Lee Riven ’06 and his Korean collaborator, artist Kim Minho, recently were honored at the 2020 Taipei Game Show in Taiwan.  Their company, South Korea-based Devespresso Games, won the “Best Narration” and “Grand Prix” awards for its game The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters.  A total of 141 game titles from 17 countries were entered in this year’s competition, of which only 30 games were nominated to compete for awards.  Congratulations, Tristan & co.!

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.  This year, all four finalists from Berea – graduating Asian Studies majors Myles Crain ’20, Dominique Jenkins ’20, and Jesse Paul ’20, along with graduating Asian Studies minor (and Computer Science major) Rusty Dotson ’20 – received offers of positions with JET.  Myles, Jesse, and Rusty will become Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs), helping to teach English in Japanese K-12 classrooms, while Dominique will take on an assignment as a Coordinator for International Relations (CIR), which will entail duties as a translator and interpreter with a local government office in Japan.  Myles and Dominique prepared for their JET experiences by completing internships at the Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project (KEEP) in Berea’s sister region of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, while all four studied in East Asia as part of their Berea careers.  Congratulations and おめでとう to all!

Due to the closure of campus on March 15 in response to COVID-19 concerns, the Asian Studies Department’s graduating class of 2020 had to make do with a hurried, informal celebration of their achievements.  Fortunately, Noodle Nirvana, a favorite Berea restaurant, was still open for on-site dining at the time and was able to host the farewell dinner.  Three graduating seniors – major Jesse Paul ’20 and minors Delaney Anderson ’20 and Sienna Burgess ’20 – also were inducted into Epsilon Alpha Sigma (EAΣ), the honor society for academic achievement in East Asian studies.

Continue reading An Early Farewell to the Class of 2020 →

Our sole December 2019 graduate is Nicole Mangin ’19, who has completed a double major in Asian Studies and Art History. Nicole anticipates going to graduate school for further training as an archivist. During her Berea experience, Nicole managed to spend two summers in Japan — first, as a student with the Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS) intensive program, primarily in Japan’s Kansai region, and then as an intern at the Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project (KEEP) in Japan’s Kantō region. We wish Nicole every success. 頑張ってください!

Kelly Williams ’07, who has lived in Singapore since 2015, recently completed his Global Masters of Business Administration at the University of Manchester in England, earning a “pass with distinction” for his thesis work toward the degree.  Now he is beginning a new career with the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmCham) as AmCham’s Director of Business Development and Operations.  AmCham is the largest and the most active international business association in Singapore and Southeast Asia, with over 5,200 members representing more than 700 companies.  After a decade of working in a variety of business-related fields in East Asia and Southeast Asia, Kelly continues to put his Asian Studies degree to work by taking care of business in Asia.  Congratulations, Kelly!

In May 2019, ten of our students will celebrate the end of their Berea College journeys:

Emma Batson ’19 (minor) will begin doctoral studies in clinical psychology with a specialization in child and adolescent psychology at Wheaton College.  She hopes to put her Psy.D. to work by serving lower-income families in her hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia.

Anthony Gluck ’19 (major) will join the many other Bereans who have successfully competed for placements as English teachers in Japan with the JET Program.

Benjamin Hall ’19 (major) plans to relocate to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career and further education in theatre.

Caitlin Hodgson ’19 (minor) will return to her hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee to volunteer in its city archives and high school library.  She plans to earn her master’s degree in library and information science and become a professional archivist.

Eunice Jijon Jarquin ’19 (major) has accepted a staff position with The Arete Project’s summer 2019 Glacier Bay Session, a summer program that enables students to live, study, and work at a remote field school stationed on an island archipelago near Glacier Bay National Park in southeast Alaska.

Continue reading The Asian Studies Department Congratulates May 2019 Graduates! →