Asian Studies Department

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! →

Sarah Resnick Reid ’11, who has worked in the study abroad field since 2015 and currently serves as Study Abroad Adviser at Western Michigan University (WMU), recently was honored for her contributions to this increasingly-computerized arena of higher education. The TerraDotta Innovation Award, of which Sarah is the 2019 recipient, recognizes excellence in the use of software to improve education abroad services to students. At WMU, where Sarah has been a staff member since 2016, her innovative use of computer resources has enabled WMU to automate many separate processes and increase the efficiency with which she and her colleagues serve WMU students as they plan and implement their education abroad experiences. Congratulations, Sarah!

Travis Felty ’21

Congratulations to Travis Felty ’21, who has secured an internship at The Asia Institute, Inc., better known as Crane House to residents of Louisville, Kentucky, where the Asian cultural center is located! Crane House sponsors a wide variety of outreach programs aimed at promoting understanding and appreciation of all Asian cultures, as well as hosting exhibits of Asian art and artifacts, including items from its own extensive collection. A Bonner Scholar, Travis hopes that his summer as an intern at Crane House will help him combine his interests in Asian Studies, service-learning, and non-profit community organizations.

Congratulations to Olivia Cundiff ’18, who will begin the M.A. program in Asian Studies at George Washington University (GWU) this fall! “I really look forward to beginning my studies at GWU and continuing my Japanese language studies,” says Olivia. 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, Olivia plans to pursue a concentration in International Affairs and National Security, We ‘re very proud of you, Olivia!

Congratulation to Tae’Jah Jones ’21, who has been awarded a full $10,000 scholarship by the Fund for Education Abroad (FEA)! FEA makes life-changing international experiences accessible to all by supporting minority, community college, and first-generation college students before, during, and after they participate in education abroad programs. Having spent the last two years at Berea studying Chinese language, Tae’Jah will use her scholarship to spend fall term 2019 studying in Shanghai, China. We’re very proud of you, Tae’Jah!

Every year, a handful of Berea seniors and graduates apply for the highly competitive Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. Since 1987, nearly 60,000 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. Typically, only one applicant from Berea is successful each year.

This year is different, however. A record number applicants from Berea – six! – have received offers of English language teaching positions with JET: Zakiyya Ashe ’17, Samantha Blankenship ’17, Olivia Cundiff ’18, Anthony Gluck ’19, Fatima King ’14, and Dylan Usher ’18. If they accept these offers, they will join fellow Bereans Elaine Barkley ’18, Emerald Flannigan ’17, Thaddieus McCall ’09, Sarah Resnick Reid ’11, Nick Riley ’15, Daniel West ’12, and Noah White ’13, all of whom also competed successfully for a position with JET.

Congratulations and おめでとう to all!

Dr. Jarrod Brown ’04, who combined Asian Studies (including study abroad) with his major in Philosophy at Berea before completing his Ph.D. in Asian philosophy at the University of Hawai’i and returning to teach at Berea from fall 2015 to the present, has been hired as a tenure-track Assistant Professor, starting in fall 2019. Dr. Brown’s background and expertise in South and Southeast Asian Studies will bring enormous learning resources to our campus. We’re so glad that you are back to stay, Dr. Brown!