Peer Mentors
The Peer Mentors of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures are upper-level undergraduates majoring in East Asian Studies and can provide advice from a student perspective.
Contact one of the Peer Mentors if you are a prospective or current student pursuing the major or minor and have any questions about the program.
Darren Hall
Major: East Asian Studies
Year: Class of 2023
Email: dhall8 [at] stanford.edu
My name is Darren and I am a senior from Long Beach, California majoring in East Asian Studies with a concentration in media analysis. I first became interested in the field when I took my high school’s Japanese language and culture class. Growing up monolingual, I came to appreciate the power language learning possesses as it allows you to interact with other cultures at a deeper level. When I first came to college, I took as many introductory courses within different programs as possible and during that exploration I noticed the program I always returned to was East Asian Studies. Since coming to Stanford I have studied Korean language for 3 years, refreshed my Japanese, and have taken many classes focused on the screen cultures of China, Japan, and Korea. During my last summer I spent 10 weeks in Seoul, South Korea and worked at a commercial company’s animation studio as an intellectual property intern. Later this year, I look forward to completing my Senior capstone which is about queer narratives in Japan and Korea. Outside of academia I am a member of the Stanford Club Tennis Team, dance on two hiphop teams named Alliance and Legacy, and love all things comedy.
Rebecca Spencer
Major: East Asian Studies
Year: Class of 2023
Email: rlspence [at] stanford.edu
My name is Rebecca and I am a senior majoring in East Asian Studies and coterming in Earth Systems. After studying abroad in South Korea following high school graduation, I became captivated with the unique challenges of Korea, with my initial research interests lying in societal and demographic issues. My current focus is on environmental issues on the Korean peninsula, including biodiversity in the DMZ, the effects of climate change on North Korea, and ocean pollution in East Asia. In the past several years, I have spent time working for at the Center for Strategic and International Relations (Korea Chair), the Chey Institute of Advanced Studies, and currently, the Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford. One of my other passions related to the major is teaching Korean; for the past six summers, I have spent 5 weeks in Minnesota at Concordia Language Villages Korean Camp, (Sup sogui hosu) teaching Korean language and culture to kids from across the United States. Outside of classes, you can find me acting as creative director for Stanford Bhangra or surfing across Northern California.
Vivian Zhu
Major: East Asian Studies
Year: Class of 2023
Email: jvz0711 [at] stanford.edu
My name is Vivian and I am a senior from Sydney, Australia majoring in East Asian Studies and International Relations, with a minor in Economics. As a Chinese-Australian, I have always been interested in the intersection of culture and politics in the Asia-Pacific region. As a native Chinese speaker, I was interested in mainly Chinese culture and politics before Stanford, but since starting college, I have studied Korean language for three years and have enjoyed learning more about the culture, history, and politics of the Koreas. In the summer of 2021, I completed a policy research internship at the East Asia Institute in Seoul, South Korea. And during my most recent summer, I interned at the American Enterprise Institute and focused on Chinese security issues. Beyond academics, I am also the President of the Stanford Debate Society. This year, I will be completing an Honor’s Thesis about online Danmei (i.e., Boys’ Love, Yaoi) literature in China.
