Introducing our Incoming Graduate Students!
We would like to introduce our incoming graduate cohort for Autumn 2022! We send the members a very warm welcome: we're so glad you're joining the EALC department.
We include a brief profile provided by each of the incoming students:
Taiga Ikedo, incoming Japanese Linguistics PhD student
Background: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Japanese Linguistics MA. My broader fields of interest are pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and linguistic anthropology. I investigate into mundane discourse which facilitate hegemonic power structures in a variety of spaces. My study aims at shedding light on such ideological phenomena in various social spaces and to re-think how each individual can empower those who are often marginalized from such hegemonic discourse. I'm looking forward to working with scholars from trans-disciplinary perspectives to eventually make my research accessible to audience from diverse socio-cultural background. In my free time, I do love cooking different types of world's cuisine following YouTube cooking videos. I also enjoy music and singing as well.
Jingpu Li, incoming Chinese Archeology PhD student
Background: B.A in Chemistry (2019), M.A. in Archaeometry (2022) Research Interest: Origins of civilization; ancient alcohol beverages; ancient ceramics Hobbies: Liquor; travel; ball games.
Sijia Li, incoming Chinese PhD student
Background: University of Colorado Boulder, M.A. in Asian Languages and Civilizations. Sijia Li is a Ph. D. student in medieval Chinese literature and literary culture, focusing on textual production, transmission, and reception. Also interested in premodern Japanese literature, she is curious about cultural exchange across East Asia.
Chisom Grace Ogbuagu, incoming Chinese PhD student
I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in foreign languages from University of Nigeria and my Master’s degree in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages from Sichuan University China. I am particularly interested in Chinese literatures and look forward to an increased knowledge and appreciation of the Chinese literatures and culture during the course of this program. Additionally, I am interested in second language acquisition. I speak both English and Chinese language fluently. During my years in China, I have taught both Chinese and English as second languages at the elementary and intermediate levels. Outside school and work, I enjoy cooking, dancing and traveling.
Natt Wojas, incoming Japanese PhD student
My research focuses on portrayals of masculinity in literature and other representational media in transhistorical and cross-cultural contexts as well as on fandom formations and viewership’s engagement with media-mix. Prior to joining the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Stanford, I received BA in Japanese from University of Oxford. In my undergraduate dissertation, I explored how the auditory mode and the intervals of kamishibai art contribute to the creation of a diegetic process. During my year abroad at Kobe University, I studied the concept of ma in Japanese politics, the use of negative space in rock gardens, and the role of silence in soundscapes. My methodology combines approaches from media, film, and reader-response theory.
Shuwen Yang, incoming Chinese PhD student
Shuwen Yang received her B.A. in Comparative Literature and German from the University of Hong Kong and M.A. in East Asian Studies from UCLA. Her master's thesis focuses on Chinese Science Fiction and participatory culture. She is also interested in Film Studies, Trauma and Memory Studies and Post-Colonial Studies, and hopes to explore more about her future research at Stanford.
Xinyi (Cynthia) Chen, incoming MA student
Hi, my name is Cynthia and ostrich is my nickname~ I am interested in film and media studies, especially in the context of contemporary China. I want to explore the role of feelings and emotions in Chinese cinema, and ethnographic research will always be my prior choice! And don't forget feminism, as I'd love to discuss the topic in different realms such as mass media and popular culture. Background: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Lit BA.
Yihan Hao, incoming MA student
Before coming to Stanford, Yihan earned her Bachelor of Art in Sociology at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Yihan’s family business is one of the biggest French fries suppliers to McDonald’s and Burger King in greater Asia. Coming from the potato-farming industry, having grown up in China, then completed her studies in the US, she has developed a renewed curiosity about her mother tongue’s linguistic roots and morphologies. She wishes to rediscover a vital part of her identity, not just merely through her own perspective as a Chinese national, but also via a rigorous academic and research lens that pushes her to dive deeper into the social and cultural contexts that have transformed the language over the thousands of years of its evolution. Her future research assesses the cultural reasons behind the use of different linguistic status symbols by generation Z in mainland China.
Xi He, incoming MA student
I am a MA in Chinese student and my research interests lie at the intersection between traditional Chinese cultural and social history(especially late imperial period), modern and post-modern social and cultural theories, and gender studies. Currently I focus on the genealogy of traditional Chinese masculinity and femininity in different historical periods. Before coming to Stanford, my first major in Tsinghua University is Sociology, and I also get a second major degree in Economics, and a minor degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics).
Yuyan (April) Jiang, incoming MA student
I am a Chinese international student majoring in Japanese. I have been studying overseas since 2014, lived in Sydney for two years, and finished my high school life there. After I came to the U.S, I studied at San Jose State University. I have majored in Japanese, minored in Computer Science, and received an undergraduate TESOL certificate. In my undergraduate years, I was the volunteer TA of Tae Kwon Do courses from 2019 to 2020, and also the volunteer TA of Japanese elementary courses from 2020 to 2021. As for community activities, I was the president of the Chinese Student Association at SJSU from 2018 to 2019. I am interested in Japanese sociolinguistics, East Asian language teaching, and second language acquisition. I have experience in researching Japanese internet slang, Japanese business manner & social communication, and Japanese learning through media. In the future, I am looking forward to studying Japanese linguistics from different angles as well as other East Asian languages. Regarding my career goal, I want to become a language instructor and make contributions to East Asian language teaching in the U.S. As far as my hobbies, I like Japanese ACG cultures and I have volunteer experience in Japanese and Chinese translation such as making subtitles and article translation for 2 years. I also like playing the guitar and trying to write my own songs as well.
Kaia Johnson, incoming MA student
Kaia Johnson grew up in the Bay Area and studied Chinese Language and Psychology at UC Berkeley. She is excited to continue her studies at Stanford. Her research interests focus on gender and sexuality in late imperial literature. In her free time, she enjoys horseback riding, and writing and playing music.
Avivi Wang, incoming MA student
Avivi Wang completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at Cornell University in May 2022. At Stanford, she hopes to continue exploring Chinese ritual bronzes as well as porcelain, she also hopes to deep dive into the idea of using AI tech to showcase the intricacy of Chinese archaeology. Some of Avivi’s hobbies include traveling, Soulcycle, and photography.
ZiFan Yang, incoming MA student
I received my B.A. in East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto. I am interested in modern Japanese literature and modern Chinese literature, and I am looking forward to conducting comparative projects at Stanford. In my spare time, I enjoy writing fiction, listening to music, and playing board games with friends.
Tianqi Zhu, incoming MA student
Background: University of Southern California, History & East Asian Studies BA. My study focuses on premodern Chinese history and literature. Currently, I am interested in representations of space in texts and images in the making of religion, aesthetics, and knowledge in premodern China.