FLAS Fellowships

FLAS Fellows 2021-22

Sariah Burdett (She/Her, Korean)

Sariah Burdett is a fourth-year undergraduate triple majoring in History (honors), Korean, and Asian Languages & Cultures. As an aspiring historian, her main area of interest is Korea during the early to mid 20th century, focusing on the histories of Korean women and children.

Sariah’s AY 2021-22 FLAS fellowship from the East Asia Center has allowed her to further her education in the Korean language while dedicating herself to her history honors thesis focusing on colonial Korea. Utilizing the skills developed through the generosity of the FLAS fellowship, she plans to pursue a graduate education to further explore her passion for Korean history.

 

Meredith Franklin (She/Her, Japanese)

 Meredith Franklin is a first-year MA student in the Japan Studies Program.  She graduated from the University of Alabama in May 2021 with a BA in Political Science.  Her primary research interests include Japanese law & politics and its intersection with gender & sexuality, both in relation to Japan and the field of international relations as a whole.
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Meredith plans to use the FLAS fellowship from the East Asia Center to help her expand and refine her knowledge of the Japanese language and delve deeper into Japan-specific studies.  Through the FLAS fellowship, she is able to take the courses necessary to explore topic areas previously inaccessible to her.  Meredith is extremely grateful to have been chosen as a recipient of this fellowship, and hopes to use the knowledge gained through FLAS to pursue a career in United States–Japan relations.

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Daniel Hance (He/Him, Japanese)

Daniel is a first-year MA student in the Japan Studies program in the Jackson school of International Studies. His primary interest is Japanese international relations, specifically how the US-Japan relationship impacts Japan’s relationships with its East Asian neighbors.
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The FLAS fellowship from the East Asia Center has allowed Daniel to come to Seattle from Birmingham, AL and receive intensive language instruction. By studying both Japanese language and politics, he hopes to pursue a career in government so that he can contribute to the strengthening of the relationship between Japan and the United States.

 

 

Sophia Miller (She/Her, Korean)

Sophia Miller is a FLAS East Asia Center recipient studying third-year Korean. She is a third-year undergraduate student from California, majoring in Linguistics and minoring in Korean. 

Sophia first began self-studying the Korean language at the age of 12 after becoming immersed in Korean culture by learning Taekwondo. She fell in love with Korea, Korean culture, Korean music, and so much more and began to develop a passion for studying the Korean language. She continued to self-study for the next seven years, eventually deciding she wanted to minor in Korean.

Sophia’s future goals include teaching English to elementary school students in South Korea through the EPIK program for at least one year, traveling to South Korea frequently, and finding a career that allows her to use Korean language in her daily life.

 

Cameron Stevenson (He/Him, Chinese)

Cameron is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Chinese as well as doing pre-dentistry. He is a registered dental assistant, working at an office that is conveniently close to the UW campus. The FLAS fellowship has provide Cameron with the opportunity to further his Mandarin studies, about which he has been extremely passionate for the last seven years.
One of Cameron’s most recent projects of which he is extremely proud is working with Professor Liping Yu to help translate and revise a published textbook that will be used for agriculture students studying abroad in China!
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The FLAS Fellowship has allowed Cameron to stay confident in his decision to continue pursuing Chinese, as well as giving him the opportunity to branch out in other East Asian area studies which he might not have otherwise studied. In the near future, he would love to live overseas in China for some extended period of time to use his Chinese in a natural environment, while being surrounded by native speakers. His future career goal is to become a dentist, but he is also excited to see how he can combine his passion of dentistry and the Chinese language together.

 

Abigail Williams (Japanese)

Abigail Williams is a second-year graduate student pursuing her Master’s in Japan Studies at the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies. She is interested in studying the campaigns of Oda Nobunaga (the first great unifier of Japan), as well as US-Japan security relations. She has studied Japanese formally for about five years, and lived in Japan for two years prior to enrolling at the University of Washington. She worked as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) for two high schools in Oita Prefecture while in Japan.

Abigail believes the FLAS will help to support her both financially and academically through her language and area studies requirements. She hopes to use her Japanese skills and Master’s degree to find a job with the US government or with a Japan-related company following graduation. She is grateful for this opportunity and looks forward to the year ahead.