FLAS Fellowships

FLAS Fellows 2024-25

Casey Stafford (he/him, Japanese)

Casey is a second-year Japan Studies MA student in the Jackson School of International Studies at UW. He is taking third-year Japanese with help from the FLAS fellowship. His academic interests center on Japan’s collective memory of the militarist period. In particular, he is interested in analyzing how popular pieces of media, such as films, video games, anime, manga, etc. have chosen to represent the militarist period since the end of the war. He is particularly interested in the role Japan’s social, economic, and political changes have played in the various re-imaginings of the militarist period. He eventually wants to pursue a PhD in history or some other field related to historical memory in Japan and East Asia.

 

Chris McCarty (they/them, Chinese)

Chris McCarty is a junior at the University of Washington and is thrilled to utilize their FLAS Fellowship to fund a deeper dive into their studies of Mandarin Chinese. Chris began their Chinese language journey in high school, but interest developed into passion as they explored the breadth and depth of what the University of Washington’s Chinese program had to offer. They are grateful for the opportunity to examine not only the Chinese language, but also China’s rich history and culture. After graduation, Chris hopes to use their Chinese and political science background to support underserved communities.

 

John Daniel (he/him, Korean)

John will be starting his first year of the University of Washington’s Korea Studies M.A. program and is honored to be a FLAS fellow. After largely self-studying the Korean language for several years, he hopes to gain a wider perspective on Korea historically and culturally. He is particularly interested in how Korea’s unique geographical and cultural position between the greater powers of China, Russia, and Japan has shaped its national identity and enabled its present-day economic success and unique cultural position in current times. He also hopes to further hone his language skills to understand first-hand texts regarding these relationships and
looks forward to using the resulting knowledge in the realm of business or to continuing further down the academic path.

 

Lily Allee (she/her, Japanese)

Lily is a second-year Japan Studies MA student in the Jackson School of International Studies. She is interested in studying issues affecting minority populations, both historically and contemporarily. Her current focus centers on how Ainu food patterns changed over time and the causes of these changes. By receiving FLAS, she will be able to deepen her understanding of Japanese language and culture, which will allow her to more effectively use primary sources in her research. After graduating, she hopes to pursue a PhD in Geography or Anthropology to help increase understanding of issues facing minority and indigenous populations with Japan.

 

Raechel Kundert (she/her, Japanese)

Raechel is a first-year Asian Languages & Cultures MA student in the Department of Asian Languages & Literature at UW. She is currently taking fourth-year Japanese, and FLAS will allow her to further advance her language skills by taking fifth-year Japanese during the 2024-2025 Academic Year. She received a BA from UW in 2021, and her majors were Japanese, Asian Languages & Cultures, and Linguistics. Her main research interest regarding Japanese language is how transgender, nonbinary, and genderqueer L1 and L2 Japanese speakers navigate the explicitly gendered features of the language. Raechel plans to pursue a career in translation and/or teaching in the future, and having advanced language skills is essential for these career paths, so she is very grateful to be a FLAS Fellow through the East Asia Center.