The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, in conjunction with ASC Center for Career and Professional Success, is organizing a "Life Beyond Degree: DEALL Undergraduate Career Pathways" workshop 2:15~3:45 p.m. on Monday, March 28th. This workshop will be held through Carmen Zoom and is open only to OSU students majoring or minoring in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

Pre-registration is required to receive the Zoom link: https://go.osu.edu/deall_pathways

This workshop will be the first of two aiming to provide our majors and minors in DEALL with opportunities to develop their career readiness (focus of the first workshop) and network with alumni and industry/government representatives (focus of the second workshop). Attendees to this first workshop will learn more about how learning East Asian languages and cultures can contribute to their career development and what valuable resources are available to help them on their career paths. Three speakers, whose short bios are attached below, have been confirmed to speak at this workshop: Dr. Patrick McAloon, Executive Director of the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Benjamin Pachter, Executive Director of The Japan-America Society of Central Ohio, and Mr. Richard Fajardo, a career coach from ASC Center for Career and Professional Success.

Speaker bios:

Patrick McAloon, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce: Pat's study of Chinese language and culture began with a bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies at the College of William and Mary in Virginia; during that time, he spent a semester at Beijing Normal University. Following college graduation, he spent six months in Shandong Province through OSU's US-China Links internship program. That program was the predecessor to today's Advanced Chinese Language and Culture ("Flagship") program at OSU. From 1999-2001, Pat was a department manager at MeetChina.com, an e-commerce platform helping Chinese manufacturers find overseas buyers. Shortly before the dot-com bubble burst, he moved back to the US to earn an MA and PhD in Chinese Language Pedagogy under Galal Walker in DEALL. After teaching Chinese at OSU for over a decade, Pat applied his experiences to helping Chinese and American organizations work together, including business matching, translation and interpretation, delegation reception, and delivering study abroad programs in Columbus to Chinese students for the OSU Global Gateways Office and other Central Ohio partners. In 2020, he became executive director of the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce, a position he held until this month because...In 2021, McAloon moved to Orange, Virginia, where he and his wife operate an historic inn. They continue to help American organizations find and work with partners in the Chinese-speaking world, and return to Columbus every few months for work. Pat is the author of Study in China, a guide for individuals considering studying abroad in Mainland China.

Benjamin Pachter, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Japan-America Society of Central Ohio (JASCO), a non-profit based in Dublin, Ohio committed to deepening understanding of and appreciation for Ohio’s Japanese and American cultures. In this role, he oversees the daily activities of the society, which include language classes, cultural outreach activities, and business seminars. He also regularly engages with local educators, business and community leaders, and government officials in an effort to help create cultural understanding, improve Japanese business success, build relationships, and foster education about Japan in Central Ohio.

Benjamin is also an ethnomusicologist with a research focus of Japanese music. He received his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology, writing his dissertation on the musical history of contemporary taiko performance in Japan and the United States. He is also a performer of taiko, serving as Assistant Director of Dublin Taiko, a student taiko group that is part of Dublin City Schools, Dublin, OH.

Richard Fajardo is a Career Coach for the Center for Career and Professional Success for the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University. He has earned degrees in Business Administration from Xavier University (bachelor’s) and Bowling Green State University (master’s), and a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from John Carroll University (master’s). Richard’s interest in Asian and Asian-American cultures is natural as he is the son, grandson, and nephew of immigrants who came to the U.S. from the Philippines. His favorite global involvement experiences include helping international students as a career coach and clinical counselor, working as an ESL tutor, serving as a class officer for his MBA class (nearly 50% of whom were international students), and working on market research for clients and co-workers in Canada, Great Britain, and Hong Kong. Richard enjoys talking with students about their experiences, interests, passions, and skills; connecting them with other professionals and opportunities; and helping them make decisions that will enrich their professional and personal journeys.

ASC Center for Career and Professional Success provides partial financial and staff support for this workshop, for which we are deeply grateful.