The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (DEALL) is committed to supporting students’ success, especially when they are facing the challenge of continuing to study and work toward their future careers in the middle of the pandemic. In Autumn 2021, DEALL organized the following six professionalization events with a variety of partners to support undergraduate and graduate students.

For undergraduate students:

· Workshop on "Working in Japan" (October 1, 2021)

DEALL's graduate students Chris Craigo, Derek Reiman, and Matthew Steinhauer shared their experiences of working in Japan with the students in DEALL's Japanese program. Topics included why they chose to work in Japan, what they did, and how they found a job in Japan. About 35 students attended the event and engaged in a lively Q&A after the presentations.

The event was co-organized by the Oshaberi-kai and Prof. Etsuyo Yuasa (DEALL). Oshaberi-kai’s Claire Madsen moderated the discussions.

· Career Talk & Lecture: "Crossroads: The Japanese Entertainment Industry, My Experiences, and Where We Go From Here" (October 11, 2021)

Brandon Schindewolf, who is an OSU alumnus and currently serves as the general manager for ISARIBI, a consulting company in Tokyo, provided a unique perspective into the inner workings of the talent management and anime production business, and how it must change and adapt to best meet the needs of a global audience. He also talked about how he became one of the first Western artist/talent managers at a major Japanese agency, Hori Pro International, after graduating summa cum laude with research distinction in Japanese in 2010. The lecture was co-organized by the Institute for Japanese Studies and Prof. Naomi Fukumori (DEALL/IJS) and sponsored by the East Asian Studies Center.

· Career Talk: “Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Alumni on Translation and Localization Management in Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish-Speaking Contexts” (November 11, 2021)

The participants learned how Ren Yi, Lena Wakayama, and Lucy Jobe, the alumni of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), gained a competitive edge in the $50 billion language services industry as Localization professionals. Localization is the process of adapting the content related to an idea, service, or product to the language and culture of a specific market or region. Yi, Wakayama, and Jobe also shared their educational backgrounds, career paths, and insights into the job field. Samantha Quintell-Lenzi (MIIS) and

Serena Rapp (MIIS) co-moderated the event. The event was co-organized by Profs. Patricia Sieber (DEALL/T&I Program) and John Grinstead (SPPO) and co-sponsored by DEALL, The Institute for Japanese Studies, and SPPO.

· East Asian Language Skills and Career Workshop (November 17, 2021)

Dr. Stephanie Ford (Director of the Career Communities, the College of Arts and Sciences Center for Career and Professional Success) and Prof. Zhiguo Xie (DEALL) jointly hosted East Asian Language Skills and Career Workshop for our students of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages. Workshop participants learned about the career readiness competencies that employers seek when recruiting college students for full-time employment. By the end of the workshop, students identified their specific global and multicultural competencies and how to incorporate such competencies into their resume and interview responses.

For graduate students:

· Workshop on Academic Job Applications for Graduate Students (September 13, 2021)

The workshop introduced basic information about preparing academic job applications. In the first part of the workshop, Prof. Etsuyo Yuasa (DEALL) gave an overview of how to prepare job application materials. The topics included: where to find information, what to prepare, when to start, and who to work with. In the second part of the workshop, Dr. Laura Struve (Instructional Development Specialist at the Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning) discussed how to develop Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) statements and facilitated interactive activities for further reflection on our commitment to DEIJ and workshop ideas together to improve statement components. Resources available at OSU were also shared. The event was co-organized by DEALL Graduate Studies Committee, DEALL DEI Committee, and GREALL.

· Alumni event (December 7, 2021)

Prof. Ching-Hsuan Wu, who is a former DEALL graduate student and currently a tenured professor and coordinator of the China Studies Program at West Virginia University, talked to the DEALL graduate students on Zoom about her experiences in working at a variety of higher educational institutions in the United States and covered topics such as job hunting and hiring from the perspectives of a graduate student and a search committee chair. The event was organized by Prof. Jianqi Wang (DEALL).

DEALL will continue to carefully identify students’ needs and organize events to help their study and future careers. If you have suggestions, please contact Prof. Xie Zhiguo, Undergraduate Studies Director, or Prof. Etsuyo Yuasa, Graduate Studies Director.