What to study, planning for the future---

[yukio_michael]

I have my first meeting to arrange for school-funding this comming December 6th, and hopping that I am accepted into the program, and qualify for it... (I believe that I will, and do), I'm wondering what to get my bachelors in.

I know that it isn't of much importance WHAT you get your bachelors in if you simply want to go over on the JET program and teach, but I'm trying to achieve some level of fluency as well in order to be more flexible.

My background is computer-science, so this is a good choice for me to continue with, but I also looked into the Asian Studies field.

What is Asian Studies, ACTUALLY? Do jobs exist, or are there jobs better suited to those who wish to live in Asia by persuing a bachelors, or better in Asian studies?

Is the CS degree with a strong emphasis on Japanese fluency a better option--- perhaps it seems so to me. I'm a little tired some times of computers--- frankly, they get on my nerves...

Anyone have any practical experience with this... I know some here who are fairly literate in Japanese have gone the tech route & this has seemingly worked well for them... any other advice is very much appreciated.

 

[Iron Chef]

What's your long-term plan? If you're just looking for an easy-in then probably the Asian Studies program will do nicely. Not especially difficult from what I hear plus affords you some opportunity to study the language as part of the curriculum depending on which program you choose. I had a friend from my ALT days who did his stint in Japan then went back to America and pursued his graduate degree in Asian Studies for the very same purpose. Of course he works for an American company now lol but I digress...

My own background is about as far from teaching as one could possibly get and even though i'm still some 30k in debt for my graduate degree I don't regret my current career decision. I guess what i'm trying to say is if you're pretty certain you'll want to carve out a niche' for yourself in Japan over the next few years you should choose an academic program/profile that will be most beneficial to you as well as appealing to prospective employers.

 

[yukio_michael]

I guess what i'm trying to say is if you're pretty certain you'll want to carve out a niche' for yourself in Japan over the next few years you should choose an academic program/profile that will be most beneficial to you as well as appealing to prospective employers.

It's easy to say now, knowing that there are no garuntees, but I'm not planning all of this school work so that I can simply get back to Japan. I'd like to start contemplating some long term goals.

I suppose I just have a difficult time visualizing what jobs are typical for those who are Asian Studies majors... I'm much more interested as a whole on trends and patterns that drive Asia than I have a passion for programming or computers themselves, but one thing may be better than another in pursuing a long and meaningful career path... I do however want to gain fluency in Japanese through my schooling, regardless of my major.

I suppose I'll know more as I get to the point of picking my major...

 

[JimmySeal]

Asian Studies seems, to me, to be tantamount to "I have money to blow on college classes and don't want to study anything relevant to a career."

There is the benefit that Asian language courses are usually built into the course of study, though. Asian studies might be applicable to a government/diplomatic job or an academic job.

That's my two cents, but I think nobody can tell you you should do one or the other. Only you can figure out which is right for you.

 

[leonmarino]

Asian Studies seems, to me, to be tantamount to "I have money to blow on college classes and don't want to study anything relevant to a career."

Now that sounds a bit too simplistic to me.. Asia as an economic power is very very important, and I think it can be pretty useful to learn about the diversity of cultures that are present in Asia. Especially now the whole "outsourcing"-boom (call-centers in India, research and development in China, manufacturing where-ever) is calming down because of unexpected problems with culture-clashes. There is some serious money to be made there, so I'd say go for it.

 

[yukio_michael]

My goals w/ Asian studies were mainly in finance & banking, trend analysys... What makes money in Asia, what are emerging markets, what are areas that are ripe for investment for foreign & local investors... I looked at some of the jobs Princeton (a school I will NOT be attending, by the way) Asian Studies majors have taken, and many are in these fields, in banking, and as analysts... One person I know of is in Marketing (living in Japan)... The goal is to find out where the money really goes in Asia... that's the "million dollar" question.

My main goal is fluency, my second goal is long-term employment... though, it's not unlikely that I could just wind up getting married (it happens you know)... which would mean, I could be more selective in my work... I don't think you can really understand Japan, and the Japanese without a firm grasp of the language--- the culture and the language are connected.