Students Interview 2021
- Hanfei DAI（PEARL 4th）
- Jiaying YUN（PEARL 4th）
NAME: Hanfei DAI
YEAR: PEARL 4th
RESEARCH TOPIC: “Chinese Cuisine in Modernizing Japan, c. 1859-1937:A Culinary History of Diffusion, Adaptation, and Domestication”
”A great experience that expanded my horizon beyond my discipline.”
1. Why did you choose to take part in the Independent Research Project?
I took an elective course in food history in my sophomore year, as a Chinese studying in Japan, I developed interest in the culture and culinary history between Japan and China and became acquainted with my professor. After knowing that Independent Research Project would allow me to explore any topic from an academic approach and earn credits in the meanwhile. The program is designed in a way that leave students with a lot of freedom, I signed up for it because I thought this is a perfect opportunity for me to dive deeper into the topic of the history of Chinese cuisine in Japan and work closer with the same professor of the elective course I took.
2. What was the most rewarding experience?
The most rewarding experience was when I finished my thesis paper. As a student who is not in any seminar, Independent Research Project gave me an opportunity to compile my very own paper. Although I have written many essays and reports through my college years, this is my first time to write a paper above twenty-thousand words. The sense of completion is tremendous when a year of hard, yet fun work is condensed into an academic paper. For me, the completion of my Independent Research Project also marked the end of my undergraduate study, so it is quite meaningful in that way as well.
3. How do you apply what you have learned here to the future?
The biggest takeaway from the project was how to properly conduct academic research and manage a long project. These experiences can be applied to my future professional life in business research and project management.
4. A short message to future participants
This program gives you a chance to explore disciplines other than economics, of course you can use it to deepen understanding in a niche field of economics, I strongly suggest you to look into another field. After a year of independent research and exchange with your supervising professor, you can become a semi-expert in your topic!
NAME: Jiaying YUN
YEAR: PEARL 4th
RESEARCH TOPIC: “Disasters and Multiculturalism : What Disasters Reveal About the Obstacles for Foreign Residents in Japan”
”A great opportunity to explore the most relevant topics of your interest”
1. Why did you choose to take part in the Independent Research Project?
In our second year at PEARL we were given the option to join research seminars, but I could not decide then what specific topic I wanted to dive deeper into for the next two and a half years. The Independent Research Project provided the opportunity for me to decide on my own topic, combining my background experience as a foreign student in Japan with the realistic problems faced today during the global pandemic. The IRP provides so much freedom for its participants, it sets almost no boundaries to our choices in our topic, supervisor, and partners, and this was one of the most attractive points of the IRP that led me to decide on taking part in the program.
2. What was the most rewarding experience?
The most rewarding part of the project was that we were able to have regular one-on-one sessions with our supervisor, Professor John Ertl. Our topic was challenging in that it involved an ongoing event that added so many layers of uncertainty to the final product. As a result, we changed our topic several times throughout the year, and the regular group meetings allows us to bounce ideas off of one another. The meetings were also quite essential to the success of our final product. I remember so many times where my partner Niki and I were unsure of how to proceed with our topic, at which point professor Ertl will offer his suggestions on how we can improve and assure us we’re doing great.
3. As an Independent Research Project (PEARL), your research is the first collaborative research. Please tell us why you decided to conduct joint research and how you managed to carry it out.
We were originally both going to participate in the Independent Research Project, and after having a conversation on our prospective topics, we found out that we both wanted to look at cultural interactions in Japan and the influence from the pandemic. That’s how we decided to do a collaborative study. Working collaboratively ended up being much easier than I expected, since we always split our work equally beforehand, and helped each other in areas where we could. The collaborative nature of the study also allowed us to look at issues at hand through multiple directions, as we were able to take on different angles before coming together to discuss the discrepancies. In this way it added more completeness to the study.
4. How do you apply what you have learned here to the future?
The experience has definitely added on to my research skills and provided me with the essential knowledge on how to analyse problems with academic support, whether through organizing in-depth interviews, gathering historical literature, or finding supporting data. These will be important skills to carry with me into my graduate studies. The collaborative nature of the study also taught me how to work better as a team, through communicating effectively, and using the advantage of having a second perspective to every problem.
5. A short message to future participants
The Independent Research Project is definitely a worthwhile opportunity for anyone that wants to add a little challenge to their final years at Keio, especially for students interested in fields outside of Economics. I would recommend the program to anyone considering further studies in graduate programs, as it will provide you with the necessary skills and training that will be valuable for whichever field in your future research.
