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Universities for research in East Asian politics
I am a second year student at Cambridge and am planning to apply for graduate programmes in politics and IR next year. I am interested in East Asian politics (China, Taiwan, S Korea, N Korea). Which unis are strong in this area (I prefer to study in US/UK)? Any comments appreciated!!
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Soas Hands Down.
Yeh SOAS, or Bristol have a Centre for East Asian Studies - http://www.bris.ac.uk/ceas/
gsw2007
which unis in the US are strong in East Asian politics?
To name a few: Columbia has the first east asian dept/programme in the US. Harvard is very strong as well because of its Fairbank Centre for East Asian Research. Stanford's Hoover Institution has rich resources of east asian politics and economics. Also, one cannot ignore Berkeley when it comes to east asian studies.
SOAS is not that strong for politics research but it does have expertise in East Asia. I believe there are also some experts in Oxford and LSE. In the US, I believe UC Berkeley, UCSD and UCLA and maybe some Ivies are very good for East Asian politics. U of Hawaii Manona, U of Washington Seattle,Georgetown, Johns Hopkins and Stanford are also famous for Asian studies. In Canada, all top universities offer expertise in East Asia.
But if you want the best school for East Asian politics, you should really look at Australian National University. ANU is the leading university in the field. I am not trying to promote ANU, but its Reseach School of Pacific and Asian studies+Faculty of Asian studies+Crawford School of Economics and Government+National centre for strategic and defence studies (top for Asia security)+Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy are really top for anything related to Asia. Everyone familar to research in this area should be aware of ANU's excellence.
Of course, schools like UC Berkeley are also top for Asian politics! Don't get me wrong.
But if you want the best school for East Asian politics, you should really look at Australian National University. ANU is the leading university in the field. I am not trying to promote ANU, but its Reseach School of Pacific and Asian studies+Faculty of Asian studies+Crawford School of Economics and Government+National centre for strategic and defence studies (top for Asia security)+Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy are really top for anything related to Asia. Everyone familar to research in this area should be aware of ANU's excellence.
Of course, schools like UC Berkeley are also top for Asian politics! Don't get me wrong.
I agree with Yeung above. The ANU is undoubtedly one of the top three or four institutions for the study of East Asia in the world. Given Australia's geographic, political and economic position, huge amounts of money are given to the ANU to promote research and teaching at it. Moreover, most of the Aussies who heads overseas to study in this area (e.g. Oxford, LSE, Harvard etc) end up returning to the ANU to teach.
gsw2007
I am a second year student at Cambridge and am planning to apply for graduate programmes in politics and IR next year. I am interested in East Asian politics (China, Taiwan, S Korea, N Korea). Which unis are strong in this area (I prefer to study in US/UK)? Any comments appreciated!!
Oxford
LSE
ANU
The ANU is in a crappy location (Canberra is so boring that it is the suicide capital of Australia ), but it's Research School of Social Sciences has some of the worlds leading academics ( when they retire from Oxford, Cambridge, LSE they go to ANU for the money ! ) http://rsss.anu.edu.au/
I basically agree with everything everyone has said in the previous posts. However, you may find ANU is substantially cheaper than the US or UK universities. Although Canberra is not exactly Las Vegas, its only 2hrs from Sydney and a half drive from the ski slopes in the Australian alps. You can fly to Melbourne in about 40 minutes (like New York to Washington DC).
In the UK, LSE and Oxford seem to have the inside running. My impression is that LSE is far more practical than Oxford while Oxford is much more theoretical. Its a matter of personal preference. I think if you want to end up as an academic, Oxford may be better. Similarly, the LSE course may be better if you want to work in the area e.g. in the foreign service or for an NGO or something. LSE just seems much more plugged into 'current' thinking. SOAS is an excellent university and should not be lightly discounted. I do not believe Cambridge has such a strong course in the area of East Asian politics (but please correct me if I am wrong).
I'm less familiar with the US courses but I believe Stanford, UC, U.Washington or Harvard would have the strongest programs. Certainly, as an undergraduate studying Japan, every second article seemed to come out of Stanford.
In the UK, LSE and Oxford seem to have the inside running. My impression is that LSE is far more practical than Oxford while Oxford is much more theoretical. Its a matter of personal preference. I think if you want to end up as an academic, Oxford may be better. Similarly, the LSE course may be better if you want to work in the area e.g. in the foreign service or for an NGO or something. LSE just seems much more plugged into 'current' thinking. SOAS is an excellent university and should not be lightly discounted. I do not believe Cambridge has such a strong course in the area of East Asian politics (but please correct me if I am wrong).
I'm less familiar with the US courses but I believe Stanford, UC, U.Washington or Harvard would have the strongest programs. Certainly, as an undergraduate studying Japan, every second article seemed to come out of Stanford.
yeung3939
Although this claim is sweeping, no academics in the field can confidently disagree with it.
Yeah right, no academics in the field can confidently disagree with that Heidelberg, LASEMA-CNRS, Leiden, Rhur (to name a few) are the top 4 institutions "in the world" when it comes to east asian studies.
Which area of East Asian studies are you talking about? I believe those schools you mentioned do not excel in East Asian politics.
ANU has long been famous for its research in East Asian politics and other areas of Asian studies. Is it that difficult to believe ANU is good for research? It has good ranking in Times (Top 10 for social sciences), Newsweek and Shanghai JiaoTong!
Of course, there will never be a definite answer.
ANU has long been famous for its research in East Asian politics and other areas of Asian studies. Is it that difficult to believe ANU is good for research? It has good ranking in Times (Top 10 for social sciences), Newsweek and Shanghai JiaoTong!
Of course, there will never be a definite answer.
Which area of East Asian studies are you talking about? I believe those schools you mentioned do not excel in East Asian politics.
1. And which area of east asian studies are you talking about? Oregon made a sweeping claim that ANU is one of the top 3 or 4 institutions "for the study of east asia."
2. Right, you "believe." You perhaps don't even know what LASEMA-CNRS is doing.
ANU has long been famous for its research in East Asian politics and other areas of Asian studies. Is it that difficult to believe ANU is good for research? It has good ranking in Times (Top 10 for social sciences), Newsweek and Shanghai JiaoTong!
1. It's THES not Times. They're different. The THES rankings are crap. They put LSE among Top 20 in Arts and Humanities. What A & H departments does LSE have? Its philosophy dept isn't even an orthodox humanities dept since its degree is Bsc rather than BA.
2. Those league tables you mention are heavily biased in favour of unis in the English-speaking world.
3. If ANU is really that good, how many ANU PhDs are teaching in Harvard, SOAS, Columbia, Berkeley, Stanford, etc. which have top-notch east asian studies centres or depts?
Thank you for correcting me ! ^^
A considerable number of ANU Science Phd graduates are teaching in the US, and some of them are department heads in top universities such as UC Berkeley, and Ivies.
Perhaps, it is generally more difficult for people who get their phd from outside North America to get a job offer from American top universities. Nevertheless, as far as I know, many Asian studies academics at not only ANU but also Melbourne and Sydney have taught in US top departments (or institutes like Hoover and Olin) as visiting professors.
For your information, ANU department of politics and department of international relations do produce top graduates. Have you heard of Ian Clark and John Vincent? Ian Clark was the dean of Cambridge's School of Historical and Political Studies (Sorry, I forgot, but he was the dean of Faculty of Social Sciences or something equivalent), while John Vincent was a leading professor at LSE and a core figure of English School. I believe some of the Phd graduates also got postdoctoral fellowship and research fellowship from Top institutes like Oxbridge and IISS.
Anyway, it is pointless to discuss stuffs irrelevant to the current post. It could not be wrong for OP to do his or her phd in the US. However, the US universities may not have dedicated East Asian research institutes, so it may be difficult for him or her to find someone who match his or her research interest. Since Australian universities, particularly ANU, can accommodate most Asia-related topics and provide excellent research training, in my humble opinion OP should not ignore those good universities just because they are not in the US or UK.
Anyway, do many of the Heidelberg, LASEMA-CNRS, Leiden, Rhur graduates teach in top US departments? Many Harvard, UC Berkeley, Georgetown graduates are teaching in Leiden and Heidelberg? Obviously not, but it does not mean they are not good. Reputation is apparently not the only factor that should be and is considered.
A considerable number of ANU Science Phd graduates are teaching in the US, and some of them are department heads in top universities such as UC Berkeley, and Ivies.
Perhaps, it is generally more difficult for people who get their phd from outside North America to get a job offer from American top universities. Nevertheless, as far as I know, many Asian studies academics at not only ANU but also Melbourne and Sydney have taught in US top departments (or institutes like Hoover and Olin) as visiting professors.
For your information, ANU department of politics and department of international relations do produce top graduates. Have you heard of Ian Clark and John Vincent? Ian Clark was the dean of Cambridge's School of Historical and Political Studies (Sorry, I forgot, but he was the dean of Faculty of Social Sciences or something equivalent), while John Vincent was a leading professor at LSE and a core figure of English School. I believe some of the Phd graduates also got postdoctoral fellowship and research fellowship from Top institutes like Oxbridge and IISS.
Anyway, it is pointless to discuss stuffs irrelevant to the current post. It could not be wrong for OP to do his or her phd in the US. However, the US universities may not have dedicated East Asian research institutes, so it may be difficult for him or her to find someone who match his or her research interest. Since Australian universities, particularly ANU, can accommodate most Asia-related topics and provide excellent research training, in my humble opinion OP should not ignore those good universities just because they are not in the US or UK.
Anyway, do many of the Heidelberg, LASEMA-CNRS, Leiden, Rhur graduates teach in top US departments? Many Harvard, UC Berkeley, Georgetown graduates are teaching in Leiden and Heidelberg? Obviously not, but it does not mean they are not good. Reputation is apparently not the only factor that should be and is considered.
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