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Undergraduate Programs Information

Major or minor in Asian Studies.

Graduate Programs Information

Including: Master of Arts in Asian Studies, Master’s in Asian International Affairs, and Graduate Certificates in Asian Studies.

Student Testimonials

Christina Geisse

The Asian Studies Program was incredible because most professors were undertaking their own research, passionate about their subject of study, and enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with students. It felt fresh and profound at the same time. Inspiring! 

Christina Geisse
Kim Sluchansky

I was able to delve deep and focus on the areas of Asian Studies that truly interested me, and therefore gained a much more thorough and developed understanding of my fields of interest, which are applicable to my current career path. Also, the professors are extremely helpful and want their students to succeed. They were very supportive both while I was at UH and after I graduated.

Job Talk: Permeable Policymaking: Foreign Firms in the Japanese Political Economy

Red circle on top of different  non-Japanese company brand names such as Aflac, Coca-Cola, IKEA, etc.

The Asian Studies Program invites all to a talk by Dr. Kristi Govella, candidate for the position of Assistant Professor of Asian Studies. The talk is entitled “Permeable Policymaking: Foreign Firms in the Japanese Economy,” and will be held on Thursday March 2, 3:00-4:00 pm, in the Center for Korean Studies Auditorium.

Abstract:

How does internationalization affect the politics of trade? Can foreign firms meaningfully influence policy? Japan is an interesting place to examine these questions because it was remarkably closed to foreign investment until a sudden influx in the 1990s. While foreign firms were initially dependent on their home governments to influence Japanese policy, opportunities for these firms to act independently increased with the opening of the Japanese economy. Interestingly, the manner in which a sector opened had lasting and sometimes unexpected consequences, creating cleavages among Japanese and foreign firms in ways that shaped their interests and the trajectory of policy change. This research sheds light on the ways that internationalization can enable foreign firms to impact policy debates directly from within a host country, potentially altering the dynamics of both domestic politics and international relations.

About the Speaker: 

Kristi Govella is an Associate Professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, specializing in Japanese politics and Asian regionalism. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

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