ACUNS Tokyo - Choosing a PhD Research Topic

Episode 13: For this second installment of the Scholars Unbound-ACUNS Tokyo Series, I had a conversation with Elizabeth Katherine Gamarra and Vanessa Abou-Khalil, both PhD students in the field of politics and international relations. Elizabeth’s PhD research is on the narratives of securitizing refugees in American press media in the context of Spanish and English languages. Vanessa, meanwhile, is researching conflict resolution in Japan’s foreign policy in countries with a hostile relationship with the United States. We talked about their research motivations and the importance of drawing on personal experiences when choosing research topics.  ACUNS Tokyo Liaison Office Elizabeth is a former Fulbright and World Rotary Peace Fellow. She is currently a MEXT Fellow at International Christian University (ICU) pursuing her PhD studies in International Relations under the mentorship of Dr. Giorgio Shani. She has a double Masters in the field of Mental Health (US) and Peace and Conflict Studies (Japan) which has permitted her to work as a therapist and mediator with refugees and indigenous communities from the US, as well as engage in nonprofit work in Latin America. At the age of 14, she founded "generations of legacies," which is an initiative focused on educational empowerment. After completing her graduate-level studies at the age of 19, she continued to grow this initiative from abroad. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan (GPAJ). Tedx Talk on Human Mobility: https://youtu.be/OW2UzHfcYlw GPAJ profile: http://www.gpaj.org/activities/members/elizabeth-gamarra Featured in El Objetivo article: https://bit.ly/3sFWht0 Research article: https://bit.ly/3ky3AAk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-katherine-gamarra-50a315b5/ Instagram: elicitq Vanessa completed her bachelor in French and Lebanese Law at Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon. She then received a MEXT scholarship, funded by the Japanese government, and pursued her higher education in Japan. She obtained a master’s degree in Political Science from Kobe University and is now in her third year of PhD. She is also a contributing writer at The Japan Times. She worked as a teaching assistant and gave undergraduate-level lectures on Japan Diplomatic History at Kobe University. She is currently a member of the Research Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs (RIIPA). LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-abou-khalil-666186117 Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanessa_ak - Subscribe to our newsletter - Join our Facebook Group - Also available on iTunes and Spotify - Music by Lava Koirala [Editing note: My microphone malfunctioned during the recording so I had to re-record myself but I kept my original questions and points of discussion from the actual call.]