The MAPS Capstone project serves as an opportunity for students to synthesize, integrate, and apply knowledge on a topic related to the Asia Pacific region. Independent research, original ideas, a survey of existing scholarship, and an evidence-based argument sustained throughout a discussion of at least 5000 words are some of the basic features of the Capstone. The final result is both a public presentation and a comprehensive essay that together forms a culminating academic experience for all students in the M.A. in Asia Pacific Studies program.

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Master's Projects/Capstones from 2023

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Behind female white-collar workers in China: Women in Tech versus Women in Education, Dayana Assad

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MASSIVE MISUNDERSTOOD MENACE: GOJIRA (1954), AN ALLEGORY FOR COPING WITH TRAUMA, Marc-Antony Martinez

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The Resurgence of Pre-Colonial Practices: The Shift in Social Culture in Filipino American Youth, Amanda Saligumba

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A MAN AHEAD OF HIS TIME: LEE KUAN YEW’S IRON FIRST BENEATH THE VELVET GLOVE, Yi Chen Zhai

Master's Projects/Capstones from 2022

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The Effects of the “Chinese Virus” on the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community: Hate Crimes, Discrimination, and Violence, Emily Chang

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The Cost of Urbanization: A Look into the Transformation of Mao Era Reforms, Tieren A. Dokes

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Commercial Surrogacy in China: Gender Inequality, Human Trafficking, and Women’s Rights, Jiayu Hu

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Facing the Past and Climbing the Mountain, Ruijing Hu

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The Power of Anime: Artistic Power, Social Consciousness, and Cultural Impact, Natalie Ortez-Arevalo

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The Rise of American Food in China, Shiyan Wang

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Consumerism, Economic Growth, and Climate Change in China, Shijie Yin

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COLONIZATION AND POST-COLONIAL INFLUENCE: THE COMPLEX ROLE OF JAPAN IN TAIWAN’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, yawen Zhang

Master's Projects/Capstones from 2021

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Placing God: Defining “Post-Christianity” for Contemporary Japanese Christians, Leryan Anthony Burrey

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Biodiversity Monitoring and Volunteer Motivations: A Case Study on the Imagined Communities of Citizen Scientists in Meinung, Taiwan, Serena May Calcagno

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THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANDATE OF HEAVEN: CONFUCIAN GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND ENVIRONMENTALISM IN CHINESE POLICIES, WanChu ChangLiao

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The Pokémon Franchise: Cross-Media Approaches, Marketing Strategies, and Consumer Appeal, Chihyen Chao

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Do You See What I See? Do You See Me? Disability in China: The Perceptions of Wheelchair Users and Able Bodied Citizens, Michelle Fisher

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Picturing a Storm Center in the Far East: Geopolitical Image and Representation of Korea in Early American Newspaper Visuals, Jihyung Kim

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Lights, Camera, Action! Defining the Idol in Contemporary Asia, Nathalie López Del Valle

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Sattha, Money and Idols: Intersections Between Capitalist Commodification of Thai K-pop and Buddhist Fandoms, Pornpailin Meklalit

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The Professional Struggles of Contemporary Korean Women: Origins and Consequences of the Glass Ceiling, Liat Miller

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Reiki for Recovery: Incorporating Japanese Health Practices to Increase Contemporary Resiliency in American Health, Leif Peterson

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You Go Girl! Examining Femininity and Oversexualization of Women in Anime, Jade Robinson

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SEEKING UNIVERSAL EDUCATION: FROM SINGAPORE’S EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS, Gulnar Rzayeva

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SEEKING UNIVERSAL EDUCATION: FROM SINGAPORE’S EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS, Gulnar Rzayeva

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The Impact of Religion on Chinese Government, Society, and Civilians, Liyan Tang

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Online Cultural Contention and China-Korea Relations: Interpreting Netizens’ Narratives on Social Media, Roselyn Wang

Master's Projects/Capstones from 2020

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Pyeongchang v Pyongyang: The Endless Game of Inter-Korean Sports, Jack Anderson

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Through the Lens of Koreans: The Influence of Media on Perceptions of Feminism, Neha Cariappa

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China and the US- The Behemoths Trade War, Mingwei Chen

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Making Opportunity Out of Chaos: The Misconceptions and Realities of Republican-Era Warlord Governance, Zachary Clark

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Indonesia’s Mental Health Services: Availability and Current Challenges, Alexander Gronowski

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THE EVOLUTIONARY GLOBAL VISION of CHINESE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; China's Socio-Economic Transformation in The 21st Century, Meryem Gurel

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From Bootcamp to Infinite Snacking: Facts and Resolutions about the Obesity of Chinese Adolescents, Mingyue Hu

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Hollywood Media and the Model Minority Myth: the Representation of Asian American Masculinity and its Effects, Khanhlinh Le

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The Impact of COVID-19 on Singapore: Understanding Recent Events and Exploring Future Possibilities, Guanshuo Li

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The Darker Sides of the Isekai Genre: An Examination of the Power of Anime and Manga, Curtis Lu

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RACE, ETHNICITY, OR KAPWA: (RE)CONCEPTUALIZING FILIPINONESS IN A SETTLER SOCIETY, Julienne (Eugenie) Mamuyac

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Taiwan's Response to COVID-19 Pandemic, An Pei Peng

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The World’s Greatest Hero: An Examination of Superhero Tropes in My Hero Academia, Jerry Waller

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Chinese New Year: The Importance of Tradition and Impact of Governmental Regulation, Chen Xue

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Poetic Walking Across Mobile Boundaries: Contemporary Southeast Asian Narratives in the Work of Trinh T. Minh-Ha and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Weiying Yu

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Placing Notes in the Virtual “Western Wall”: Online Memorial Culture in Chinese Social Media, Xiaoyu Zhang

Master's Projects/Capstones from 2019

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Navigating Chinese Culture and Politics: The Destinies of Companies in China, vicki chen

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The Battle of the Powers: Newly Obtained Benefits from the Revitilised Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Scott Halsted

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"The Chinese Animation Industry: from the Mao Era to the Digital Age", Stephanie Jones

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Fresh Blood in the Labor Market: Challenges and Rewards of China's Returning Millennial Generation, Xinyu Li

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The Name is Miss Representation: Female Invisibility and Its Roots in Poland and South Korea, Magdalena Luszcz

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Labor Contract Law and Wages: Examining the Aging Population and Technology in China, Yatong Mei

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Aggression, Information, and Economics: Reinterpreting the Hermit Kingdom in the Era of Kim Jong-un, Margaret Pence

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Winter is Still: An Analysis of the Chinese Game Industry, Jiahui Sheng

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The Fine Line of Determination: Supporting the Agency of Filipina Sex Trafficking Survivors, Jessica Taylor

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Igniting a New Legacy: 
The Olympics and Sustainable Development at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Alena Ulrichova

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From Rural to Urban: Education Conditions of Migrant Children in China, Shuting Wang

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Cultural, Social and Family Shadows: Finding a Place in the Rainbow, Lingfeng Xu

Master's Projects/Capstones from 2018

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Foreign Villains Shape the World: Transnational and Global Antagonists within the Martial Arts Film Trilogy Ip Man, Kelvin Chan

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Educational Prevention Program of Surgical Site Infections (SSI) at a Metropolitan Pediatric, Daniel Chavez

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Complexities of Chinese Contemporary Art, HONGJIA CHEN

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Betraying Revolution: The Foundations of the Japanese Communist Party, Matthew J. Crooke

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“The Lolelaplap (Marshall Islands) in Us: Sailing West to East (Ralik→Ratak) to These Our Atolls (Aelon Kein Ad) Ad Jolet Jen Anij (Our Blessed Inheritance from God)”, Desmond N. Doulatram

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From Proletariat to Past Glory: Nationalism's Evolution in Modern China, Lance Ekelund

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Contending Identities: Taiwan and China's Cross-Strait Relations, Jing Feng

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Bridging the Gaps in Business Between the West and China: From Cultural Barriers to Cultural Understanding, Michaela Furdzova

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Asian Buddhists and Religious Symbolic Objects: Consumerism Under the “Sacred Canopy”, Son TN Giang

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A Meltdown of Trust: Institutions, Information, and Nuclear Risk in Japan, Blake Hackett

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Gendered Literature In Colonized China: A Close Analysis of Mei Niang’s Yu, Xie, Bang, Lu Han

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The Significance of Mongolia's Foreign Policy and Security Apparatus on a Global and Regional Scale, Bolor Lkhaajav

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起死回生(Resuscitation): Japan's Search for Machines and their Meanings, Justin P. McDonnell

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The Hidden, the Shamed, and the Dead: An Exploration of Mental Illnesses in South Korea and Their Impact upon K-Pop, Natalie Nguyen

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Currents of Consumption: How National Narratives of Japanese Cuisine Collide with Localized Forms of Sushi in Northern California, John Ostermiller

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Adapt or Die! The Social and Economic Dynamics of Japan’s Animation Industry, You Pan

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From Habits to Habitus: Chinese Elites Attempt to Create an Aristocratic Class Along the British Model, Karina Salomatina

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The DPRK of the Future: Reconciliation, Managed Distrust, or War?, Nolan Smash

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“At War for OPPA and Identity”: Competitive Performativity among Korean-Pop Fandoms, Brittany Tinaliga

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China’s Sharing Mobility Economy, Yifan Zhou

Master's Projects/Capstones from 2017

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Korean Soil, Japanese Faces, American Empire: Repatriation and the Korean War Experiences of Japanese Laborers and Japanese American Soldiers, Jaclyn S. Knitter

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Celebrating the Feminine: Daoist Connections to Contemporary Feminism in China, Dessie Miller

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XINGHUN: A "COOPERATIVE MARRIAGE" TIES CHINESE LESBIANS AND GAYS, Rongdian Zhu