Introducing Inaugural Indra Levy Scholar Jiayu Gui
The IUC is pleased to share that the first Indra Levy Scholarship has been awarded to Jiayu Gui (IUC ’25). Jiayu holds a B.A. in Japanese Language and Literature from Beijing Normal University, an M.A. in Regional Studies-East Asia from Harvard University, and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in East Asian Studies after her year at the IUC. Her research interests include modern and contemporary Japanese literature, especially Japanese bildungsroman (kyōyō shōsetsu), women’s writing (with a focus on Tamura Toshiko, Hayashi Fumiko, and Osaki Midori), literary mentorship, and magazine studies during the early Showa era (1926–1945). More from Jiayu: What does receiving this scholarship mean for you?
I believe the intensive training at the IUC will equip me with both language and academic competence to cope with the challenges in the Ph.D. program, enabling me to conduct responsible and rigorous investigation on modern women’s writing and wartime literature of mainland Japan and Japanese-occupied regions in Asia. What are your career goals for the future?
I hope to pursue a Ph.D. degree in East Asian Studies and ideally teach literature or Sino-Japanese comparative literature at colleges. I wish to utilize what I have learnt in the English-speaking academic world to explore and advance new possibilities for Japanese literary studies, especially from an interdisciplinary and transnational perspective. What does receiving this scholarship mean for you?
Without this scholarship, I would not have been able to participate in this program due to my current financial conditions. Aside from serving as an acknowledgement of my potential and capabilities, this scholarship also brings me a platform, the IUC, to boost my competence and confidence in pursuing a Ph.D. degree and my future academic inquiry.
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