Student Spotlight
2026 Illinois Global Institute Graduate Language Fellows
Sara Baxter
Master's Student in the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures
Q: What language are you studying?
A: I am studying Japanese.
Q: What has been your experience studying Japanese?
A: As an undergrad, I took 3 years of Japanese language courses. One year of this language instruction was through a Japanese institution in Osaka called Kansai Gaidai. Now, as a grad student, I have taken almost a full year of advanced Japanese at UIUC.
Q: What is your advice for other students studying language?
A: I think two of the most important aspects of studying a language are being consistent and creative. Keeping up with a language, making sure you set aside a dedicated time to practice and sticking to it, is really the only way you can hope to advance. However, this also should be something you look forward to, so experimenting and figuring out fun ways to learn the language (be it struggling through books or TV shows in the language or trying to find friends who are native speakers) is really important.
Q: What research project are you working on?
A: I am currently working on my MA thesis which examines plastic consumption and waste management in Japan. My research focuses on the cultural, social, and political dimensions that sustain Japan’s widespread use of plastics despite coexisting areas of environmental responsibility. I chose this project partially because it is so embedded into popular consciousness. I have had many conversations with people who have visited Japan and were taken aback by the amount of plastic packaging used, even on items where packaging is unexpected. Looking into existing scholarship, I noticed that waste is often treated as a single category and less has been written about plastic as a particularly culturally embedded material. As Japan is far from the only country with a dependence on plastics, I feel that this project can provide insight for future sustainability efforts around the world
Q: What is next for you after the Illinois Global Institute Language Fellowship?
A: After completing my MA, I plan to pursue a PhD in Japanese history and subsequently seek out a career as a professor. Thanks to the advanced Japanese language skills I will gain through the IGI Language Fellowship, I will be able to engage with an array of primary sources (government reports, consumer data, and social media artifacts) that will support both my MA thesis as well as my expanded PhD research. As a professor, I will be expected to keep up with scholarship and conduct my own research, as well as likely teach a range of courses, so the language and cultural skills I will acquire under the IGI Language Fellowship will really be invaluable as I go forward.
Rebecca Stover
PhD Student in the Department of History
Q: What language are you studying?
A: I am studying Mandarin Chinese.
Q: What has been your experience studying Japanese?
A: I’m currently finishing up first year Chinese here at UIUC.
Q: What is your advice for other students studying language?
A: Practice, practice, practice. I’d also especially advise any undergraduates to think about studying abroad or, after graduation, teaching abroad. I taught English in Japan after I graduated, and it was a really great experience.
Q: What research project are you working on?
A: I’m working on my dissertation which will examine the Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage, a circuit of a little over 1,000 kilometers throughout the Kansai region of Japan. It encompasses thirty-three temples, each dedicated to the bodhisattva of mercy, Kannon. I’ve long been interested in studying Buddhism and pilgrimage and chose this site to work on because of my experience living in Osaka, and because the pilgrimage is a really fascinating site to look at transformations of religion, technology, space, and media in Japan.
Q: What is next for you after the Illinois Global Institute Language Fellowship?
A: Through studying Chinese with the support of IGI, I hope to better utilize primary sources and secondary scholarship. My study of Chinese is especially relevant to my chapter on replicas of the Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage in colonial-era Taiwan. Moreover, as my research has expanded, I’ve become increasingly interested in pilgrimage in relation to tourism in Taiwan and Manchuria during Japan’s imperial period—so my study of Chinese is especially relevant for that research.