Navigating the Path to a PhD: Insights from a Collaborative Mentoring Workshop for EAS and CAMEH Students

by Jieun Cho

On November 11, Jieun Cho, postdoctoral associate at APSI, organized a mentoring workshop for master’s students in East Asian Studies (EAS) and the Critical Asian and Middle Eastern Humanities (CAMEH) programs at Duke, following the positive feedback received from both mentors and mentees last year. Given the reality that many students in our master’s program develop interests in pursuing a PhD, the goal of this workshop is to foster a supportive space to discuss the PhD application process and the U.S. higher education in general while fostering a sense of community among participants. This year, newly hired faculty members and a postdoctoral associate from Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) took up the role of the mentor, enthusiastically sharing their insights. The workshop featured perspectives from the organizer as well as Drs. Eric Funabashi, Kimberly Hassel, and Preeti Singh, who shared their reflections on their academic paths based on distinctive personal trajectories as well as diverse disciplinary backgrounds in Anthropology, East Asian Studies, History, and English.

The workshop opened with a candid conversation on what each mentor wished they had known before starting a PhD. The discussion ranged from balancing the workload to the importance of building confidence and support systems, with each mentor speaking from their own struggles through a PhD. Eric Funabashi said, “The amount of reading and writing that I was supposed to manage was beyond my expectation. Time management is key, and this is one of the transferable skills that I developed during my training.” Echoing this advice, I proposed that students see the whole journey as a process of building self-knowledge—whether it's understanding how much reading they can manage in a week or identifying what helps them relax—for ensuring time for rest and other important things in life. Throughout the conversation, the diverse trajectories of the four discussants highlighted that experiences outside academia, or the lack of it, should not be seen as a hindrance but rather as a source of authenticity that can translate into intellectual and communal strength in any discipline.

We then turned to practical aspects of the PhD application, particularly crafting the statement of purpose (SoP). Using sample writings generously shared by EAS alumni Fei Yuan and Yanping Ni, as well as Professor Kimberly Hassel, we discussed how to construct a compelling SoP. Mentors emphasized tailoring the SoP to highlight intellectual interests, personal motivations, and fit with specific departments. Students raised thoughtful questions, including how to pitch what are inherently interdisciplinary interests as a project for discipline-centric departments like History or Literature. Another student asked how they could signal a fit with a specific program in their CV and research proposal. Other questions also included how flexible they can be with the word count, how to cite external sources judiciously (or not), and the purpose of personal/diversity statements.

Regarding the application process, Preeti Singh advised, “Demonstrate how you can benefit from the resources particular departments have to offer and how you will contribute to developing them.” Kimberly Hassel emphasized, “As a person who previously participated in the PhD application selection process, I value authenticity. I always tried to find out more about the student's overall interests and intellectual journey, given that the proposed project itself might change.” These discussions provided practical strategies for crafting effective applications while highlighting the importance of framing their applications as both intentionally promising, personally fulfilling, and open to further development.

The ambition of this ongoing workshop series is to help students grow not just as applicants but as competent thinkers and communicators in and outside academic pursuits. We (the mentors) hope that this series provides a space for community-building by demystifying what are often regarded as monolithic and solitary processes. This first session will be followed by two invitation-only writing workshops where second-year master’s students draft research proposals and engage in peer-feedback activities.