Graduate

Description

The Program in Japanese Studies accepts applications for Japanese language Teaching Assistants at various times for upcoming quarters. Please view this page periodically to check when TA applications are being accepted and be sure to apply on or before the deadline date. Grad students are usually hired at 50% time, working 20 hours per week and teaching four or five 50-minute tutorial sections on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays under an instructor's supervision. All the lesson plans will be provided by our instructors. Being employed as a Teaching Assistant for the Japanese language program qualifies a grad student with a substantial fee remission during each quarter of employment. Click here for the brief description of Japanese TA duties.

Qualifications

Applicants must be fluent in the Japanese language, should speak the standard variety of Japanese, and should have knowledge of fundamental Japanese grammar and culture. JAPN TAs are required to have exceptional interpersonal communication skills, understanding of the Japanese business culture and importance of collectiveness, and strong sense of team work as they team-teach and work closely with the instructors and other TAs. Applicants must have essential computer skills (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Zoom, etc.) and  must be able to communicate in English with the admin staff. They also must keep a GPA of 3.0 or above in order to work as a JAPN TA. Applicants must attend the mandatory JAPN TA Orientation at the beginning of the Fall Quarter. Training time will be paid. Successful applicants will have a schedule that is flexible to be able to teach up to five hours per day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, attend the weekly TA meeting on Tuesdays, and hold weekly meetings at other times.

To be eligible for employment in Winter and Spring, applicants must attend the full training in Fall or have served as a TA previously. Those who have never worked as Academic Student Employees (ASEs) are also required to attend the campus-wide, New Employee UAW Orientation to be held at the beginning of each quarter. 

JAPN TA Application Steps

Applicants for WI25 must be able to perform the duties of Teaching Assistant from January 2, 2025 through March 14, 2025.

UC San Diego Graduate Students:

    1. Submit your application online no later than November 3, 2024. All current Teaching Assistants must reapply each quarter for the position.

    2. Submit your tentative WI25 class schedule via Google Forms no later than November 10, 2024. Contact Dr. Junko Tokuda Simpson if you have any questions at jtsimpson@ucsd.edu.

Note:
TA Applicants could be disqualified if their home departments do not approve our hiring request by November 24, 2024.
TA applicants will receive their application results by December 14, 2024.

Non UC San Diego Graduate Students:

We are no longer accepting new applications for the 2024-2025 JAPN Non-Student Tutor positions. The recruitment site will reopen during the month of April, 2025 to accept applications for the 2025-2026 JAPN NST positions.

    1. Submit your application here no later than May 10, 2024.   

    2. Submit the following application materials to japan@ucsd.edu. 
         a) a statement of purpose hand-written in Japanese (in 楷書) as a JPEG or PNG attachment
         b) your resume detailing language and teaching background as a PDF attachment

NST applicants will receive their application results by June 14, 2024.

The Japanese Studies Program is pleased to announce a call for proposals for graduate students who are conducting research on Japan. Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowships in Japanese Studies mini-grants are intended for academic research for Summer 2024 and AY 2024-2025. Applicants can apply for up to $10,000 to support research and study on Japan.

Fellowship eligibility:

Applicants must conduct their research in Japan using the Japanese language, in either written or oral form. Recent recipients of the fellowship are also eligible to reapply.

Priority will be given to proposals that are related to doctoral work but graduate work toward a Master’s degree will also be considered. The grant is not meant to support language study.

Required documents:

• CV
• Grant proposal (no more than 5 pages, double-spaced)
• Budget
• Other sources of funding, pending or committed
  (Include any financial aid you are currently receiving or will receive in the following academic year such as fellowships, grants, TAships)
• Two letters of recommendation from UC San Diego faculty
  (They may be directly submitted to japan@ucsd.edu by UC San Diego faculty. Please inform them of the application deadline.) 

How to submit your application:

1. Combine your CV, grant proposal, budget, and other sources of funding into one PDF file in this order.
2. Submit the PDF file via email at japan@ucsd.edu. 
3. In the subject line, type "Joseph Naiman Fellowship Application: Name (Last, First) & Home Department
4. If your faculty will be submitting your letters of recommendation to us directly, please provide the names of your professors in your email. 

Application Deadline: May 19, 2024

Should you have any questions, contact the Japanese Studies Program at japan@ucsd.edu.

You can watch the presentations of the recent Joseph Naiman fellows here (May 2024).