#8 EAI Internship, What Lies Ahead!

2019 Summer Internship

Dohwan Kim, Political Science and International Relations at Korea University

Hello, my name is Dohwan Kim and I study Political Science and International Relations at Korea University. I was an intern at the East Asia Institute for the summer of 2019.

Prior to my internship at EAI, I did not have any internship or other work experience. While I had high interest in political research, I was not familiar with the overall research process. My only exposure to political research had been reading related journal articles and note-taking during my academic classes. I had previously spent my summer taking summer courses at school.

Meanwhile, I learned about the EAI internship program through my school. I have always been interested in East Asian regional studies, and wanted to learn further about how academic discussions lead to meaningful political research. As such, I was motivated to apply to the program. I will always treasure the experiences I have had during the one-month period of my EAI internship.

My main tasks at EAI involved assisting research related to Myanmar, as well as conference and event preparation. I helped organize survey results for EAI’s Strengthening Civil Society in Myanmar research program and assisted the program manager with the analysis on civil society organizations in Myanmar. I also assisted basic research for the identity project which is carried out every five years. I had taken a class on “identity politics” at school prior to the internship, which helped me to better understand the research proceedings. Furthermore, I learned about effective event preparation by assisting EAI’s various events in August such as the KF Korea Workshop, Timely Debate on Korea-Japan Relations, and the Next Generation Conference. In particular, I served as a discussant for the Next Generation Conference.

EAI is a think tank where you can meet diverse people from different backgrounds. I appreciated the time that I spent with kind researchers and dedicated interns within such a warm work setting. In considering all of the new colleagues and mentors I have met and new experiences I have gained, I can say that my month at EAI is a memory to be remembered.