06 September 2011 10:00AM
Ashli Kjos joined the Economics Department as Staff Assistant to the Director of Graduate Studies in July. In a recent interview, Ashli shared the following information about herself and her experiences before relocating here to Duke.
Tell us about yourself.
As for my educational background, I went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an undergrad and majored in Chinese and French. While I was in school, I began working at the Center for South Asia and also worked in the summer language immersion program. After graduating, I went to France for a year, where I completed the coursework for my Master’s in International Business at the Grenoble Graduate School of Business.
Last year I returned to Chicago, where I worked on my thesis while working in the University of Chicago’s Medical Center Development Office. I was continually working on my thesis - which I just completed! I relocated here with my boyfriend, who is starting his Master’s in Global Health at Duke. I had two Skype interviews with people here in the Department of Economics, which meant that no one here had even met me until my first day on the job, which is pretty awesome!
What is the title of your thesis?
My title is “Small- to Medium-sized Manufacturing Firms Face a BRIC Wall. ” BRIC refers to the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China. My research question is: Can Offshoring Improve the Competitiveness of Small- to Medium-sized American Manufacturers? I completed a case study of a friend’s father’s company who offshores part of its production to China in order to understand whether or not this improved profits. It really does tie into economics quite a bit. I am very interested in studying and working in emerging markets — in part because of my background in Chinese and French, as well as working in a center involved with South Asia.
What do you like about working at a university?
I love academics personally. I enjoy learning, but I also love to work with students! My first experience working with students was when I was a student myself working in the summer language immersion program at University of Wisconsin-Madison. When I worked at the University of Chicago, I worked more internally and missed the experience of working directly with faculty and students. I am really excited to be working with students again. I am slowly starting to meet graduate students. I look forward to learning more about the students and building a relationship with them. Currently, I am helping our PhD students in their quest to be a part of the working world. Seeing them develop and head off to universities as professors is a gratifying experience.
You have experienced studying and living abroad - something you have in common with many of our graduate students. Would you offer international students any advice?
I would suggest trying to assimilate. When living abroad, you easily stand out as different and it becomes comfortable to “group” with other students from your home country. In doing this, it makes it easier in that you can speak in your native language, but my experience of living in France and in China has led me to learn that hanging out with people from those countries not only helped me improve my foreign language skills, but also my cultural awareness. I considered myself lucky when studying in France because only 5 of 150 students in my graduate program were American, so I really had no choice but to make friends with people from other countries.
When I was in China, however, we came as a group of Americans and it was much harder to break off and meet Chinese students. I would suggest that students try to be as open and friendly as they can, attending as many events as possible to try and meet American students. In the end we are all new to Duke, which makes us all foreigners! Everyone is looking for friends and study groups so take this chance to meet as many people as possible!
Have you had any surprises in relocating to Durham?
Durham is completely different from the Midwest, which is where I grew up. After just moving from Chicago, I am used to a lifestyle that is much faster-paced. People here drive slowly, wait on you slowly, return your phone calls slowly - which will be a big adjustment for me. When I first came to Durham, I noticed that everything here is green! This is like a forest compared to where I lived! And people here say I have an accent, which is quite interesting. In the end, I am interested in culture whether its foreign or domestic! It is exciting to think about what I will learn about the culture here and what Durham has to offer now that the temperature is below 100 degrees!
Economics Department