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Carles Prado-Fonts

Position and company: Professor, Department of Arts and Humanities, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Country of work: Spain
Degree Attained at UCLA: PhD in Asian Languages and Cultures
Graduation Year: 2011
Could you tell us about your journey to UCLA?
When I was offered a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue a PhD degree in modern Chinese literature, I looked for a program where I could work in this specific field but also with a comparative perspective and the possibility of engaging with other disciplines in the humanities. UCLA was the perfect place to do so.
Can you speak a little bit about your career and how it has progressed since graduating from UCLA?
My wife and I always wanted to eventually return to Catalonia at the end of my degree. So I was really fortunate to find an academic job at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya very early. Since then I have contributed to the institutional development of East Asian Studies in Barcelona. And, besides my own book projects and translations, I have also contributed to collective projects on Chinese and Sinophone cultures and the interactions between China and Europe in my research group ALTER.
How do you think UCLA prepares students to fill positions that have a global reach and influence?
At UCLA I was very fortunate to interact with an extremely diverse and stimulating international community. That, I think, equipped me very well to work on projects with a global reach and ambition.
Are you involved in any international UCLA alumni groups or support networks?
I'm not officially involved in any groups, but I do follow UCLA news (and basketball!) and am regularly in touch with a few alumni and professors.


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