Chapman University alumna Nicole Saito (’22 Political Science, History, and Economics triple major with a minor in Mathematics) is currently a fourth-year PhD student at Northwestern University. Her primary fields are economic history and political economy, but more broadly, microeconomics with a focus on historical economic development.

Commencement speaker Nicole Saito (’22 Political Science, History, and Economics triple major with a minor in Mathematics) at the 2022 Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Commencement ceremony.

“I chose Northwestern University for my PhD because I knew I wanted to do economic history, and Northwestern is one of the best places— if not the best place— to do that,” said the 2022 Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Commencement Speaker.

Recently, Dr. Joel Mokyr, the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences and professor of economics and history in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Dr. Mokyr is one of Saito’s advisors and the chair of her committee.

“On the morning of the announcement for the Nobel Prize in economics, the entire department and university were thrilled, especially the economic history field. It’s always exciting when an economic historian wins the prize, but when it’s someone so close to you—whose career you’re familiar with and whose research inspires you—it is especially gratifying to see recognition at that level.”

And the excitement wasn’t limited only to Northwestern University. Dr. Mokyr has advised many students over the years who’ve taken positions at institutions worldwide.

“Many of them have advised their own students, and those students have advised their own students,” said Saito. “Joel calls them his great-grand-advisees. It goes to show that his influence and guidance span not only the country, but universities all over the globe, and over many generations of academics.”

Saito is currently working on her dissertation which focuses on the economic impacts of the Japanese American internment during WWII and she claims that much of her intuition on the topic, as well as the broader topics, such as discrimination, race relations, and assimilation is informed by her perspectives as an American and as a Japanese American and Dr. Mokyr has been extremely supportive of her pursuit of this topic.

“[He has] encouraged me to continue on with my work even when confronted with many roadblocks—and he also encourages me to think bigger, too. He’ll engage with my ideas, help me work out the conceptual flow of things, and then ask me how my hypotheses relate to global cases of discrimination to other minority groups, or how the evolution of American race relations compares to those of other countries.”

As a Japanese American, Saito has always been conscious of and appreciative of the hardships the community suffered; however, it wasn’t until she took Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa’s (Sociology) FCC class at Chapman that she examined the internment with a critical and academic perspective.

“The class really challenged me to integrate my personal experiences and family history with the longer course of Asian American history and politics and opened my eyes to the way Japanese American experiences connect and relate to other minority groups,” she said. “And of course, Dr. Takaragawa was instrumental in this.”

“She was one of the most challenging professors I’ve had—and at the same time, one of the most supportive. She encouraged us constantly to think deeply about social phenomena we took for granted and challenge our own implicit biases and assumptions. And if we went to her with more questions or ideas, she was always happy to engage with us and make time to discuss.“

Saito was not planning to study Japanese American economic history in her PhD, but without realizing it, the knowledge she gained from Dr. Takaragawa’s FCC class directed her to specialize in research on this topic.

“I’m so thankful to Chapman and to Wilkinson, especially for their instruction and support! Dr. Takaragawa, of course, along with Dr. John Compton, Dr. Gordon Babst, Dr. Sandra Alvarez in Political Science, Dr. Robert Slayton and Dr. Jeff Koerber in History, and many more.”

(Pictured in header: (Left to right) Dr. Joel Mokyr, (Northwestern University) and Wilkinson College alumna Nicole Saito (’22 Political Science, History, and Economics triple major with a minor in Mathematics). Photo courtesy of Nicole Saito).