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Mr. Jeff OTTO, Director of Fellowships and Next Gen Programs at Pacific Forum, Hawaii was invited as a guest speaker on April 25, 2025, for the Professional Workshop course held by Dr. Astha Chadha. Jeff Otto addressed the students online from Hawaii and talked about his journey from being a music student at university to working at a think-tank and progressing in his career to be a Director of Fellowships and Next-Gen Programs.

Mr. Otto's talk covered several topics including, 

(1) his educational experiences and advice on how to plan a career after graduation degree in IR, 

(2) his life journey, 

(3) his professional experiences, 

(4) job market for IR graduates & opportunities in think-tanks in the US, 

(5) and Programs of Pacific Forum and opportunities for Ritsumeikan students for internships. 

The talk was followed by a questions and answer session. 

The students were very engaged and asked a lot of great questions regarding opportunities for foreign students in the US think-tanks. 

Some students discussed possible career opportunities in American and European think-tanks, while others asked follow-up questions from the lecture. 

Mr. Otto concluded his lecture with remarks about the positive outlook of Ritsumeikan students, stating that he was quite impressed by the thoughtful questions and was very pleased to share his knowledge and experiences with the students.