Academic Hypocrisy?

Yesterday I had an interview at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang for the Academic Staff and Training Scheme (ASTS). ASTS is a university program, funded by the Malaysia's Public Service Department (Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam), that sponsors academics to pursue their Masters and/or PhD in overseas and local universities. Upon getting their degrees, academics are obligated to teach at the university for a minimum of seven years.

The program, I think, is a good fit for me since I do plan on finishing my PhD and teaching at USM Penang. But I felt a bit bad since I had to somehow fudge the truth in order to look more preferable in eyes of the selecting committee. You see, my academic area of specialization is Southeast Asian politics and I plan on devoting my academic career in researching, teaching, and writing about this region.

A few months ago, when I was contemplating on applying to ASTS, I had a meeting with the head of the Asian Studies Department at USM, who asked me if I can instead specialize in East Asian politics, namely Chinese politics. This is because the Department needs lecturers who can teach courses on East Asian politics and help develop the East Asian Studies program within the Department. But he then sensed my apparent discomfort in being asked to do my PhD research on a region I'm not that passionate about, so he compromised a bit and told me that I can still do my dissertation research on Southeast Asian politics as long as I'll be willing to teach a course on Chinese politics later. He said that the university doesn't monitor my research and only cares that I come back to USM to teach after finishing my PhD.

I don't mind teaching the course at all but to devote the next three years of my life researching about a country I'm not all that enthused about is simply torturous, and not to say, unthinkable. He also suggested that I talk about my interest in Chinese politics during the interview to better my chance in getting the sponsorship since the funding is given out based on the departmental needs. To add, he is also part of the selection committee that interviewed me yesterday, which made his suggestion even stranger.

So, during the interview yesterday I talked a bit about my "research proposal" to study Chinese politics: my tentative topic is "China's new-found prominence on the global stage engenders hyper-nationalism among young Chinese." Fortunately the committee didn't ask many questions about my "research proposal" and instead focus on soliciting my opinions in how to develop a strong East Asian Studies program at the university. It also meant that I didn't have bullshit too much about my "interest" in studying Chinese politics.

Still I feel a bit remorseful for telling the committee something I knew wasn't sincere. I still plan on doing my PhD on Indonesian politics but at the same time I will also have to deepen my knowledge in East Asian politics, particularly China, which means taking up relevant academic courses and reading more about the region. Most probably I'll also have to learn some rudimentary Mandarin in order to lend my regional expertise an appearance of legitimacy.

I wonder what would happen if during the interview I told the committee that I'm not interested in studying China for my PhD and insisted on doing Indonesia instead? In other word, just be honest about my academic plan. Will I still get the sponsorship if I did that? In the end I succumbed to my craven and cowardly self and decided to be a hypocrite. I hope to atone for this grievous sin later by being the best damn teacher of East Asian politics the university has ever seen! Geez, that sounds kind of pathetic. I guess I'll just do what's needed to be done and let the chips fall where they may.