Centre alumnus headed to Japan to study global economics

Studying abroad and making international connections at Centre sparked a lifelong interest in Japanese language and culture for Tyler Kinney ‘25.

The seeds were planted in his first year at Centre when Kinney started taking Japanese language courses. As he learned more and began making friends within Centre’s international student community, that passion continued to grow. 

“I’d say learning Japanese has been one of the most difficult and one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done,” Kinney said. 

He will continue his language studies abroad, being named a MEXT Scholar under the Japanese Government Scholarship Program. Funded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the highly competitive scholarship will support his pursuit of a master’s degree at a Japanese university.

“The MEXT Scholarship Program is Japan's premier fellowship program for study within Japan,” explained Robert Schalkoff, Director of the Office of Fellowships. “The Research Student award is the most prestigious of the four awards available. 

“Tyler's ability to navigate a bilingual interview, the bilingual application process, and propose a research project using both English and Japanese were key to his success. As a Centre student and alumnus, he showed tremendous self-initiative in finding academic and internship experiences to develop the skills he needed to compete at this level.”

Kinney has won a Research Student scholarship, meaning he will conduct research before starting his Master’s program. He will do research with a Japanese professor of Economics at Nagoya University, building on ideas and theories he honed at Centre. 

He will develop a thesis using game theory to examine how trade decisions — such as the introduction of tariffs — can influence global economic relationships.

“I saw the economic influence and impact Japanese investments have on Kentucky, and that got me interested in international trade,” Kinney said. 

Rather than relying solely on existing data, Kinney will take a theoretical approach rooted in his Japanese mentor’s area of expertise. Because many recent trade policies are still unfolding, game theory offers a way to model potential outcomes and better understand their broader impact.

Kinney has experience working with data through research conducted during his senior year at Centre as a John C. Young Scholar, a program which gives seniors the chance to research a topic of their choosing or pursue a creative project. 

“Game theory became a realization for me because I did John C. Young,” he said. “I researched a topic that was relatively new, and there was limited data available. That’s really the same reason we’re working with game theory here, because these tariffs haven’t been implemented for very long. So, it leads us to a more theoretical approach rather than gathering data.”

Drawing from his upbringing in the coal town of Ashcamp, Kentucky, for his John C. Young research, Kinney examined how green energy investments are affecting communities like his own that have historically relied on natural resource extraction.

“With my John C. Young experience, especially, I learned a lot about statistical analysis,” he said. “I could show this to my supervisor [in Japan] and show I have what it takes to be able to work alongside him. It gave me confidence in myself.”

 Kinney plans to take all his coursework in Japanese, a daunting challenge but one he’s ready to face. The pre-degree research experience will help him prepare for his master’s program, giving him time to acclimate to a Japanese academic setting and strengthen his language skills. 

He feels well prepared because of his eight-month stint in Japan his sophomore year. He only started learning the language at the end of his first year at Centre. Not even a year later, he was doing a summer internship abroad and spending a semester as an international student at Yamaguchi Prefectural University. 

Looking back, Kinney sees his journey as a direct result of the opportunities he found at Centre.

“I have a lot to learn, but Centre gave me a good foundation,” he said. “My experiences exposed me to so much, including my Japanese friends who got me interested in Japan in the first place.”