CLASS Students Exchange Culture with Ashikaga University
CLASS Students Exchange Culture with Ashikaga University
September 1, 2022
Three students from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) participated in the Virtual Language and Culture Exchange with Ashikaga University in Japan from August 21-25, 2022. These students included Casandra Michel from Criminology and Criminal Justice and Abigail Gallagher and Maricela Arce from Liberal Studies.
UIS and Ashikaga University have been sending short-term student-exchange delegations since 2001. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical exchanges have halted between the two universities for the past three years.
Last year, the UIS Office of Engaged Learning delivered a five-day virtual exchange program to connect our universities’ students during the pandemic. The program included language instruction, introductions to each city and university, and a session on food and culture for each city.
“The program worked out well,” says Jonathan GoldbergBelle, Director of UIS Study Away Programs. “We repeated it again this year with the same format.” One addition this year, he says, was that students were able to participate in an opening ceremony with the mayors of both cities, along with Ashikaga University President Suetake Yoshitaka and UIS Chancellor Janet Gooch.
On the last day of this year’s program, students gave short presentations in the language they were learning. “Students demonstrated their enthusiasm, creativity, and desire to continue to learn about each other’s country,” GoldbergBelle says. Several UIS students plan to pursue study away opportunities through our two partners in Japan, Ashikaga University and Saitama University.
UIS History Professor Peter Shapinsky was on hand to assist with translation for this year’s opening ceremony, and he is enthusiastic about the opportunities of Study Away. Such programs, he says, “provide students transformative, immersive experiences that impact their lives for years to come. Our students are inspired and challenged by encounters, conversations, and discoveries.”
Shapinsky teaches East Asian History courses to both majors and non-majors as part of the ECCE Global Awareness requirement at UIS. “Those who study abroad take the first steps to become global citizens who embrace diversity, who communicate and navigate across cultures,” he says. “Several have gone on to make Japan or work with other countries parts of their post-graduate lives, while others are internationally-minded lifelong learners who bring back experiences to enrich careers at home.”
Contact the Study Away office for more information about short-term exchanges or the many opportunities to obtain ECCE Engaged Experience or ECCE Global Awareness credit through Study Away.