SICE:
Japan
Study of Japanese culture is best augmented by language study and in-depth
opportunities for personal experience in everyday situations. During SICE,
students spend the semester living with a host family in Morioka, the prefectural
capital, and experiencing life in a vibrant Japanese community. Participants
focus their study and gain access to a key institution in Japan with a field
placement in local schools to observe educational processes central to Japanese
society. Earlham classes provide opportunities to ground experiences acquired
in host families and schools in readings and discussions and to continue
the study of Japanese language typically begun on campus the year before
the program. Students write reports and keep journals as a means of reflecting
on daily events, conversations, and impressions. Several short field trips
and special activities with host families are included each year such as
the climbing of Mt. Iwate.
Japan
Study
GLCA and
ACM jointly recognize an eleven-month program at the International
Division of Waseda University in Tokyo. A 10-day orientation
in the outskirts of Tokyo emphasizes Japanese customs and home
life, language strategies for getting on in Japan, and group
dynamics. During the academic year, students live with Japanese
families. Each term, students take intensive Japanese and choose
from among over thirty Japan-related courses in the humanities,
arts, and social sciences. In the spring, students spend four
weeks living with families in rural Shimane Prefecture, Southwestern
Honshu. A faculty member from a GLCA or ACM member school serves
as Resident Director and a local Program Associate assists
the students at Waseda. Students may apply with no knowledge
of Japanese but must study Japanese before departure. A minimum
GPA of 3.0 is assumed, although exceptions may be made. Application
deadline: the first Friday in February.
