What are JICUF Student Funds? Interview with Program Manager Fernando Rojas
The 2019 spring application period for the JICUF Student Funds will begin on January 21st.
Since this program was established in 2016, JICUF has supported numerous projects by both undergraduate and graduate students at ICU. At the same time, many students are not familiar with the idea of “grants,” and some confuse it with scholarships. We asked JICUF Program Manager Fernando Rojas to answer some frequently asked questions.
Introducing the 2019 JICUF Study Abroad Scholar Mone Ikeda
We are happy to announce that ICU student Mone Ikeda has been awarded the 2019 JICUF Study Abroad Scholarship earlier this month. Mone will study at the University of California from fall 2019. We recently interviewed Mone by e-mail.
JICUF Grantee Highlight: Mikiko Saigo – Teaching Japanese as a Foreign/Heritage Language in Canada
Earlier this year, fourth year language education major Mikiko Saigo was awarded ¥188,000 via the JICUF Student Travel Fund to conduct her research project “Teaching Japanese as a Foreign/Heritage Language in Canada: Ethnography and Interviews to Reconsider the Approaches.” Mikiko traveled to Canada from June to September, and the JICUF grant covered her airfare.
JICUF and UNHCR Japan Co-host Symposium on Supporting Refugees in Higher Education
On December 1st and 2nd, JICUF and UNHCR Japan co-hosted a symposium at the International House of Japan in Tokyo entitled “Supporting Refugees in Higher Education: Japanese Models and Next Steps.” Close to 80 participants including representatives of Japanese universities, NPOs and government agencies participated to discuss existing programs for supporting refugee students and to explore ways to strengthen collaboration among institutions.
Alumni Stories No. 11 – Ms. Tomoko Ishibashi
Ms. Tomoko Ishibashi graduated from ICU in June 1991. She currently lives in Toronto, Canada, and joined the second ICU reunion in Toronto in November. She shared her “ICU story” with us.
Fall 2018 JICUF Grant Recipients Announced
In early November, the JICUF Grants Committee reviewed proposals submitted by ICU faculty and students and approved fourteen projects: five from faculty, nine from ICU students. JICUF provided a total of ¥4,450,820 in funding for these projects.
JICUF Executive Director Visits Turkey
JICUF Executive Director Paul Hastings traveled to Turkey in early October to conduct interviews for the 2019 finalists of the Syrian Scholars Initiative. Here is his report.
Alumni Stories No.10 – Mr. Atsushi Suzuki
Mr. Atsushi Suzuki, a 2004 graduate, was transferred to New York in September 2014. He has been attending events organized by the Alumni Association NY Chapter, and kindly cooperated with JICUF’s summer program, Global Link New York, in 2017. We asked Atsushi about his time at ICU and how it has impacted his life.
First U.S. Scholars Initiative Student Matriculates at ICU
Anastazy Maletz is the first recipient of JICUF’s United States Scholars Initiative (USSI) scholarship. This merit-based scholarship provides full-tuition support for four years of undergraduate study at ICU. Anastazy matriculated at ICU in September, and we asked him about his experiences at ICU so far.
JICUF Grantee Highlight: Modern Dance Society “ICU x Taiwan x New York Dance Project”
Mana Yamagata, a fourth-year Literature major, received a ¥474,500 grant this spring to plan a Modern Dance Society (MDS) performance. This fall, they invited New York-based choreographer and ICU alum Kensaku Shinohara and Taiwan-based dance group Seed Dance Company to ICU to put on a collaborative performance. The ICU × Taiwan × New York Dance Project: “Woohi Chung” (meaning “five minutes” in Chinese) was performed four times in the West Wing of the Diffendorfer Memorial Hall (known as the “Shin-D”) from September 18th to 20th. We interviewed MDS members to learn about their project.