Last December, JICUF Student Activity Fund recipient and ICU student Akiyo Sasaki and co-organizers Machi Niiya, Ayumi Murase, Rio Kokuta, and Shimon Hibi began the “Nihongo de Itadakimasu: Cultural Exchange through Japanese Language and Food” project. The aim of the project was to promote intercultural communication by inviting ICU students of all Japanese levels to mingle with each other and learn about Japanese culture.
The Spring 2019 JICUF Undergraduate Research Day (URD) was held on February 15th at ICU. 46 fourth-year students presented their research posters. The event was organized by Associate Professor Seunghun Lee with a grant from JICUF.
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.
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.
Fourth-year ICU student Michinori Suzuki received a JICUF student travel fund of ¥651,800 last fall to conduct two research trips to Hokkaido. Michinori majors in linguistics, and we asked him about his research on voiced plosives in two Japanese dialects.
JICUF awarded Dr. Kaori Sato, instructor in the Health and Physical Education program at ICU, a ¥300,000 grant for her project, “Organizing a Hackathon for Quantitative Analysis with Harvard PhD Students.” Held in late May, the workshop aimed to inspire ICU students interested both in quantitative analysis and in developing their career abroad. We asked Dr. Sato to tell us more about her project.
In spring 2018, JICUF awarded grants to nine projects: three submitted by faculty, and six by students. Here are the summaries of the projects.
JICUF has been supporting Team Asunaro’s volunteer activities in the Tohoku Region through our faculty grant program. Professor Etsuko Kato (anthropology) recruits ICU students to participate in recovery efforts in Tohoku organized by Team Asunaro, a group founded by four friends immediately after the devastating earthquake of 2011. Hikari Okada, a sophomore student at ICU, participated in one such trip from March 16th to 18th and shared his experience.
The first JICUF Undergraduate Research Day was held at ICU on February 24th. 45 senior students presented posters featuring their research. Associate Professor of Linguistics Seunghun Lee organized this event with funding from JICUF.
JICUF Executive Director Paul Hastings and Program Manager Fernando Rojas visited ICU in the first week of February. Here is a report from Paul Hastings.
