Did you know that scholarships for American students to go abroad have been extended? There is still a chance for students in your area to apply for our 300+ scholarships to have the exchange experience of a lifetime!

Deadlines for Japan summer scholarships have been extended to February 1, 2012 and deadlines for Germany year and semester scholarships have been extended to February 7, 2012. Please spread the word in your area that YFU is actively seeking American teenagers with a sense of adventure to go on scholarship abroad!

Scholarships available include:

• Kikkoman National Scholarship
• Mazda/Nationwide Community Scholarship
• Japan-America Friendship Scholars
• Japan-U.S. Senate Youth Exchange
• Okinawa Peace Scholarship
• Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange
• Stipendium and Stiftung Scholarships
• And more!

All of our scholarship information can be found online at www.yfuusa.org. Please let students know that they can call 1.800.TEENAGE or email admissions@yfu.org if they have any questions.

We’re also always looking for insightful scholarship evaluators – if you would like to help determine who goes on scholarship with YFU, please contact Carla James at cjames@yfu.org.

Thank you for your help in telling students in your area about YFU’s scholarship opportunities!

Mike Finnell

President

R-MC RECEIVES GRANT IN HONOR OF TAYLOR ANDERSON ’08

http://www.rmc.edu/News/11-12-13%20-%20Taylor%20Anderson.Japan%20Foundation.aspx

Randolph-Macon College has received a grant from The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP) to strengthen Japanese Studies, a part of the college’s Asian Studies program, in memory of R-MC alumna Taylor Anderson ’08. Anderson perished during the March 2011 earthquake & tsunami that devastated parts of Japan.

“We are pleased to receive this generous support from The Japan Foundation,” said Randolph-Macon President Robert R. Lindgren. “This grant will help us increase our students’ awareness and appreciation of Japanese culture and will aid the college in laying the groundwork for a lifetime of engagement and exchange with our Japanese neighbors.”

The Japanese Foundation grant, entitled “Honoring the Life, Work, and Good Spirit of Taylor Anderson – Enhancing Japanese Studies at Randolph-Macon College,” will help Randolph-Macon reach its goal of increasing course offerings in Japanese language and culture. The college received $100,000 for this academic year with the anticipation of receiving additional funds during the five year duration of the grant, which will allow for faculty travel to Japan to develop broader course offerings and establish student travel courses to Japan.

R-MC’s Asian Studies Progam will also develop and offer a spring workshop and curriculum website for Virginia elementary, middle, and high school teachers of history, geography, world language, and literature. This seminar workshop will be led by R-MC Professor Todd Munson and provide teachers the opportunity to engage in the study, analysis and discussion of topics related to Japanese history, geography, and culture. It will provide ten hours of instruction and will convene on the Randolph-Macon campus beginning in spring 2012.

The Japan Foundation grant will also support the following Randolph-Macon initiatives in the current academic year:

Taylor Anderson, who had a lifelong love of Japan, graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree inInternational Studies and minors in Asian Studies and Political Science. She joined The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program and was assigned to teach in Ishinomaki, Japan. The JET program is one of the world’s largest exchange programs and is aimed at developing strong international relationships between Japan and other nations.

“This grant will help to continue strengthening relationships with a country she loved and Randolph-Macon College,” said Anderson’s father, Andy. We are grateful to both the college and the Japan Foundation for so generously supporting this project in her memory and honor.”

• “A New Framework for US-Japan Development Cooperation“ (PDF)  http://www.jcie.org/researchpdfs/USJapanPapers/Gannon.pdf

Click here for other JCIE papers in the series.

Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules.  He operates a think tank of one, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States.

On December 5, the American Lawyer (aka the AmLaw Daily) published Leichter’s most recent article, “Law School Debt Bubble, Part II: Data Show Feds Will Lend $54.3 Billion to U.S. Law Schools by 2020,” in which he uses American Bar Association data to project the exponential growth of law school debt in contrast to the small number of new lawyer jobs in the U.S.

Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules.  He operates a think tank of one, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States.

On November 22, the American Lawyer (aka the AmLaw Daily) published Leichter’s most recent article, “Law School Debt Bubble: Aggregate Law School Grad Debt Grew $475 Million Between 2008 and 2010,” in which he uses U.S. News and World Report and American Bar Association data to illustrate the ever-increasing growth in law school debt graduates have taken on even though law jobs have been disappearing for decades.

Links to Leichter’s previous AmLaw articles can be found here.

So, do any JETs/JET alums/other readers have any insights or perspectives to share for an American student who wants to go off to study at a Japanese university in lieu of a U.S. university?

Please post responses in the comments section of this post.  Or feel free to e-mail them to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

JET alum and JETwit webmaster Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, Nakatsu-shi, 2003-2006) recently appeared in the Fast Company article “An MFA Degree For Designers Who Want To Change The World” by Michael J. Coren.

So you want to change the world? Cynics may send you off to Wall Street or a white-shoe law firm. Those with gumption will look for another way. The new Master’s of Fine Arts in Design for Social Innovation has opened its doors just for them.

“We’re adamant this not be a program where people sit in a classroom and talk about how great it’s going to be when they go out and change the world,” says program chair Cheryl Heller at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, and a board member of PopTech. “It is helping designers go beyond self-expression, which is how most designers are taught, and how to put [design] into practice to create a change.”

Read the full Fast Company article here.

Lee-Sean, a faculty member in the department, is reaching out to the JET community and encouraging returning JETs and alumni to apply to the MFA Design for Social Innovation program.  The program is for applicants from a broad range of backgrounds with an interest in design and social innovation, and not just those with college degrees or prior professional experience in design.  Email leesean@purpose.com with inquiries, and apply here.  The deadline for applications is January 15, 2015 for Fall 2012 enrollment.

Photo: Lee-Sean with fellow MFA Design for Social Innovation faculty member Alessandra Orofino.

Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules.  He operates a think tank of one, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States.

The popular lawyer periodical, the Am Law Daily, ran an article I wrote, titled, “Media Outlets Claiming ‘Law Is no Longer a Golden Ticket’ Conceal Decades of a Profession in Decline.” In it I use Bureau of Economic Analysis data, charts, and animations to demonstrate that the legal sector of the U.S. economy stagnated about 20 years ago, and along with increasing law school tuition creates a crisis for legal education in the United States.

Harvard history professor Ian Miller (Miyagi-ken, Miyako-shi)

*************

Thanks to a recent conversation with Peter Kelley, President of the National Association of Japan-America Societies, I just learned of this New York Times article by Harvard history professor and JET alum Ian Miller (Miyagi-ken, Miyako-shi) which ran March 19, 2011.

Bitter Legacy, Injured Coast

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/opinion/20miller.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1

By IAN JARED MILLER

Cambridge, Mass.

THE rugged Sanriku Coast of northeastern Japan is among the most beautiful places in the country. The white stone islands outside the port town of Miyako are magnificent. The Buddhist monk Reikyo could think of nothing but paradise when he first saw them in the 17th century. “It is the shore of the pure land,” he is said to have uttered in wonder, citing the common name for nirvana.

Reikyo’s name for the place stuck. Jodogahama, or Pure Land Beach, is the main gateway to the Rikuchu Kaigan National Park, a crenellated seashore of spectacular rock pillars, sheer cliffs, deep inlets and narrow river valleys that covers 100 miles of rural coastline. It is a region much like Down East Maine, full of small, tight-knit communities of hardworking people who earn their livelihoods from tourism and fishing. Sushi chefs around the country prize Sanriku abalone, cuttlefish and sea urchin.

Today that coast is at the center of one of the worst disasters in Japanese history. Despite the investment of billions of yen in disaster mitigation technology and the institution of robust building codes, entire villages have been swept out to sea. In some places little remains but piles of anonymous debris and concrete foundations.

I taught school in Miyako for more than two years in the 1990s, and it was while hiking in the mountains above one of those picturesque fishing villages that I came across my first material reminder of the intricate relationship between the area’s breathtaking geography, its people — generous and direct — and powerful seismic forces.

On a hot summer day a group of middle-school boys set out to introduce me to their town, a hamlet just north of Pure Land Beach. While I started up the steep mountainside the children bounced ahead of me, teasing me that I moved slowly for someone so tall. “Are you as tall as Michael Jordan, Miller-sensei?” yelled one boy as he shot past me up the trail.

“Not quite,” I told him, pausing on a spot of level ground to look out over the neat collection of tile roofs and gardens that filled the back of a narrow, high-walled bay.

“What is this?” I asked, pointing to a mossy stone marker that occupied the rest of the brief plateau. A chorus of young voices told me that it was the high-water mark for the area’s biggest tsunami: more than 50 feet above the valley floor.

“When was that?” I asked, but the boys couldn’t say. They had learned about it in school, they said, but like children everywhere they had little sense of time. Everything seemed like ancient history to them, but the thought of a wave reaching so high over the homes of my friends sent a chill down my spine, and I began to investigate the region’s history.

A major tsunami has hit the Sanriku Coast every few decades over the last century and a half. Waves swept the area in 1896, 1933 and 1960. The small monument was put there, high above the village, to mark the crest of the 1896 tsunami. The wave killed more than 20,000 people. The boys’ village, a place called Taro, was almost entirely destroyed. Seventy-five percent of the population died.

The force of those waves was amplified by the area’s distinctive geography. The same steep valley walls and deep inlets that make Sanriku so beautiful also make its villages and towns especially hazardous. The valleys channel a tsunami’s energy, pushing swells that are only a few feet high in the open ocean up to stunning heights. Fast-moving water topped 120 feet in one village in 1896.

In a landscape where earthquakes are a regular occurrence but major tsunamis happen irregularly, people naturally forget. The small monument — one of several commissioned for towns up and down the coast — was a mnemonic whose purpose was not commemoration but vigilance. “When there is an earthquake, watch for tsunami,” reads the rather practical poem engraved into one such slab.

Japan became a modern industrial state between the 1896 tsunami and the next major one, in 1933. The country’s radio and newspapers brought the story of rural fisher-folk swept out to sea to metropolitan audiences. Three thousand people died in the disaster and the humanitarian crisis elicited strong feelings of sympathy. The Sanriku region was portrayed as the nation’s heartland, a place where tradition remained intact, and the disaster threatened that preserve. Once again, Taro was particularly hard hit: all but eight of its homes were destroyed and nearly half of the village’s population of 1,800 souls went missing. The hamlet became an embodiment of agrarian loss.

It is paradoxical that the response to this threat to traditional ways was the application of cutting-edge engineering and technology. A huge concrete seawall was planned for Taro. Completed in 1958, that wall, 30 feet high at points, stretches over 1.5 miles across the base of the bay.

Faith in technology over nature appeared to be vindicated in 1960 with the great Chilean earthquake, a 9.5-magnitude quake that remains the largest ever recorded, which set off a Pacific-wide tsunami that killed 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii, before surging unannounced into the Sanriku Coast seven hours later. More than 120 Japanese died, but Taro remained largely unaffected, safe behind its sluice gates and concrete wall. Based in part on this success, a new program of coastal defense was initiated.

The Sanriku Coast is now one of the most engineered rural coastlines in the world. Its towns, villages and ports take shelter behind state-of-the-art seawalls and vast assemblages of concrete tetrapods designed to dissipate a wave’s energy. The region is home to one of the world’s best emergency broadcast systems and has been at the forefront of so-called “vertical evacuation” plans, building tall, quake-resistant structures in low-lying areas.

In 2003 Taro announced that it would become a “tsunami preparedness town.” Working with teams from the University of Tokyo and Iwate University, the town instituted a direct satellite link to accelerate the arrival of tsunami warnings. Public education was expanded and mayors from other towns visited to study this model village. Detailed maps showing projected maximum tsunami heights — using 1896 as a baseline — informed the selection of evacuation markers: a reassuring thick line defined the projected maximum reach of a tsunami. Evacuation sites were placed above that line on the maps. Similar calculations were made up and down the coast.

The lines were drawn in the wrong place. Despite the substantial infrastructure and technological investments in Sanriku, the wave on March 11 overwhelmed large portions of Taro and Miyako. Some of the evacuation points were not high enough. The walls were not tall enough. And the costs are still being tallied.

Thousands of people are missing along this beautiful, injured coast, hundreds in the town that I called home. I am still waiting to hear from one of the groomsmen from my wedding, the owner of Miyako’s best coffee shop and a sometime reader of this newspaper. Google’s people-finder app tells me he is alive, but I have no idea where he is or how our other friends fared. As for those rambunctious boys and all of my other students, I can only hope for the best.

Technology allowed me to learn my friend’s fate. It has also helped to inspire a worldwide humanitarian response. It may be, however, that a greater application of technology in the same direction is not the answer to the problems posed by the March 11 tsunami. As a historian, I am forced to recognize that there is nothing purely natural about this catastrophe. It is the result of a far longer negotiation between human culture and physical forces. Disasters have the counterintuitive tendency to reinforce the status quo. As the terrifying events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant continue to underline, there are very real costs to an uncritical application of technology.

I look forward to returning to my old Japanese home, but I also look forward to finding something new and different when I make that journey.

Thanks to Japan Society of Boston President Peter Grilli for passing this on:

July 19, 2011

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation

and

The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership

Announce Recruitment for the Second Group of Participants for the

“U.S.-Japan Network for the Future” Program

[JETwit note: FYI, JET alum David Boling was recently appointed Deputy Executive Director at the Mansfield Foundation.]

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, after a successful inaugural program, are pleased to announce the recruitment of a new group of participants for the “U.S.-Japan Network for the Future” program.  This program was launched in 2009 to foster a new generation of Japan specialists.  The inaugural group of fifteen Network participants has met regularly throughout 2010 and 2011 to build their knowledge of Japan, their policy expertise, and their contacts in Japan-related policy circles.   The Foundation and CGP are pleased to make this opportunity available to a second group of emerging Japan specialists.

Purpose of the Program

The purpose of the “U.S.-Japan Network for the Future” program is to identify American professionals who demonstrate an interest in and potential for becoming Japan specialists and policy intellectuals and to support them in this effort. The network will include Japan specialists from all regions of the U.S. with diverse expertise and perspectives and the ability to participate constructively in the bilateral policymaking process and to contribute to U.S.-Japan understanding. The program seeks to nurture a new generation of scholars and professionals working on the following policy areas: U.S.-Japan security relations; U.S.-Japan economic relations; regional cooperation; issues where the two countries confront common domestic challenges (such as aging societies or income inequality); and issues where the two countries have opportunities to work together to resolve global challenges (such as climate change or food security).

Eligibility and Terms

Applicants must be American citizens or permanent residents who are currently and actively involved in the U.S.-Japan dialogue and have a working knowledge of the Japanese language,  The program is targeted at scholars with a professional interest in Japan, and professionals who have a strong engagement with Japan and who have work experience in policy-relevant fields.  In addition to having an interest in public policy, successful applicants will be able to demonstrate their interest in and potential for becoming future leaders in the U.S.-Japan relationship.

Because we are seeking to identify a future generation of leaders, our preference is for candidates in the mid-career stage.  In the academic context, normally this translates into scholars at the advanced assistant or early associate professor levels.  Policy professionals should have a Master’s degree and at least five years of Japan and Asia experience.

Participants must be fully dedicated to the two-year program and able to participate in all scheduled meetings.  Network participants will be expected to participate in:  a two-day workshop in Washington, D.C. (January 2012); a week-long meeting in Washington, D.C. (June 2012); a two-day retreat in Montana (autumn 2012); a week-long Japan study trip (June 2013); and a January 2014 public symposium and current issues panel discussions.

Throughout the two-year program, participants will be expected to: develop their network of contacts; engage with other Network members; engage others in the academic and policy fields with what they have learned about Japan; prepare for and actively participate in the program’s meetings, workshops, and study trip; participate in group activities and support the program’s larger goals and objectives; conduct independent research on key issues of particular interest to them; produce op-ed pieces and commentary/blog posts on important policy issues in U.S.-Japan relations; and produce and seek to publish or otherwise disseminate a brief policy paper.  Network participants will present their papers and discuss current issues in the region during the last meeting, the January 2014 public symposium in Washington, D.C.

Financial support for those selected is limited to coverage of travel, accommodations, and meal expenses associated with participation in program meetings and study trips. Program participants may be eligible to compete for cash awards contingent upon publication of their pieces.

Applications and Selection

For an application and application instructions, please go to: http://www.mansfieldfdn.org/programs/networkforthefuture.htm.

Applications are due October 3, 2011 and can be submitted electronically to hr@mansfieldfdn.org or by mail to: The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, 1401 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 740, Washington, D.C. 20005.  Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee and participants will be announced by mid-November, 2011.  The Foundation and CGP will select up to fifteen Network participants for this program.

For further information, please contact Sam Dundon, Program Associate, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, (202)-347-1994.

Organizers

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation is a 501(c) 3 organization that promotes understanding and cooperation in U.S.-Asia relations. Maureen and Mike Mansfield’s values, ideals and vision for U.S.-Asia relations continue through the Foundation’s exchanges, dialogues, research and educational programs, which create networks among U.S. and Asian leaders, explore the underlying issues influencing public policies, and increase awareness about the nations and peoples of Asia.  The Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C.; Tokyo, Japan; and Missoula, Montana.  Please visit the website at http://www.mansfieldfdn.org/

The Center for Global Partnership (CGP) is a part of the Japan Foundation which is a Japanese Independent Administrative Institution (Dokuritsu Gyosei Hojin). To enhance dialogue and interchange between Japanese and U.S. citizens on a wide range of issues, CGP operates grant programs as well as self-initiated projects and fellowships. CGP has offices in Tokyo, Japan and New York, New York. Please visit the website at http://www.cgp.org

ome of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.

Last week New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman profiled the Harvard University political philosopher Michael J. Sandel.  This professor’s classes were picked up by PBS and made into a television program that has attracted worldwide attention.  Last year, Japan’s NHK TV broadcast a translated version of the series, which sparked a philosophy craze in Japan and prompted the University of Tokyo to create a course based on Sandel’s.

As Friedman details, the PBS series is now available at http://www.justiceharvard.org, and here you can find a thought-provoking discussion of the ethical and global implications of the 2011 Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster among students in Tokyo, Shanghai, and at Harvard. 

It is interesting to see Japanese students voicing their opinions in a proactive way, and I am curious to see what kind of feedback the university course has received since being introduced.

CLICK HERE to join the

JET Alum Academics LinkedIn Group.

*Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JetWit. Thanks.

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The Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle is now accepting applications for the following 2012 Japanese Government Scholarships for studying in Japan.

2012 SCHOLARSHIP CATEGORIES:

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Research Student Scholarship
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(Deadline: June 3, 2011)

Covers a one-and-a-half-year to two-year period of graduate research at Japanese universities. The study area must be the same field as the applicant studied or is now studying. Term of scholarship: April 2012 to March 2014 or October 2012 to March 2014. Includes a half-year of Japanese language training for those who need Japanese language training. Applicants need to be less than 35 years of age as of April 1, 2012 and must be university graduates. Those who will be graduating from a university by March or September 2012 may apply.

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Undergraduate Student Scholarship
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(Deadline: June 3, 2011)

Four to seven year scholarship is available to high school graduates who are between 17 to 21 years of age as of April 1, 2012. Includes a one-year Japanese language program at a Japanese language school prior to attending a Japanese university as an undergraduate student. Term of scholarship: April 2012-March 2017. For scholarship grantees majoring in a six-year course in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or pharmacy, the term of the scholarship will be seven years until March 2019.

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Specialized Training College Student Scholarship
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(Deadline: June 3, 2011)

Covers a three-year period of vocational studies in the following areas: (1) Technology (Civil Engineering, Architecture, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Wireless Communication, Computer, Information Processing, Other Subjects), (2) Personal Care and Nutrition (Nourishment, Cooking, Other Subjects), (3) Education and Welfare (Nursery Teacher Training, Nursing Welfare, Social Welfare, Other Subjects), (4) Business (Management, Travel, Business, Other Subjects), (5) Fashion and Home Economics (Harmony Dressmaking, Other Subjects), (6) Culture and General Education (Music, Art, Design, Photograph, Other Subjects).

Includes a one-year Japanese language program at a Japanese language school prior to attending a Specialized Training College. Term of scholarship: April 2012-March 2015. Available to high school graduates who are between 17 to 21 years of age as of April 1, 2012.

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Scholarship Benefits
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1. Monthly stipend
(150, 000 yen~ for Research Student Scholarship)
(123, 000 yen~ for Undergraduate and Professional Training College Scholarships)
2. Travel expenses to and from Japan
3. Exemption of school fees for entrance examination, matriculation, and tuition

(Details may subject to change)

Applications forms are available on our website at: http://www.seattle.us.emb-japan.go.jp

If you have any questions, please contact:

Consulate-General of Japan
Scholarship Desk
E-mail: education@cgjapansea.org
Phone: 206-682-9107 ext.135

We look forward to receiving your application!

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Consulate-General of Japan
601 Union Street, Suite 500
Seattle, WA 98101 U.S.A.

http://www.seattle.us.emb-japan.go.jp

Here’s an excerpt that captures the gist of the piece, namely that JET is providing Japan with a significant “return on JET-vestment“:

“But in the aftermath of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, the value of having a large, worldwide network of college-educated foreigners who understand, respect and appreciate Japanese society and culture continues to emerge. A look at a JET alumni networking website, JETwit.com, provides ample evidence of the many ways in which current and former JETs are responding in whatever ways they can to the disaster hitting a country that all of them, at one time or another, have called home.”

CLICK HERE to read the full article.

AMERICAN JET ALUMNI SURVEY

(URL: http://iujournalism.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5hFAK01YxHtzqfO)

AMERICAN JET ALUMNI SURVEY

(URL: http://iujournalism.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5hFAK01YxHtzqfO)

The survey is being conducted by JET alum Emily Metzgar, Assistant Professor at Indiana University’s School of Journalism. Her research focuses on public diplomacy, political communication and social media.  (Click here to read Emily’s bio.)  The survey has been approved by Indiana University’s Institutional Review Board.

Note #1:  This is the first attempt at a comprehensive survey of the JET alumni community.  I completed the survey myself and it takes about 10 or 15 minutes.  FYI, completing the survey is one more step you can take to help the future of JET.

Note #2:  Although full participation in the survey is limited to Americans who participated in the JET Program, the link above also provides an opportunity for all interested parties to request updates about research.

Note #3:  The above link will remain active until midnight (EST) March 9, 2011.

From Emily’s blog:

“I am happy to answer any questions about this research and would be delighted to keep you informed about the survey’s progress and eventual results. Please feel free to contact me through this contact page or via my page at Indiana University.”

*Note: If you apply for the following, please let them know you learned of it from JetWit. Thanks.

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Calling JETAA Teachers Interested In Student Pen Pal Exchanges

The Consulate General of Japan would like to start a list of JET alumni who are now working as teachers in hopes of pairing them up with current JET participants in Japan who hope to establish pen pal relationships with students in Canada.

If you are interested in setting up a pen pal relationship, please indicate so in an e-mail with the following details:

————————-

Send to E-mail: access@japancg-toronto.org

Subject Line: JETAA Pen Pals to Japan

Name: First and Last

E-mail:

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Link to JETAA Toronto website:
http://www.jetaatoronto.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57:student-pen-pal-exchanges&catid=6:bulletinboard&Itemid=6

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Japanese Technical Translation: Freelancing as a Career

When: Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 3:30-5:00pm

Where: UW Campus, Denny Hall 216

Learn about technical translation as a career. Mr. Barrett will help us understand what technical translation is and how it differs from interpretation and from non-technical translation. Aspects of this introductory discussion include: qualifications for entering the field, where to find work, translation issues, state of the industry, pay ranges, types of work, professional organizations, starting out, and what to expect from clients. He will also discuss machine translation and its potential impact on the future of the industry.

http://jsis.washington.edu/japan/events.shtml

*Note: If you apply, please let them know you learned of it from JetWit. Thanks.

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The Rotary Foundation is now accepting applications for the world-competitive Rotary Peace Fellowship. The fellowship provides academic and practical training to prepare scholars for leadership roles in solving conflicts around the world.

Up to 100 fellows are selected every year in a globally competitive process based on personal, academic, and professional achievements. Fellows earn a master’s-level degree or a professional development certificate in peace and conflict studies at one of six Rotary Peace Centers at leading universities in Argentina, Australia, England, Japan, the United States and Thailand.”

Unlike other Japan-related Fellowships (Mansfield, Mombukagakusho), many former JETs don’t realize it is possible to study at ICU in Tokyo through this Rotary Peace Fellowship.

More info here: http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/forum/topic/show?id=780588%3ATopic%3A353101&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic

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1. Aurora Japanese Language Scholarship
2. Aurora Challenge Grant

Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation, aka Aurora Foundation, is currently accepting applications for the year 2011 scholarship and Aurora Challenge Grant. The application forms can be downloaded at www.jlsf-aurora.org. For more details on the scholarship and grant, click “Read More”.

1. AURORA JAPANESE LANGUAGE SCHOLARSHIP

JLSF was established in 1998 to encourage teachers of the Japanese language as well as to generate international cultural exchange. These awards will enable the awardees to carry out a project of their choice in Japan. Each awardee will receive a $3,000 scholarship and roundtrip air tickets from the USA to Japan (coach class). The project can be anything that would enhance the quality of the awardee’s teaching. Applicants are encouraged to propose any projects they would like to carry out but are currently unable to because of the lack of funding. Types of projects awardees may choose are unlimited! For example, projects may include:

After their Japan trip, scholarship awardees will be required to submit reports to the JLSF about their experiences in Japan. Each awardee will also have the (optional) opportunity to attend the annual ATJ Conference to address the conference about their scholarship experience in Japan.

Qualifications:

AND

Must be available for an oral interview in person or by phone.
Must be able to attend the award ceremony to be held in the Autumn of 2011 in Los Angeles (date to be announced). (Limited travel expenses and accomodations may be covered by JLSF as needed.)

Required Applications Documents:

A typed letter no longer than 3 pages on 8-1/2″ X 11″ (double-spaced, font size 10pt or 12pt) that describes the potential scholarship recipient and proposed project. The letter should include the applicant’s background, goals, current activities, commitment to Japanese language education, a detaile description of their proposed activity in Japan, and a proposed budget (excluding airfare between the U.S. and Japan).

Deadline and Submission
All applications must be mailed on or before January 21, 2011 to:
JLSF Scholarship Application Submission
3127 Nichols Canyon Road
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Judging Criteria:

Up to two winners will be selected, depending on application volume and quality of applications, from anywhere in the USA. Selection will be announced by February 28, 2011
Entries, including photographs, will not be critiqued or returned. From the time of submission, all entries are the property of the JLSF.

2. AURORA CHALLENGE GRANT

The grant will be awarded to a citizen of the USA who resides in California and has a unique dream, in any field or endeavor, which is related to Japanese culture and which it would never be possible to realize without traveling to Japan between fall 2011 and summer 2012. There is no age limit and no GPA/Scholastic achievement requirement. The award will go to an individual with a creative dream or challenge that, if fulfilled, would contribute to global goodwill and intercultural appreciation.

The winner will receive a $3000 scholarship and roundtrip air tickets from the USA to Japan (economy class). The recipient can travel anytime (for any duration) between fall 2011 and summer 2012. By awarding this grant, the Aurora Foundation hopes to help the winner enhance the pursuit of her or his truest, most heartfelt dream by providing the opportunity for a once in a lifetime experience.

All applicants must be citizens of the USA. Selection criteria will include the commitment of the applicants to their dream projects, necessity of Aurora’s support, and positive future potential. After the Japan trip, the grant awardee will be required to submit a report to the Aurora Foundation about the experience in Japan and progress of the project.

Aurora Challenge Grant Qualifications:

Aurora Challege Grant Required Application Documents:

A typed letter no longer than 3 pages on 8″ X 11″ (double spaced, font size 12pt) that describes the potential scholarship recipient and the project. The letter should include the applicant’s background, goals, current activities, and a detailed description of the proposed activity in Japan and a proposed budget (excluding airfare between the USA and Japan).

Deadline and Submission:
All applications for the Aurora Challenge Grant must be submitted by May 31, 2011 to
Aurora Challenge Grant Application
3127 Nichols Canyon Road
Los Angeles, CA 90046

One winner will be from California and selection will be announced by June 20, 2011.
Entries, including photographs, will not be critiqued or returned. From the time of submission, all entries are the property of the JLSf.

Judging Criteria: