Organizer and Chair: Edward B. Kamens, Yale University
Discussants: Kenneth Butler, Inter-University Center; Eric J. Gangloff,
Japan-United States Friendship Commission; Seiichi Makino, Princeton University; Richard
Scarfo, U.S. Department of Education; Jun Wada, The Japan Foundation
The subject of discussion is the future of advanced language training programs for foreign scholars in Japan (such as the Inter-university Center for Japanese Language Studies, and others) in a changing global and domestic educational and economic environment. For decades, young North American scholars in Japanese studies and in pre-professional programs have received excellent training at these institutions and have gone on to become leaders in higher education, law, international business and public service. They have been able to do so because training centers like the IUC have received generous financial support from the Japan Foundation, i.e. Japan-United States Friendship Commission, the United States Department of Education, and other public and private sources.
But the environment in which such programs are administered has changed over time, and will be changing in the future. What kinds of language training programs will best meet the needs of future scholars of Japan and other contributors to Japan-North American relations in business, law, government and other fields in the twenty-first century? Who should pay for the operation of these programs, and for fellowships for the students who attend them? And what should the goals of such programs be? The organizers of this round table seek an exchange of ideas that may lead to an innovative vision of the future of advanced language training for North Americans studying in Japan.