In its 10th year as a City of Literature, Iowa City continues to be a hub for literary lovers.

In late July and early August of 2017, we took a 10-day trip to Japan, sponsored by the Japan Foundation. Our group consisted of 6 faculty members from the University of Iowa. The purpose of the trip was to make us more aware of Japanese culture so we can include Japanese elements in our future teaching and research. My expectation wasn’t high. Until the trip ended, I didn’t expect to learn anything to fundamentally change my view of Japan in 10 days.  

I was part of the 2017 Japan Foundation faculty tour, “Regional Japan: Culture from the Margins” between July 26 and August 8, 2017. The two-week trip from Tokyo to the town of Sakaiminato in Tottori, to southern Shikoku, and to Kyoto—and many other cities and villages en route—offered me an invaluable experience of being immersed in Japan’s historical and contemporary culture and experiencing both its cosmopolitan and rural regions.

It took me a fair amount of reading, but just a few minutes in Tokyo’s Nakano arcade, to realize that, aside from the U.S., Japan is the country whose visual artists have the greatest influence on global youth today.

With the generous support of the Japan Foundation Institutional Support Grant to the University of Iowa, and with additional support from International Programs, I was able to accompany a small group of my faculty colleagues on my first trip to Japan in late July and early August of 2017.

Two of my areas of specialization are World War II in Europe and post-war memory - so a trip to Japan was a natural for me. One of my ambitions is to develop a course on World War II as a global event, which is a deviation from the more typical courses which focus on either Asia or Europe, and append the other theater as a footnote (while neglecting North Africa and Europe's overseas colonies entirely). I have also spoken to an academic press about writing a global history of sexuality in World War II; this trip provided fodder for thought for that project.

Would you like to teach English, study, or do research abroad for an academic year at no cost? Join International Programs for the seventh-annual intensive Fulbright U.S. Student Program workshop on Friday, January 25, 2019, from 8:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Big Ten Theater (Room 348 in the Iowa Memorial Union).

While looking for a part-time job abroad, third-year student Danielle Leveille tried her luck in the Japanese modeling industry. Leveille found herself taking up 10-12 modeling jobs a month and a full-time position through her agency upon graduation.

Tianlu Zhang’s 3MT on learning Chinese as a second language earned first place in 2018 competition

This year International Student and Scholar Services received so many excellent nominations for International Parents of the Year, it became difficult to choose one recipient.  So we chose two, and are very happy to announce both.