Come celebrate with us as Ms. Sawako Kojima, of the Japan Information Center and Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago, presents the Japan Foundation Institutional Project Support Program in Japanese Studies to the University of Iowa.

Are you interested in the possibility of international study, research, or teaching? Please join International Programs for our International Scholarships, Grants, and Fellowships Open House to learn how you can apply for different types of merit-based awards. The event will be held on Wednesday, September 30, 2015, from 3:00-6:00 p.m. in the International Commons, 1117 University Capitol Centre.

With rising interest in Chinese and South Korean studies, many universities across the U.S. fear waning enrollment in Japanese studies. The UI, however, has managed to buck the trend, with Japanese studies enrollment numbers on the rise the past 3 years.

A new grant for the third-largest language program at the University of Iowa will mean expanded Japanese programs around campus. A more than $300,000 Institutional Project Support grant from the Japan Foundation will bring new faculty, facilities, and opportunities for more students to learn Japanese at the UI.

Over the past 60 years the Fulbright Program has facilitated the travel of nearly 350,000 students and young professionals for cultural and academic exchange. On April 3, 2015, the University of Iowa will host its first annual Fulbright Day to celebrate past UI Fulbright faculty and student awardees and to provide prospective students the opportunity to learn more about the Fulbright process.

When a parent of a child with autism in China attempts to take his or her child to a public school, chances are they’ll be turned away. The UI's Youjia Hua and two other faculty members from other institutions have created the first-ever course sequence training Chinese educators and parents to be Assistant Behavior Analysts (ABA) certified. It's a systematic way of approaching students with disabilities. “There is a law in China that every child has a right to an education, but it’s a toothless tiger — no one enforces it.”

Allison Kindig is a senior from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, studying industrial engineering, global health studies and business administration at the University of Iowa. Two years ago, she was the recipient of a Stanley scholarship to travel to Cameroon. Since then, she addressed economical solar energy as a UI College of Engineering Grand Challenge Scholar. This fall, Kindig was named the 2014 Iowa Homecoming Queen. Read on to learn more about Allison's journey throughout her college experience.

In a guest opinion column for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, UI graduate student Eli Asikin-Garmager reflects on his two months living in a village in Indonesia where he conducted research on a local language and completed requirements toward his graduate degree in linguistics. The language found on Lombok Island in Eastern Indonesia — called Sasak — is spoken by some 2.5 million people, but relatively little documentation of the language exists.

Kelsey Frisk, a senior at the University of Iowa, lived in Malå from January through July as part of the study abroad program. There, she researched policies and cultural issues affecting the Sámi people. Her research included investigations of herders practicing reindeer husbandry, who she said make up about 10 percent of the Sámi people.