|
|
[Faculty] [Grant] [Enrollments up] [Alums in Japan]
| Full time tenure-track Japanese instructor, Scott Langton, joins CML |
Classical and Modern Languages welcomed a new Japanese instructor in September 2002. Scott Langton joined the Austin College faculty as an assistant professor of Japanese language and literature after serving as a visiting assistant professor at Bucknell University and University of Oregon. Scott received his PhD from Ohio State University in Japanese literature in 2000. His dissertation is a study of popular historical fiction written in early twentieth-century Japan, and examines the tendency of popular novelists to project their consciousness of their contemporary social and political milieu onto the historical age they depict. Scott’s other research interests include the popular arts of Japan’s early modern period (1600-1868), literary modernism in Japan, and the ideological uses of literature.
Scott first learned about Austin College from alumnus Jay T. Moody (class of ‘87) back when both were enrolled in the master’s program in Japanese at Ohio State. Scott was impressed by Jay’s description of his Austin College education and the emphasis on the humanities and study abroad. Little did he know at the time that he would have the chance to experience at first hand Austin College’s liberal arts environment.
UPDATE: In the fall of 2005, the Japanese program, through the Title VI grant awarded to the Asian Studies Program, was able to hire a part-time adjunct in Japanese, Ms. Mitsuyo Odom.
| Japanese Studies program awarded Japan Foundation Teaching Materials Donation Grant |
The Japanese Studies program was awarded a Japan Foundation Teaching Materials Donation Grant for 2003. The Japan Foundation Japanese Language Institute in Urawa, Japan, donated new Japanese language texts, dictionaries, videos, and reference materials worth over ¥73,000 (roughly US$730) to Austin College for the promotion of Japanese language and culture studies. The donated materials have been introduced to the curriculum, and we hope to further enhance the collection of teaching materials through future acquisitions and awards.
| Enrollments up in Japanese |
Fall 2003 has seen an increase in the number of students enrolled in Japanese language courses. There are 26 students enrolled in JAPN 11 (up from 23 in Fall 2002), and 14 students enrolled in JAPN 23 (up from 10 in Fall 2002). There are also more students enrolled in the Japanese Conversation courses, as well as a number of students enrolled in JAPN 69 and JAPN 95 since these were added to the books during Spring 2002.
| AC Japanese language alumni: where are they now? In JAPAN! |
Four 2003 graduates who studied Japanese at Austin College are now living and working in Japan. Three of the four students are participating in the Japanese government’s JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Program, while the fourth is teaching English at one of the schools operated by the AEON Corporation.
Lisa Kostelecky, a Japanese studies major, is working as an Assistant Language
Teacher (ALT) in Fukuoka Prefecture as a participant in the JET Program.
Joseph “Dusty” Downing, a Japanese studies minor, is working as an ALT in
Fukui Prefecture as a participant in the JET Program.
Amanda Darby, a Political Science major who took JAPN 11 & 12 during her
senior year, is working as an ALT in Yamanashi Prefecture as a participant in
the JET Program.
Sylvia Mendoza, a French major who took JAPN 12 during her senior year, is
working as an instructor at one of the AEON Corporation’s English schools in
the Osaka area.
Congratulations to Lisa, Dusty, Amanda, and Sylvia! We look forward to hearing about your adventures in Japan and in Japanese.