Japan Matters For America: Increasing Intercultural Engagement Opportunities for Japanese Students in the Boston Area
By Daniel Lowe (Chiba 2011-2013)
As a Japan Exchange & Teaching Program Assistant Language Teacher (JET ALT) who taught at Kujukuri Junior High School, I spent the first two years of my career as a cultural ambassador in a rural Japanese community. My passion for international communication led me to my subsequent career at Showa Boston Institute, the study abroad campus of Showa Women’s University. There, I work to connect its Japanese student body to Boston-Area college students through extracurricular programming. After all, merely sharing a space or encouraging students to go out and engage with the community doesn’t work for most of our population, nor is it an effective method on other college campuses.
As with classroom education, no one single intercultural learning method works for all students, and I have therefore found it helpful to segment students’ intercultural needs into two broad frameworks. The first of these frameworks is where coordinators like myself create and manage programs in which participants of different backgrounds work together to complete an assigned goal. I lead such an initiative at Showa called the College Connection Program (CCP), where, in partnership with neighboring colleges and universities, I match approximately 100 Showa students in small groups with 35 Boston-Area college students. Students who enter into this program are aware that they must exit their comfort zones to succeed. . .
About the Author
Daniel Lowe is a Boston-Based Japan Exchange & Teaching (JET) Program alumnus who taught English in Kujukuri, Chiba prefecture from 2011-2013. He earned his MBA from Babson College, manages intercultural programming for Japanese students at Showa Boston Institute, and has represented the JET Program alumni community on the regional, national, and international levels.
This article is part of a guest-contributor partnership between the East-West Center in Washington and USJETAA in which former JET participants contribute articles relating to their experiences in Japan.
