“That’s an important part of it because the reason the U.S.-Japan foundation funds this program is because we want Japan to be taught in high schools and middle schools. This is a way that we can train a group of teachers to be able to do that since it’s the teachers’ personal experience as well as their academic knowledge about Japan that they will bring to the classroom,” says Chance.
Lonzetta adds that participating educators will also take part in an 18-day study tour of Japan in June. In addition to the summer tour, participants will lead English lessons at several Japanese schools. Chance, who is also a cultural consultant for the project and leads the summer study tours, says it’s essential that teachers learn about the rich ethnic diversity of the country.
“The assumption is that it’s completely homogenous and it’s not … Japan’s population, yes, is 99 percent ethnic Japanese but there are Koreans and there are Chinese … there is also a native Aniu population in parts of Japan that live up in the north and there are a lot of people with some ancestry from that group,” says Chance.
University officials also hope that a newly developed summer program will help educate area high school students about the diversity of the Chinese culture.
The university’s Center for East Asian Studies will host the second year of the Penn Young Scholars Chinese Academy: an intensive summer program that incorporates language instruction and lectures on Chinese history, literature, religion and philosophy.
Dozens of area high school students are expected to apply for the program before the May 30 deadline.
“The recent rapid growth of Chinese enrollment has tested the knowledge and abilities of Chinese educators,” says Dr. Mien-hwa Chiang, director of Penn’s Chinese language program, who adds that the Young Scholars Academy provides $1,000 scholarships for all selected students. “We want to see participants have a wonderful summer while learning (the) Chinese language and culture with Penn faculty.”Click here to post and read comments
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