Fuyuki Kawasaki smiles a lot. He speaks English at a steady pace, and rarely can't find the right words to express his feelings. With a small smile, he won't hesitate to share his opinions with modesty and humility. In short, Kawasaki seems to have embraced the ideals of both American and Japanese education systems: The seemingly opposing American ideal of taking risks and being independent and the Japanese ideal of being polite and not disruptive to the community.
Kawasaki is one of 66 students in the Ritsumeikan University Dual Degree Exchange Program who will study here at AU for two years, graduate and then return to their home university, in Kyoto, Japan, to finish their last two years.
"The goal of the program is to achieve a true understanding of living in another culture," said Heidi Ashton, program manager for the School of International Service and head of the Dual Degree Program. "Our program can create the feeling of studying abroad for those here that can't. It gives them a better perspective [of Eastern philosophy]."
"It is very difficult to study in English so I'm thinking my experience at AU is just for my English improvement or to improve my communication skills with Western people," Kawasaki said.
Every student in the Dual Degree Program is required to take the course Culture of Higher Education in the U.S. in order to "explore culture discourses."
"It's a sheltered introduction to our expectations at the university level," said Professor Angela Dadak, who teaches the course. "It gives [the students] a chance to practice the model of a university classroom in the United States."
Dadak said that many professors with Dual Degree students in their classes couldn't understand why the students were unable to express their own thoughts in their essays and participate more in class.
"Think about the discussions you have in class," Dadak said. "There's slang, cultural references. It's very difficult for students from different cultures [to participate]. They're afraid of making mistakes in front of native speakers."
"In Japanese culture, we usually hesitate to try new things because people are afraid of being laughed at if we fail," Kawasaki said. "But here, like if I tried [something new and failed], no one would laugh."
"Lectures are different in Japan. There are no debates. The professor lectures, the students take notes. At the end of the year you take the exam and if you pass it, you pass the class," said Ashton.
The Culture of Higher Education in the U.S. class aids the Dual Degree Students in everything from how to ask a professor for help to writing papers that express their own opinions.
"It is interesting because I've never thought about [American education] the way they're explaining it," Kawasaki said.
"They go back to Ritsumeikan and they're really forward thinkers," Dadak said.
"[I have] nice professors, nice friends here," Kawasaki said. "There is nothing that I can complain about."
There are also programs that allow American students to study in Japan for up to a year. Knowledge of the Japanese language isn't necessary. Contact Heidi Ashton at hashton@american.edu for more information about the programs.
