Honoring Reischauer Scholars

JapanDay2010

The Stanford Program on International and Cross-cultural Education (SPICE) honored two of the top students of the 2010 Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) at the RSP Japan Day event at Stanford University on August 16, 2010. The RSP, an online course on Japan and U.S.-Japan relations that is offered to high school juniors and seniors across the United States, recognized the students based on their coursework and exceptional research essays.

The event featured opening remarks by Gary Mukai, SPICE Director; Acting Consul General Hideyuki Mitsuoka, Consul General of Japan in San Francisco; and Professor Emeritus Daniel Okimoto, Stanford University. The program was highlighted by presentations by student honorees Rachel Waltman and Jiyoon Lee, who wrote research essays on changing roles of women in the workplace in Japan, and media censorship following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Named in honor of former Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer, a leading educator and noted scholar of Japanese history and culture, the RSP annually selects 25-30 exceptional high school juniors and seniors from throughout the United States to engage in intensive study of Japan. Through Internet-based lectures and discussions, the program provides students with a broad overview of Japanese history, literature, religion, art, politics, economics, education, and contemporary society, with a focus on the U.S.-Japan relationship. Prominent scholars affiliated with Stanford University, the University of Tokyo, the University of Hawaii, and other institutions provide lectures and engage students in online dialogue. The RSP received funding for the first three years of the program from the United States-Japan Foundation. Funding for the 2007 and 2008 RSP was provided by the Center for Global Partnership, the Japan Foundation.

The RSP will begin accepting applications for the 2011 program in September 2010. For more information about the RSP, visit www.reischauerscholars.org or contact Naomi Funahashi, RSP coordinator, at nfunahashi@stanford.edu.