The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) honored two of the top students of the 2015 Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) at a Japan Day event at Stanford University on August 13, 2015. The two 2015 RSP Japan Day honorees were Meera Santhanam and Katie Goldstein.

Japan Day commenced with welcoming comments by Dr. Gary Mukai, SPICE Director, and opening remarks by Consul General Jun Yamada, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco. Praising Meera, Katie, and their fellow RSP students for their dedication to the study of Japan and U.S.–Japan relations, Consul General Yamada noted, “The U.S.–Japan relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world today. Without a doubt this is due to past generations’ tireless efforts to understand each other and build the kind of mutual trust that has made this relationship so durable and successful. To assure the future vitality of the U.S.–Japan relationship, it is therefore our joint responsibility to prepare the future generation for continuing this task. Through the Reischauer Scholars Program which has been instrumental in fostering future leaders who have acquired a deep and broad understanding of Japan, a solid foundation for this purpose has been established.” 

Mukai recognized Naomi Funahashi, RSP Manager and Instructor, for her tenth year of teaching the RSP. Funahashi has empowered over 250 Americans with not only subject matter content knowledge on Japan and U.S.–Japan relations but also tools of critical analysis and perspective taking. Reflecting on her ten years of teaching the RSP, Funahashi commented, “While advancements in distance-learning technology over the past ten years have eased the logistical challenges of the RSP, the students remain at the heart of why I continue to love teaching this course. I have the unique privilege of guiding some of the most talented high school students in the United States through an exploration and examination of Japan, and I am confident that many of them will comprise the leadership of future U.S.–Japan relations.”

Funahashi gave an overview of the RSP to the Japan Day audience of over 30 people, which included Professor Indra Levy, RSP advisory board member, and Maiko Tamagawa, Advisor for Educational Affairs, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco. Named in honor of former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer, a leading educator and noted scholar of Japanese history and culture, the RSP is an online course on Japan and U.S.–Japan relations that is offered annually to 25–30 high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors across the United States.

Meera Santhanam (junior, The Nueva School, CA) and Katie Goldstein (senior, Crystal Springs Uplands High School, CA) were recognized for their coursework and exceptional research essays. They articulately presented their research that focused on women in the Japanese workforce and equity-related issues concerning LGBTQ people in Japan, respectively; and skillfully answered provocative questions from the audience. 

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Since 2003, the RSP has provided a creative and innovative approach to teaching high school students about Japan and U.S–Japan relations. The program provides American students with unique opportunities to interact with diplomats and top scholars affiliated with Stanford University, the University of Tokyo, the University of Hawaii, and other institutions through online lectures and discussions, and introduces both American and Japanese perspectives on many historical and contemporary issues.

The 2015 Japan Day honorees were reflective of the introduction of varied topics and perspectives in the RSP curriculum. When asked to comment on her RSP experience, Santhanam remarked, “With exposure to a wide array of perspectives and in-depth content alike, participating in this program is a decision I would make a thousand times over again. This rare, interdisciplinary opportunity allowed me to connect with my topic on not just an academic, but personal level as well.” Goldstein shared a similar sentiment, also noting the scholarly, yet congenial atmosphere of Japan Day: “The speakers—Dr. Gary Mukai, Naomi Funahashi, and Consul General Yamada—wonderfully set the formal yet fun tone of the academic event. The conversation, while centered around Japan, revolved around a myriad of topics: literature, current events, policies, you name a topic and it was talked about.”

For the first time in the history of the RSP, several RSP alumni introduced high school life in the United States to Japanese students enrolled in SPICE’s inaugural Stanford e-Japan course, which introduces U.S. society and culture and U.S.–Japan relations to Japanese high school students.

Stanford e-Japan students indicated early on in the course their desire to interact with students from the United States, and as a result, Waka Takahashi Brown, Stanford e-Japan Manager and Instructor, invited RSP alumni to comment on the discussion boards and guest speak at the virtual classroom on “U.S. High Schools and Education” on August 14, 2015. Brown noted, “The response from both the e-Japan students and Reischauer Scholars has been overwhelmingly positive. Not only have students been more engaged in the discussion boards, but the Stanford e-Japan students also seemed very eager to know what about Japan interested the U.S. students to participate in the Reischauer Scholars Program. I would not be surprised if the RSP and e-Japan students strike up a friendship from these initial brief exchanges.”

The distinguished RSP advisory committee members are Consul General Jun Yamada; Professor Emeritus Nisuke Ando, Doshisha University and Kyoto University; Ambassador Michael Armacost, Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center, Stanford University; Professor Indra Levy, Stanford University; Professor Phillip Lipscy, Stanford University; and Professor Emeritus Daniel Okimoto, Stanford University.

SPICE has received numerous grants in support of the RSP from the United States-Japan Foundation, the Center for Global Partnership (The Japan Foundation), and the Japan Fund, which is administered by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

The RSP will be accepting applications for the 2016 program in September and October 2015. For more information about the RSP, visit www.reischauerscholars.org or contact Naomi Funahashi.

Thirty U.S. secondary school teachers, representing 11 states and multiple subject areas, came to Stanford for a three-day professional development conference that seeks to help teachers better incorporate Korean studies in the classroom.

Korea is arguably one of the most stable democracies in the world and its economic model often praised. Yet Korea-focused curriculum in the United States rarely covers much outside of the Korean War context, leaving a potential gap in students’ understanding of the Pacific nation. The Hana–Stanford Conference on Korea seeks to change that reality.

In its fourth year, the conference offers a venue for specialists on Korea to share knowledge with secondary school educators and creates an opportunity for educators to form a cross-cultural professional network toward the vision of enhancing their curriculum with Korean studies. 

For three days, scholars from Stanford and peer institutions taught the U.S. teachers about Korean history, economy, culture and the nation's regional and global relations. Speakers included economist Yong Lee and career diplomat David Straub, both scholars at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), as well as Middlebury professor Rachael Miyung Joo, also a Stanford alum. Teachers and students from Hana Academy Seoul, a private high school in Korea, also shared perspectives with the American teachers. The full agenda is viewable here.

Supported by the Hana Financial Group, the conference is organized by Shorenstein APARC and the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), a program that makes globally focused Stanford research accessible to K–12 grade levels.

SPICE’s Jonas Edman and Rylan Sekiguchi followed the lectures with curriculum demonstrations. Each teacher left the conference with a set of comprehensive lesson plans and strategies for putting the curriculum into practice.

Shorenstein APARC caught up with a few of the teachers (pictured below from right to left): Anne Schaefer from San Jose Middle School (Novato, CA), Orah Bilmes from Alvarez High School (Providence, RI), and Jeffrey Scharfen and Graham Rutherford from Cardinal Newman High School (Santa Rosa, CA). An abridged version of the conversation is below.

What has surprised you about Korea?

Anne: The process it took for Korea to have such strong economic growth—so quickly—and to understand all of the components that led to that growth really surprised me. Moving from an autocratic regime through many stages to where it is today, and the interesting role that education played in its development. Education really became a motivating factor for everybody. I found that a very unique, complex phenomenon.

Jeffrey: Hearing from scholars from both Korea and the United States about the Korean experience has given me a better sense of history. For instance, the Korean-American experience in Los Angeles during the 1992 Rodney King riots. I remember being there during those riots. For me, they were defining moments, but on the other hand, I never truly had a sense of the powerful impact it had on the Korean community.

What Korean cultural themes can U.S. students most relate to? Do your students consume Korean culture?

Orah: I teach many students from the Dominican Republic. One of the presentations gave me ideas for putting together activities for students to compare baseball in the Dominican Republic with baseball in Korea. When comparing cultures, starting with something that’s accessible allows students to develop the vocabulary needed to jump into higher-level discussions.

Jeffrey: My students are very connected to Korean pop themes. My own awareness actually comes from my own children and a student that I’ve taught who was adopted from Korea. For that student, Korean pop culture gave her a sense of identity and her interests emanated, so there was a multiplying factor and her friends became interested too.

Kimchi…you learned how to make the dish and sampled it, too. How’d it go?

Graham: I enjoyed watching and seeing how kimchi is made. It’s more than a name, it has this place in society. I’ve had kimchi before but it was neat to see and hear about its background. The variety of styles was surprising. And it was really good with rice.

Jeffrey: I love kimchi. I think I was first introduced to kimchi in 1973 and I’ve been eating it regularly since then. It’s one of those culinary pleasures that breaks down barriers and gives you an entrée into other relationships. In a way, it’s a kind of diplomacy.

Anne: The culture of kimchi as a family thing – having one’s own set of tastes and different ingredients depending on family history was fun to learn about. The conference made apparent that culinary history is important and creates an understanding of a culture.

What’s one lesson from the conference you’d share with other teachers?

Orah: I teach many immigrant and refugee students. For some, they left behind very poor countries. The information on Korea’s economic policies and history has my head spinning to have students try to “apply” the Korean economic approach to their home countries, analyze its strengths and weaknesses, and decide if one country’s approach can also work for another.

Anne: One of the tangential themes was that, despite all the talk of globalization, culture continues to exist in Korea and other countries. The Internet connects everyone, but I go to “this place” and it’s still “this place.” Culture—and the fact that we can still retain it even in today’s globalized world—is truly beautiful.

Graham: I try to get my students to not just look back at the problems they are studying but to also put themselves back into the time period—to realize that the decisions made then have to be understood in that moment in time. North Korea can be examined through that lens. And while it’s easy to look back and see the problems, it’s also worth encouraging students to look ahead and consider how the Korean divide could be solved.

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In a ceremony held last night on Stanford campus, SPICE Director Gary Mukai received the 2015 Stanford Alumni Award in recognition of his leadership and service in the field of education.

“This year, we cannot be more honored to recognize Dr. Gary Mukai for his tireless and selfless work in advancing educational equity and increasing cultural competency in classroom curriculum and instruction,” remarked Van Anh Tran, Board Member of the Stanford Asian Pacific American Alumni Club (SAPAAC). “Gary pushes the boundaries of education and culturally competent K–14 curriculum.”

SAPAAC presents the Alumni Award annually to a distinguished Stanford alumnus who has made exceptional contributions to the Stanford community and broader community in service, leadership, or financial contribution. Past recipients of the award have included distinguished Stanford alumni from throughout the decades, comprising activists, philanthropists, artists, civil rights lawyers, businesspeople, a mayor, a California Supreme Court justice, and other luminaries.

“I feel so undeserving of this award,” reflected Mukai. “I am very humbled.”

That humility belies Mukai’s fierce commitment—and tremendous contributions—to the fields of international and cross-cultural education. Since joining SPICE in 1988, Mukai has workshopped with thousands of K–12 teachers, locally and internationally, on culturally sensitive pedagogical training and curriculum resources. He has provided immersive enrichment opportunities to hundreds of teachers through SPICE’s free multicultural professional development seminars. And he has established an intensive series of free online international relations courses for high school students—the first of its kind.

Despite these contributions, Mukai is perhaps best known for his work in curriculum development. Throughout his tenure at SPICE, Gary has overseen the development of well over 100 curriculum units on themes as diverse as Native American storytelling, the historical Silk Road, and North Korea. These cross-cultural materials have touched countless students over the past 27 years, both within the United States and abroad.

Mukai’s strong dedication to this work has inspired others to take up the banner of international and cross-cultural education as well. Victoria Yee was one. As a Stanford undergraduate, she worked under Mukai’s supervision to develop a teacher’s guide on Filipino-American identity. It was her first exposure to the field of education, and her first glimpse of what life as an educator might be like.

“I had little training in curriculum design or pedagogy. However, Gary was incredibly nurturing, patient, and supportive through every proposal, revision meeting, and draft,” says Yee. “Through his mentorship, my confidence in navigating the education realm…dramatically improved, [as well as] my conviction in institutionalizing diverse global curriculum at schools and my ability to make a difference in education.” Today she is a U.S. Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in rural Taiwan, and she credits her path largely to Mukai’s tutelage and encouragement.

“He is truly an invaluable asset to Stanford and beyond.”

For his part, Mukai prefers to downplay the praise with humor. After formally accepting the Alumni Award at last night’s ceremony, he stepped to the podium and thanked the award’s presenters and his family for their unwavering support. “I am very touched,” he continued, “that many SPICE staff (past and present)—as well as some of my friends—chose to come to see me instead of watch the top American Idol finalists this evening.” 

In collaboration with the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) at Stanford University, SPICE hosted a professional development seminar for elementary school teachers that focused on strategies to incorporate Latin American and Latino children’s literature into the K–5 classroom.

On February 6, 2015, 32 teachers from across the Bay Area gathered at Stanford University to listen to guest lectures, participate in curriculum demonstrations, and collaboratively explore issues related to immigration and identity.

The workshop commenced with a presentation by children’s book author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh, whose most recent book, Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale, was a 2014 recipient of the Americas Book Award. The Americas Book Award was founded in 1993 by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) to encourage and commend authors, illustrators, and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.

Mr. Tonatiuh shared the inspiration for Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote, which tells the story of a young rabbit’s journey from Mexico to the United States in search of his father. According to Mr. Tonatiuh, the book can be read as an allegory of the experiences that undocumented immigrants endure in order to reach the United States. During his talk, Mr. Tonatiuh played a short video created by an elementary school teacher in which students shared their own immigration stories in response to the book. The moving video was a reminder of the importance immigration issues have in many students’ lives. Each teacher at the workshop received a copy of Mr. Tonatiuh’s book.

Tomás Jiménez, Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies at Stanford University, followed Mr. Tonatiuh’s talk with a lecture on the recent history of immigration to the United States. Professor Jiménez’s educative overview of the economic, social, and political forces that have led to the current state of immigration in the United States perfectly complemented the personal stories shared earlier by Mr. Tonatiuh.

In the afternoon, Keira Philipp-Schnure, Supervisor of Community Education Programs, and Katrina Dillon, Project Assistant, at the Latin American and Iberian Institute at University of New Mexico, shared an educator’s guide for Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote. The educator’s guide offers a plethora of lessons and activities that teachers can use when teaching the book.

As a final activity, workshop participants assembled in small groups to discuss the content and pedagogical strategies that had been shared at the workshop. Jonas Edman, Curriculum Writer at SPICE, facilitated the activity in which teachers offered their own ideas for lesson plans and activities to go along with Mr. Tonatiuh’s book.

In her closing remarks, Elizabeth Saenz-Ackermann, Associate Director at CLAS, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the teachers for their participation in the workshop and for their commitment to incorporating Latin American and Latino themes and topics into their teaching.