“What do you think about the financial feasibility of building a shinkansen in California?”

“Should the U.S. have relied only on economic sanctions against Japan leading up to Pearl Harbor, or should it have done something on the military front and not relied solely on the economic instrument?”

“If the tsunami had not caused the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, or if the nuclear meltdown had been contained at a much lower level, would the ‘nuclear village’ in Japan even be a problem in Japan?” 
 

Three outstanding high school scholars—all honorees of the 2014 Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP)—expertly responded to these challenging questions posed by some of the leading scholars in the field of Japan studies at Stanford University. The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) honored Roma Forest (San Luis Obispo, CA), Jonathan Klein (Los Angeles, CA), and John McHugh (Winnetka, IL) at a Japan Day event on August 7, 2014 that was highlighted by presentations based on their RSP research essays on an intriguing range of Japan-related topics: lessons from Japan’s shinkansen for California’s high speed rail project; a critical analysis of U.S. economic policy leading up to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor; and Japan’s nuclear energy policies in post-Fukushima Japan. 

Japan Day featured thoughtful and encouraging opening remarks by Consul General Masato Watanabe, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, as he shared his reflections on the role of youth in the bilateral relationship between Japan and the United States. “The RSP offers young people an opportunity not only to learn about another country, but to think critically from multiple perspectives,” he noted. “In doing so, this program plays a vital role in training future leaders in the U.S.–Japan field. Your successful completion of this program is not the end, but just the beginning of your journey. 

Naomi Funahashi, RSP Manager and Instructor, gave an overview of the RSP to members of the Stanford community, family members of the honorees, and others who are involved in U.S.–Japan relations. 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 annually selects 25–30 talented sophomores, juniors, and seniors from throughout the United States to engage in an intensive study of Japan. Entering its twelfth year in 2015, the RSP presents an innovative approach to engaging high school students in the online study of Japan and U.S.–Japan relations. 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, and students develop a community of peers with a shared interest in Japan. The 2015 RSP will feature comments by Ambassadors Caroline Kennedy and Kenichiro Sasae.

Dr. Rie Kijima, the interim instructor of the 2014 RSP, also gave an insightful presentation on the findings of an RSP alumni tracer study that was conducted in 2013 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the program. The study reflected the significant and lasting impact of the RSP upon its alumni, with 81 percent of the respondents noting that the RSP helped them to think critically and to become better scholars, and that it ignited added interest to conduct further research on Japan. Dr. Kijima also noted that the study showed that RSP participation positively impacted high school students’ academic records, strengthened students’ desire to learn more about Japan and about Asia, and provided a unique opportunity for inquisitive learners to pursue their academic interests.

Following Japan Day, Jonathan, John, and Roma offered reflections upon their experiences in the RSP. “The RSP provided an opportunity to interact with outstanding students from around the country in an intense and interactive online environment,” remarked Jonathan Klein. “I felt very lucky to have weekly lectures by the exact scholars that write the books we read for assignments, and who are the very people that research and write papers on issues in modern day Japan.” John McHugh was also struck by the direct access to top scholars in the Japan studies field, commenting that he “actually sat next to a researcher from Stanford whose work I had used in my paper!” The challenging nature of the RSP coursework appealed to Roma, who observed, “I’m so glad to have participated in such a rigorous program with highly motivated peers and I look forward to seeing how RSP affects our lives and career choices.”

The distinguished RSP advisory committee members are Consul General Watanabe; Professor Emeritus Nisuke Ando, Doshisha University; and Ambassador Michael Armacost, Professor Phillip Lipscy (principal investigator), Dr. Gary Mukai, and Professor Emeritus Daniel Okimoto of Stanford University.

The RSP received funding for the first three years (2004–06) of the program from the United States-Japan Foundation. The program is currently funded by a grant from the Center for Global Partnership, the Japan Foundation, and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

The RSP will be accepting applications for the 2015 program in September and October 2014. For more information about the RSP, visit www.reischauerscholars.org or contact Naomi Funahashi, RSP Manager and Instructor, at nfunahashi@stanford.edu.

Standing upright, then slowly clasping both hands and drawing them up to shoulder height, Kevin Won next kneeled on the floor. Bending forward, he bowed his head toward his silent audience.

Won’s demonstration of the Sebae, a traditional bow performed for elders during South Korea’s lunar new year, may have seemed out of place during a warm, sunny day on Stanford’s campus. But the intricate display was in perfect context during a cross-cultural conference for secondary school teachers from the United States to learn about Korean society, as well as providing a forum to directly engage with Korean teachers and students.

Despite Korea’s growing relevance worldwide, there has been little development of Korean studies below university-level, leaving a vacuum for misunderstanding, including stereotypes, to form at an early age. The conference – now in its third year – aims to shift this reality.

For three days in late July, twenty-four teachers from across America participated in a variety of activities and seminars intended to give them new perspectives and teaching strategies.

Gary Mukai, director of SPICE, welcomes participants.

The conference was co-organized by the Korean Studies Program (KSP) at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) and the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), both in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. The two groups work together to convert research on Asia into material that is suitable for younger students.

“Our mission is to make Stanford scholarship accessible to all,” said SPICE director Gary Mukai, who has been with SPICE for over 26 years. SPICE and Shorenstein APARC, under the direction of Gi-Wook Shin, a professor of sociology, have coordinated curriculum development for key projects on Korean history and perceptions of wartime history in Northeast Asia. 

A cadre of scholars and practitioners from Stanford and other universities and organizations offered talking points and actionable ideas for instruction. Among them was David Straub, the associate director of KSP, who lived in Korea for eight years as a senior U.S. diplomat. 

The United States and Korea have a very close relationship, but lack equal dialogue, explained Straub. America is still “number one” for Koreans, as such, Koreans know more about the United States than Americans know about Korea. This imbalance can lead to misunderstanding. Straub took the teachers through the recent history of U.S.-Korea relations, which is often narrowed to the context of the Korean War. 

Two teachers work together on a curriculum exercise comparing political cartoons.

Since 1945, South Korea overcame extreme poverty and effectively established a democratic society, a transition that was uncommonly quick and relatively smooth, and one that now supports a global powerhouse of trade and culture.

Throughout the conference, SPICE staff demonstrated ways for educators to bring Korea, and greater Northeast Asia, into their classrooms. They gave the teachers a chance to practice student lessons. In one exercise, the teachers deciphered sets of political cartoons and compared news headlines from Japan, China and Korea, using material from SPICE instructional materials. 

Each activity was carefully prepared to guide teachers to examine their own preconceptions. Greater cultural awareness can come when both teachers and students are “more critical consumers of information,” said Rylan Sekiguchi, a SPICE curriculum specialist, in his presentation.

While curriculum is important, establishing rapport seemed an essential part of the conference. A key component to a successful cross-cultural workshop is creating a community, “and looking around the room, I think we’ve done that here,” said Mukai, in an address to participants at a reception.

Also in attendance was a delegation of 11 Korean teachers and students from Hana Academy Seoul, a private high school in Korea with a unique structure and curriculum. The school’s name comes from the Hana Financial Group, which established the school in 2010, and is also the supporter of the Stanford conference. The Korean students gave presentations that covered a wide range of topics, including an analysis of teenage life and the public education system in Korea.

(Left to right): Students Nayoon Kim, Kevin Won, Seung-hyun Kim and Sarah Chey presented on Korean culture and society.

Six students from Hana Academy Seoul performed Samulnori, one of Korea’s most popular genres of music. The musical group, known as Da-Seu-Reum, showcased their talents while wearing traditional, brightly colored outfits. Afterward, the students became the teachers – when they invited the American teachers to come up and play the instruments. 

Three students were also honored for their research and participation in the Sejong Korean Scholars Program (SKSP), a distance-learning opportunity for 25 high school students across the United States to engage in an intensive study of Korea for a semester. SKSP is dually led by SPICE and Shorenstein APARC, and sponsored by the Korea Foundation.

“I feel very honored to attend, and have learned a lot about U.S.-Korea relations,” said Won, who is from Korea and attends The Taft School in Connecticut. “But mostly, I am just glad my presentation went well.” 

Won, a relative newcomer to public speaking, explained Korean holidays and how to perform a traditional bow. After demonstrating the correct posture and sequence to the audience, he asked for, and easily received, teacher participation. 

Kelly McKee, a teacher from Illinois, tries playing the Buk, a drum used in Samulnori, with direction from a Hana Academy Seoul student.

“From the impeccably credentialed presenters to the wonderful pacing of the presentations, I thoroughly enjoyed my three days here,” said Eladio “Lalo” Martin, a humanities teacher at Cesar Chavez Middle School in Watsonville.

“This conference, by far, is the best I’ve ever attended,” he added. Martin has been teaching for more than 18 years, and says he looks forward to returning to Stanford.

“The speakers have been fantastic,” said Kelly McKee, a social studies teacher. “They’ve shared in-depth expertise on topics like Korea’s special economic zones and North Korea – areas you can’t find in professional development workshops elsewhere.”

McKee, who works at Lake Forest High School in Illinois and is a leader of a student exchange program to Shanghai, says she plans to supplement her Korea unit with what she has learned. As the availability of Asian studies curriculum continues to grow, she says the future certainly looks bright.

On July 30, 2014, three anxious but very poised high school students from the Sejong Korean Scholars Program (SKSP)—an online course on Korea sponsored by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) and the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center—took the stage to present their final papers to an audience of 25 American and Korean high school teachers and several university professors at a three-day conference on Korea at Stanford University. 

The students—Alex Boylston, a recent graduate of Riverwood International Charter School in Atlanta, GA; Anne Kim, a rising senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, MD; and Elaine Lee, a rising senior at Los Altos High School in Los Altos, CA—were selected from a class of 26 students, based on the excellence of their academic work and final course papers. 

When asked how he came to choose his topic on Koreans in Japan’s yakuza, Alex Boylston thoughtfully replied that he had thought “outside the box” because he didn’t want his instructor “to have to read 20 essays on the Korean War.” Taking a different tack, Anne Kim turned her personal interest in historical Korean dramas (“sageuk”) into the topic for her final paper, “Let’s Talk Drama: Sageuk as a Reflector and Perpetrator of Societal Change in South Korea.” Closing out the presentations, Elaine Lee stepped up to the podium and discussed the challenges South Korea faces as a global economic power, leaving no doubt she will achieve her goal of participating in the future of U.S.–South Korean relations. All three were honored with an award for excellence, following their presentations.

The SKSP accepts 20-25 exceptional high school students from throughout the United States for each course offering. The course provides students with a broad overview of Korean history and culture as well as U.S.–Korean relations and an opportunity to learn from and interact with top scholars and experts in Korean studies. The SKSP is now accepting applications for its spring 2015 term; www.sejongscholars.org.