Alumni Stories No. 25 – Ms. Minako Oki Ahearn
For this article, we spoke with Ms. Minako Oki Ahearn (class of 1982), founder of the Japanese-English dual language immersion charter school, International Charter Academy of Georgia. The connection between Minako and ICU precedes her own birth. Her father, Hideo Oki, served as an assistant to Swiss theologian Dr. Emil Brunner when he taught at ICU from 1953 to 1955. Just 10 years after the war, both of her parents were fortunate enough to receive scholarships from the United States to pursue studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where she was born. (Left photo below: Dr. Brunner and Mr. Hideo Oki, Right photo: Baby Minako and her parents […]
JICUF Grantee Spotlight: ICU Honey Team
Do you know that there is a “Honey Team” at ICU that keeps bees? JICUF first encountered the ICU Beekeeping Project in the fall of 2019, when undergraduate student Yuki Tamaki applied for and successfully received a JICUF grant. In the application, she wrote: “We will set up beehives in the organic farm on campus and engage in beekeeping. We will use the funds obtained from the harvested honey to support activities aimed at saving bees from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), an unexplained phenomenon of mass disappearance of bees. The project will create opportunities for ICU students to think about and act on environmental issues.” The grant was used to […]
JICUF Co-Hosts “Expanding Refugee Education Pathways” Conference at Sophia University
On May 17 and 18, JICUF co-hosted a conference titled “Expanding Refugee Education Pathways” at Sophia University with the Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways (GTF), Pathways Japan, and Sophia University. About 60 participants from 20 countries gathered to discuss how to increase educational opportunities for refugee students to provide a safe pathway to a third country.
JICUF Staff and Students Attend “Students as Partners” Conference in Canada
From March 30 to April 1, third-year undergraduate student at ICU Hikari Hirata, PhD candidate at Waseda University Suzan Housseini, and JICUF Vice President Aki Takada attended a conference titled “Students as Partners: Equipping Student Leaders as Partners for Sustainable Humanitarian Action” at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada.
JICUF Holds Its Board Meeting at ICU
On April 14 and 15, JICUF held its board meeting at ICU. It was the first time that JICUF trustees visited the campus in five years.
Winter 2022-23 JICUF Grant Recipients Announced
In late February, the JICUF Grants Committee reviewed 18 proposals for the winter 2022-23 term and approved 11 (1 from faculty, 1 from alums, and 9 from ICU students), awarding a total of ¥5,174,520 in funding. Congratulations to the awardees!
JICUF Grantee Spotlight: Okinawan Identity Formulation Through Craft Beer by Runa Oshiro
Runa Oshiro, who graduated from the ICU Graduate School this month, received a JICUF grant to conduct field research for her master’s thesis on how Okinawan identity is expressed through local beer. We interviewed her about her research project.
Introducing Sachiko Tokai, Communications & Operations Associate
On March 1, Sachiko Tokai joined the JICUF team as a Communications and Operations Associate. Welcome Sachiko!
JICUF Publishes 2022 Impact Report
JICUF has published its 2022 Impact Report. The report highlights the people and organizations we worked with and supported over the past year.
JICUF Hosts ICU Student Weekend in NYC
From Friday, January 20 to Sunday, January 22, JICUF hosted the first ever “ICU Student Weekend” in NYC for ICU students currently studying in the US through ICU’s exchange program. 22 students participated across the US from California to New Jersey.