Luke Wilson and Nicolas Correa are the second cohort of recipients of JICUF’s United States Scholars Initiative (USSI) scholarship. USSI aims to increase the number of degree-seeking undergraduate students from the United States at ICU. This merit-based scholarship provides full-tuition support for four years of undergraduate study at ICU.
We sat down with Luke and Nico and asked them about their experiences at ICU so far.
ICU alumnus (‘61) Dr. Yasuyuki Horie and his late wife endowed the Horie Takematsu & Koh Scholarship at ICU several years ago. The $2,000 scholarship is awarded annually to a top student in the natural sciences. Dr. Horie, who currently lives in New Mexico, visited ICU for the first time in 58 years on Tuesday, September 24.
In fall 2018, third-year ICU student Hotaka Omata (second-year at the time) received a JICUF grant of ¥424,000 for his project to build housing in Nepal. Hotaka and seven other ICU members of the FIWC (Friendship International Work Camp), an inter-collegiate volunteer group, traveled to Ramche village, Nepal, which has yet to fully recover from the devastating April 2015 earthquake. JICUF interviewed three ICU students who took part in the trip.
The Spring 2019 JICUF Undergraduate Research Day (URD) was held on February 15th at ICU. 46 fourth-year students presented their research posters. The event was organized by Associate Professor Seunghun Lee with a grant from JICUF.
Last week, JICUF staff Fernando Rojas and Luke Palermo visited the ICU campus to promote opportunities that JICUF provides for ICU students. Here is a report from Luke.
Mana Yamagata, a fourth-year Literature major, received a ¥474,500 grant this spring to plan a Modern Dance Society (MDS) performance. This fall, they invited New York-based choreographer and ICU alum Kensaku Shinohara and Taiwan-based dance group Seed Dance Company to ICU to put on a collaborative performance. The ICU × Taiwan × New York Dance Project: “Woohi Chung” (meaning “five minutes” in Chinese) was performed four times in the West Wing of the Diffendorfer Memorial Hall (known as the “Shin-D”) from September 18th to 20th. We interviewed MDS members to learn about their project.
In July, JICUF welcomed twelve ICU undergraduate students for our Global Link summer program. During the four weeks, from July 5th to 27th, the students were exposed to global careers in New York City and Washington, D.C. Calling on the wide network of ICU alumni and friends in both cities, JICUF organized office visits, professional roundtables, networking events, volunteer activities and professional skills workshops. The activities aimed to inspire the students as they contemplate their future career paths.
Associate Professor Allen Kim (sociology) received a faculty program grant from JICUF last fall to hold the Japan-Philippines Student Summit (JPSS) this spring. Six students travelled to the Philippines with Professor Kim from March 7th to 15th. Below is a condensed version of the grant report from Professor Kim.
A team of ICU students participated in the 29th International Law Moot Court Competition Japan Cup held on July 7th and 8th, and received the Fighting Spirit Award. The students took the International Moot Court course taught by Assistant Professor Hiromichi Matsuda. JICUF has been supporting Professor Matsuda’s initiative to send ICU students to moot court competitions through the faculty grants program.
In 2017, JICUF awarded Study Abroad Scholarships to five students with excellent academic standing. These students studied at ICU’s partner institutions in the United States and have recently returned to Japan. Three of the five students shared comments about their time in the U.S.
