Announcement: Open Forums for Japanese Language Instructors

Japan Past & Present (JPP) is pleased to announce that it will host open forums for Japanese Language Instructors, broken up into two meetings with Session 1 on July 14・15 and  Session 2 on July 20・21, 2024 (see time conversions below). 

Over the course of the past decade or more, higher education, and area studies programs in particular, have been subject to increasing threats in the form of budgetary cuts, reduction of faculty and staff, and even the closure of entire programs. The purpose of this forum is to create a space for instructors of Japanese language around the world to share their experiences and concerns with each other and JPP representatives. As part of its mission to provide equitable access to scholarly tools and materials, and to help realize an increasingly diverse and inclusive future for the Japanese humanities, we here at JPP are keen to learn more about the needs of Japanese language instructors at all levels, and at different sorts of institutions, and to hear from instructors about what types of strategic support they feel could be most impactful for these essential educators.

The events will be held online via Zoom. In the interest of hearing from as many language instructors in as many locations around the world as possible, we have separated the forum into two sessions. Colleagues are welcome to register for one or both sessions based on their availability. Time conversions of select cities for reference are offered below:

We realize these times may be difficult for some, but in the interest of allowing as many people as possible to participate, we have done our best to balance late and early hours around the world. In the interest of privacy, the forum will not be recorded.

To help guide the event discussion, we invite participants to fill out a pre-event Discussion Survey on their background and professional needs:

https://forms.gle/5PSTesCTZEPa1euY7 

To register, please use the following links:

Session 1: https://bit.ly/JPPLF24_1 
Session 2: https://bit.ly/JPPLF24_2

To load these events directly into your digital calendar of choice, please visit their events pages here:

Session 1: LINK
Session 2: LINK

We look forward to fruitful discussions!

Best,

Paula R. Curtis
Operations Leader, Japan Past & Present
Yanai Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA

Michael Emmerich
Director, Japan Past & Present
Director, The Yanai Initiative