Fellowships in Virginia for Japanese Students

I have two openings for research assistant fellows starting in Fall 2008 or Spring 2009 for someone seeking a Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) (www.vcu.edu and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCU). I am moving from the University of Vermont to VCU and will soon be launching a new research lab, the Sensory Intelligence Lab, at VCU. My research fields include computer vision, robotics, and human-computer interaction. Recent projects: www.uvm.edu/~ymotai and www.cems.uvm.edu/~medialab. Yuichi Motai, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Engineering, 601 West Main Street, P.O. Box 843068, Richmond, VA 23284-3068. Tel.: 804-828-1281. ymotai@vcu.edu.

Tsuzuki International Scholarship

Fukuoka Daiichi High School is a 50-year-old private school that is part of the Tsuzuki family of schools spread across Japan. Every year, up to 10 scholarships are awarded that pay for tuition, books, uniforms, and room and board at their dormitory. Homestays are arranged during school breaks, and students usually make excellent progress in all aspects of Japanese language. More information: www.fukuokadaiichi.com/english/ (English) or www.f-parama.ed.jp (Japanese).

Scholarships Available for the Japanese School at Middlebury College in 2008

The Japanese School at Middlebury College will have another round of full scholarships for 2008 session. These scholarships are applicable to both the 9-week language session and a 3-week graduate course on IT in Japanese pedagogy. If you are interested in either session, we urge you to take advantage of these scholarships. (Thirteen students received them in 2007.) More information: www.middlebury.edu/academics/ls/fellowships_scholarships/kwd.htm.

Japanese Language Education Grant Programs Available in the U.S.

The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles will administer the following programs for the fiscal year 2007-08 to support the development of Japanese language education in the United States. Application materials: www.jflalc.org/?act=tpt&id=229. Completed applications should be sent to the JF Los Angeles office. Please make sure to contact the JFLA before proceeding with the application process. Your application form(s) must arrive at the JF Los Angeles office by the programs’ respective deadlines. Late applications will not be considered.

December 1 deadline

Grant Programs for Japanese-Language Courses Abroad (Support for Courses); Japanese Speech Contest Support Program; Grant Program for Developing Networks of Japanese Language Teachers and Institutions; Grant Program for Japanese-Language Teaching Materials; Training Programs for Japanese Language Teachers Abroad (Advanced Program/Long-term Program/Short-term Program/ Program for Japanese Nationals); Japanese Language Programs for Specialists (Librarians/Researchers and Postgraduate Students).

February 1, June 1, November 1 deadlines

Program for the Donation of Japanese Language Teaching Materials (for the U.S.). This particular program for the U.S. follows a different application process from other countries, and its application materials for the U.S. are only available at the JF Los Angeles Office. Please contact Mamiko Nakai for details. Mamiko Nakai, Program Associate, The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, 333 S. Grand Ave., #2250, Los Angeles, CA 90071. Tel.: 213-621-2267, ext.110. Fax: 213-621-2590. mamiko_nakai@jflalc.org.

Fellowships for Intensive Japanese at Cornell University

A limited number of undergraduate and graduate fellowships are available through Cornell University for the intensive study of Japanese. Cornell University offers a full-year Japanese language program (FALCON) during which students spend six hours a day, five days a week, studying language only, and thus are able to complete as much as 1200 hours of supervised classroom and laboratory work in one year. Practice sections are restricted in size and are conducted by native speakers. One lecture daily is conducted in English to provide necessary analysis and explanation.

Program home: http://lrc.cornell.edu/falcon. Scholarships: http://lrc.cornell.edu/falcon/financialaid.html. Scholarships for ALLEX Japanese Teacher Training Institute: www.East Asia.org.

Japan Foundation Small Grants

The Japan Foundation New York has restructured its small grant program, which the New York office administers independently and which allow that office to support a few small programs within a short time frame. The program has changed in two principal ways. First, the grant is now divided into two grants: (1) The Japan Foundation New York Small Grant—Japanese Studies (in many ways, a miniature RPC grant); and, (2) The Japan Foundation New York Small Grant—Arts and Culture. Second, the grant maximum has been increased to $2,000 for Japan studies; the maximum for arts and culture remains at $1,000. For the current fiscal year, $7,000 has been allocated to the Japan studies small grant and $20,000 to the arts and culture small grant. The applications and guidelines have been revised in order to facilitate application and expand eligibility. Furthermore, in order to help small conferences under severe cost constraints, the Japan studies grant has been made a prepay program rather than a reimbursement program. For information and application forms, visit the Japan Foundation’s website (www.jfny.org; look for "New York Office Small Grants") or contact Kristopher Kersey (Kris_Kersey@jfny.org), who administers this program.

Cheng & Tsui Professional Development Fund

The Association of Teachers of Japanese is delighted to announce that Cheng & Tsui Company President Jill Cheng, a long-time supporter of East Asian language education, will provide $1000 annually to fund professional development grants for teachers of Japanese. Japanese teachers at all levels – K-12 as well as higher education – are eligible to apply for support from the Cheng & Tsui Professional Development Fund to help defray the costs of professional development activities such as participating in professional development workshops. Amounts of grants will be flexible – up to $600. Teachers are urged to use these grants to leverage additional funding from their schools or other sources to enable them to participate in professional development activities. Application forms are available on the Web (www.colorado.edu/ealld/atj/ATJ/prodevapp.html) and will be included in the newsletters of the Association of Teachers of Japanese and National Council of Japanese Language Teachers. A committee of experienced teachers of all levels will recommend awards. For more information, please contact the ATJ office at atj@colorado.edu.