Students Study Abroad at JMU

Twenty-eight students from Hiroshima University in Japan visited JMU for two weeks in February to gain first-hand experience in American education inside and beyond the classroom. Their campus visit was a collaboration between the two universities, both members of the International Network of Universities.

Led by Dr. Taiji Hotta, director of the Hiroshima University Study Abroad Program, 25 undergraduate students, including several freshmen, and three graduate students attended JMU classes, presentations on American life and culture, and sampled campus life the weeks of Feb. 19 and 26. The group met together in the mornings with Hotta and Dr. William J. Hawk, professor of philosophy at JMU, and then individual students chose from 65 courses to attend in the afternoons.

Learn about students' impressions of JMU as Hiroaki Tahara, Ruri Hatano and Takahiro Amano talk about their whirlwind visit to the United States in the video at right.

During their two-week stay in the United States, the Hiroshima University students visited Washington, D.C., Luray Caverns and Natural Bridge and participated in campus programs with the Centennial Scholars, Japanese Club, John C. Wells Planetarium, women's basketball and Madison International, one of JMU's theme housing options.

The students represented a wide array of disciplines — humanities, economics, education, law, language and culture, applied biology, medicine, social and environmental engineering, chemistry and physical science, integrated arts and sciences — taught at their university of nearly 15,000 students.

While at JMU, Hotta was a guest speaker in the JMU School of Strategic Leadership Studies' Policy Development and Analysis in Postsecondary Education class. He also presented "Internationalizing Higher Education in Asia, Europe and the U.S.," a lecture sponsored by the Office of International Programs and University Studies, and met with several JMU faculty members.