UNDERGRAD SEMESTER PROGRAMS: RITSUMEIKAN UNIVERSITY

Open to students who have completed two years of Japanese language study, the Study in Kyoto Program (SKP) is held on the campus of Ritsumeikan University in the beautiful ancient capital of Kyoto. The program incorporates an intensive study of Japanese language and traditional Japanese arts with an opportunity to take courses taught in English along with Japanese students. A great way to improve your Japanese language skills!

Language Courses
The language courses in the SKP intensive Japanese language curriculum are designed to develop balanced language skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as socio-cultural awareness associated with the use of the Japanese language. Courses are divided into five levels of difficulty in order to accommodate the varying strengths and weaknesses of individual students. A placement test is conducted at the beginning of each semester to determine the Japanese language proficiency and class placement of each student.

Comprehensive Japanese (all levels), classes daily
Japanese listening and speaking (all levels), classes twice a week
Japan Studies Seminar/ Research Methodology (all levels), classes once a week

Introduction to Japanese Traditional Arts
These courses, taught in Japanese, are open to all SKP students and aim to increase student understanding of Japanese traditional culture by providing opportunities for hands-on participation in various traditional arts and crafts, many with their historical origins in Kyoto. Many of these courses are taught off campus by master craft persons. Past SKP students have had the opportunity to study ceramics (togei), calligraphy (shodo), tea ceremony (sado), classical dance (kyomai), traditional confectionary (wagashi), flower arranging (ikebana), and classical Japanese stringed instrument (shamisen).

Japan and World Perspective (JWP) Courses
SKP students may enroll in regular courses offered through the new Inter-Faculty Institute for International Studies Japan and World Perspectives program, taught entirely in English. Courses cover a wide range of subjects from Asian Pacific studies and economic development to contemporary Japanese culture. JWP courses are taught through a mixture of lectures, tutorials, and discussions, and provide an ideal learning environment in which Japanese students and Study in Kyoto students can study side by side. Students are encouraged to enroll for an academic year, but can also participate in either the Fall semester (September - January) or the Spring semester (April - July).

For more information, please contact Heidi Ashton at (202)885-1633 or by email: hashton@american.edu

Please consider applying for these scholarship opportunities. Our students have successfully earned one or more of these scholarships for their study abroad semester(s) in Japan:
  Freeman ASIA, http://www.iie.org/programs/Freeman-ASIA/
  Bridging Scholarship, http://www.colorado.edu/ealld/atj/Bridging/scholarships.html