Japanese students and faculty to visit Cornell College

Cornell College will host five students and two faculty members from Aoyama Gakuin Women’s Junior College in Tokyo Feb. 24 through March 4, as part of the school’s Aoyama Gakuin Exchange Program.

The Aoyama Gakuin Women’s Junior College Exchange Program was made possible since the establishment of the Off-Campus Studies Office in 2006, giving female students from Aoyama Gakuin  the opportunity to learn more about college and cultural life in the United States. In exchange, Cornell has also been sending students on alternate years for a 10-day Japanese cultural experience through the Cornell Student Ambassador Program, established in 2000.

During their stay on Cornell’s campus, the students will attend classes, participate in different activities and events with Slick Shoes, Eyes of the World, and the Third Wave Rresource Group, as well as visit Iowa venues. Events throughout the week also include a welcome dinner on Feb. 24  with students from the classes they will attend; the Rev. Mike Sherrill’s talk entitled “Rebuilding Hearts & Homes: The Power of Human Oneness & Comparison in Action in Japan’s Post Earthquake Recovery” in Allee Chapel on Feb. 26 from 3:30 to 5 p.m.; the “Doctoral Research Study on the use of Compassion Meditation/Interior Prayer of the Heart” Science Interest Group lecture by Cornell College chaplain the Rev. Catherine Quehl-Engel in West Science Room 100 at 11:10 a.m. Feb. 27, and a farewell dinner at the Garner President’s House March 3 with their Cornell hostesses. The students will eat most of their meals in the Hilltop Café, and spend the majority of their time on campus. Sherrill and Quehl-Engel’s talks are both free and open to the public.

Organizations interested in hosting events or meeting the Aoyama Gakuin students can email Kimberly Cullen, Coordinator for International & Off-Campus Studies, for more information.