Whitman College and the Associated Kyoto Program

Sam Zimmerman, Carli Ing, and Enkhjin Batjargal look at photos of '09 seniors when they arrived on campus as first year students in 2005. Sam and Carli will spend the 09-10 academic year at the Associated Kyoto Program Center located on the campus of Doshisha University in Kyoto while Enkhjin will spend time studying in England.

Whitman College, in cooperation with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Bucknell, Carleton, Colby, Connecticut, Middlebury, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, Occidental, Pomona, Smith, Wellesley, Wesleyan, and Williams, sponsors the Associated Kyoto Program which takes about 40 students to Japan for an academic year. Established in 1972, the AKP is a rigorous two-semester program that includes intensive Japanese language classes and a wide range of elective courses taught in English. Students are required to select two electives each semester which are taught by professors from consortium colleges and by local scholars. The program makes every effort to include courses in art history, economics, history, literature, political science, and religion every year. With offices and classrooms on the Doshisha University campus in Kyoto, the program also provides an opportunity for each student to live with a Japanese family and to share their lives and daily experiences. Field trips related to courses of study are an important part of the program. In 2010, the administrative office for the AKP will move to Whitman College and Professor Takemoto will assume the position as Chair of the AKP Board of Directors.

Prerequisites for this program include one year of Japanese language study and at least one area course, preferably pre-modern Japanese history. A listing of acceptable prerequisite courses, information on the program, and applications may be obtained from Professor Takemoto, or from the Whitman College Study Abroad Office. The application deadline for this program is normally around January 20. See the AKP website for more information. All applicants, however, should contact Susan Brick in the Study Abroad Office and complete a Foreign Study Leave Application. Before you can apply to the AKP, you must receive approval for study abroad from the Whitman College International Studies Planning Committee.

Adviser: Akira R. Takemoto, Whitman Representative to AKP Board of Directors

More information on Whitman College and the Associated Kyoto Program:
The AKP Homepage | Whitman Students in Japan