Studies in China, Japan, and Sri Lanka

Whitman offered its first class on Asia — a history course on the peoples of the Pacific Ocean — in 1926. As a modern program, Asian studies at Whitman began taking shape in 1969 when David Deal, a specialist in Chinese history, joined the faculty as its first Asia-centered professor. While helping nurture the Asian studies program over the next three decades, Deal also has been instrumental in launching and then administering the Whitman-in-China program. Since 1982, Whitman has sent more than 90 recent graduates to teach English at Chinese universities for one year. In return, Chinese teachers come to Whitman each year to sharpen their English language skills.

In October, international students marked UN Day with a flag display and a "Celebration of Cultures" talent program. Above, a few of Whitman's 39 students from abroad pose in native attire: Masashi Obata from Kyoto, Japan; Yang Suzhen, Kunming, China; Tanja Englberger, Tonga; Wanjiru Kamau, Nairobi, Kenya; Intan Hamdan, Penang, Malaysia; Ziad Abu-Rish, Amman, Jordan; and Sumir Hasan, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Whitman also plays a central role in the Associated Kyoto Program (AKP), a consortium of 15 liberal arts colleges from around the U.S. Under the program, nearly 70 Whitman students have studied at Japan's Doshisha University since the fall of 1980, and the consortium is presently headquartered on the Whitman campus. Ron Takemoto, a Whitman assistant professor and Buddhist priest, currently serves as chair of the AKP board of directors. Michael Gates, '95, is the AKP program administrator.

Since the mid-1980s, Whitman graduates have been regular participants in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program, which is operated by the Japanese Education Ministry. More than 30 Whitman graduates have taught English in Japanese junior high and high schools under the JET program.

The scope of Whitman's Asian studies program broadened when Jonathan Walters, a noted authority on Sri Lanka, joined the faculty in 1992. Whitman has since joined the Intercollegiate Sri Lanka Education (ISLE) program, which, in recent years, has sent three Whitman students to Sri Lanka to study its culture, politics, religion and art. Six more Whitman students will study on the island nation during the 1999 fall semester.

Walters spent two months this summer in Sri Lanka, where he continued his own studies, assisted a Whitman student on a summer research project, and renewed his ties to a Sri Lankan environmental protest movement.

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