Revised May 23, 2014
Preamble
Tokyo International University of America (TIUA), established in Salem, Oregon, USA as an overseas school under the direction of the Tokyo International University Foundation, Japan provides an educational environment that enables students to pursue academic goals, develop intercultural awareness and explore personal values and interests. The American Studies Program (ASP) at Willamette University (WU), conducted in collaboration with TIUA and TIU, offers a curriculum that includes English as a Second Language courses and liberal arts courses designed for ESL learners from TIU. Qualified ASP students have the opportunity to take courses in the WU College of Arts & Sciences.
Co-curricular education programs in Residential Life and Student Involvement are designed to offer students opportunities to learn through experience about other people and cultures. As a result, students gain and share insights about their own traditions and values.
TIUA, in collaboration with Willamette University, also offers customized programs designed to meet the special needs of international corporations and organizations.
The main goal of the academic and co-curricular programs is to prepare students to become global citizens able to cross over national and cultural boundaries and barriers so they can serve as models for others and help build a truly international community.
Goals
In order to more fully clarify its mission, Tokyo International University of America has established the following goals for students in its educational programs:
- Improve communication skills in English.
- Learn about and better understand global society through comparative studies in academic subject areas such as politics, history, environmental studies, sociology, sport science, management, literature, film studies, and service learning.
- Foster intercultural growth and exploration of new cultural perspectives through engagement with students, faculty, staff, and the local community.
- Facilitate, through participation in both formal and informal educational opportunities, the achievement of personal and professional goals, leadership, and the development of a deeper and broader understanding of one’s own identity and sense of place.
Programs
To achieve these goals, the following program components have been designed and implemented, within the context of the TIUA study abroad educational program:
- An intensive program in English language and American studies which includes skills-based courses covering all essential language skills, aimed at a range of language proficiency levels, as well as content-based Applied English courses, in which students apply their language skills to specific academic content.
- A program in American Studies, with liberal arts courses in English that emphasize not only the study of various aspects of American society but also analyses and applications of how all of our countries and cultures are integral components of the global community. In addition, ASP students have the opportunity to take various courses from Willamette University’s College of Arts & Sciences curriculum.
- On and off-campus co-curricular programs in the areas of Residential Life and Student Involvement that support intercultural and interpersonal growth, leadership development, and achievement of personal and professional goals through experiential learning and student engagement.
- Special programs designed to meet the educational and professional development needs of those working in international corporations and organizations, and other educational institutions.
Expected Outcomes
Students who participate actively in the various programs and opportunities provided at Willamette and TIUA are expected to be able to:
- Apply English language skills to facilitate successful personal and professional communication in a global society.
- Understand and value the diversity found throughout the world.
- Apply a deeper understanding of intercultural relations and environments in order to be more successful when interacting across cultures.
- Develop a clearer vision of personal and professional goals and take steps toward achieving them, expanding such goals to include the welfare of others in their local communities and throughout the world.
- Commit to life-long learning and to the idea that such learning can be beneficial for others as well as for themselves.
- Encourage others to develop a broader vision of the world and to contribute to our global society while seeking to achieve personal and professional goals.
- Act with responsibility and demonstrate respect for the perspectives, traditions, and values of others in intercultural interactions and exchanges.
- Contribute to the local community, both on and off campus, by sharing interests and cultural traditions and by taking advantage of opportunities to participate in service learning.
- Continue to explore and learn about topics of global interest.
- Become successful in their chosen professional fields and in their communities.