Technos International Week in Japan

June 2 through Saturday, June 15, 2012.

Technos International
Application Deadline: 3 February

As in past years, and again in June 2010, the Tanaka Memorial Foundation provided an extraordinary opportunity for two students from Bates to experience Japan with other young adults for two weeks. Unfortunately the 2011 Technos International Week was cancelled due to the tragic tsunami. The Foundation has asked Bates to send four students in 2012 and hoped that those two students who were waiting to attend in 2011 could come in 2012.  Both 2011 students and the faculty member will be going in 2012 and a faculty selection committee is looking for two more students.  Please see the link below to the application. Preference is given to first and second year students. In a normal year, the Foundation offers complete support for two students and one faculty or staff member to travel to Japan for Technos International Week. In past years, twenty-four students and ten faculty members from Bates, nine other US colleges; Pembroke College in Oxford, England; and Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand gathered at Technos College in Tokyo and traveled together. The experience culminates in a final week of interaction in Tokyo with Japanese students and faculty at Technos College. Technos College students plan and organize many of the activities both at Technos and along the way.

The goal of the visit is to foster international exchange and understanding. Bates students are introduced to Japan, its people and culture. The language used is English. Students in past years have found the experience rich and sometimes life-changing.

Students travel to Tokyo, the Japanese Alps, Nagoya, Takayama, and other cities. They spend two days at a mountain camp, two days at a traditional Japanese Ryokan with hot baths and Tatami rooms and return to Tokyo on the famous Bullet Train. During the second week in Tokyo, international students visit Technos College and spend time with Japanese students at Technos College.

Read the 2010 blog, link is below, of Professor Eden Osucha, Astrid Gleaton ’13, and Kaad Jones ’13.

When they return, Bates students are expected to communicate their experiences in Japan to the Bates community through visits to various classes and present a poster during Parents Weekend in fall of the next year. Applications and a letter of support from one member of the Bates College faculty are due by noon on Friday,  February 3 in Lane Hall 121. Please contact Dave Baker at dbaker2@bates.edu, if you have questions. To attend Technos International Week, students should be available from June 2 through June 15, 2012.

Ms. Fumika Honda with the Bates College International Award, April 13, 2010

Technos International Week Application

Blog: June in Japan 2010