August 21, 2006 Source: :
http://www.mta.ca/news/?id=1080 Mount Allison student awarded scholarship for exchange in Japan SACKVILLE, NB — Mount Allison International Relations student Robertson Davis, is headed to Japan this September for a year-long student exchange with Kwansei Gakuin University (KGU) courtesy of the government of Japan. Davis from Upper Coverdale, NB was awarded a Japan Students Services Organization Scholarship (JASSO), which provides a monthly living allowance and extra funds for Davis to pursue Japanese and East Asian Studies at KGU. Davis will find KGU, which is located near Kobe, Japan quite a change from New Brunswick. Exchange co-ordinator Dr. Peter Ennals said "Robertson is in for an exciting year, not the least of which is the dramatically different scale and intensity of attending an institution with more that 15,000 students located in the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe region with a population of about 20 million people." Davis will also have the benefits of living with a Japanese host family and being able to travel both in Japan and to either China or Korea. Dr. Peter Ennals stated that "We are most gratified that Robertson has been awarded the JASSO Scholarship this year. Though other students have been awarded these generous scholarships in the past, they have become more difficult to win in recent years as Japan focuses its assistance on deserving students from other parts of East Asia." The Mount Allison-KGU Student Exchange began in 1994 and allows up to three third-year students a year the chance to study at the partner institution. To qualify for the exchange, Mount Allison students must have completed two years of Japanese language study at Mount A. The exchange program offers the student two study tracks: one designed to emphasize intensive language study; the other emphasizes the study of Japanese culture, economy, and politics. Students completing the exchange can qualify for a specially approved degree major in Japanese Studies. According to Dr. Ennals a number of former exchange students have returned to Japan following graduation to participate in the Japanese government’s JET program. This employs English-speaking foreigners as language assistants in schools, government, and other agencies. Still others have pursued graduate degrees in Japanese Studies or have used their Japanese language skills in the business world. The Mount Allison-KGU Student Exchange forms one part of a wider partnership with Kwansei Gakuin University. In addition to the Mount Allison Sophomore Semester in English (MASSIE) program that permits up to 50 KGU sophomore students to spend a semester polishing their English-language skills at Mount Allison, a number of Mount Allison faculty have served as visiting research and teaching fellows at KGU. —30— For more information on the Mount Allison-KGU exchange please contact: Dr. Peter Ennals, Department of Geography, Mount Allison University, (pennals@mta.ca).
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