English Program for Japanese Women Focuses on Leadership Skills

Tsuda College Students

Twenty-six university students from Tokyo arrived in Indianapolis August 1 to be part of an intensive English and American culture program at IUPUI. The women will spend three weeks here honing their English skills and learning what it takes to be a leader.

The program is sponsored by the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC), a nationally known language training and research center that is part of the Department of English and the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.

“The program draws upon women’s leadership topics to facilitate reading, writing and speaking improvement,” said Dr. Ulla Connor, ICIC director. “In these changing times, more and more strong female leaders are coming forward to help guide and balance the world’s events. During this intensive summer program, female students are challenged to build their leadership skills.”

All of the women are students at Tsuda College in Tokyo, Japan’s first institution of higher learning for women. Tsuda and IUPUI have been collaborating since 1994, when the first intensive summer programs began at IUPUI.

The students are staying with local families near campus, and will take part in various cultural events in Indianapolis with their host families and other students, and will also take a trip to Chicago.

One of the highlights of the program will be the opportunity to attend an Indiana Fever women’s professional basketball game on Saturday, August 15, where the students will be officially recognized and meet a player after the game.

“A number of prominent women leaders of the Indianapolis community will speak to the students. These women will talk about the skills they believe are essential to being a leader as well as share stories about their experiences becoming leaders,” said Connor.

The students will read about and interview local female leaders. They will write reports and do oral presentations about what they are learning, and work in groups to produce portfolios about women’s leadership topics at the end of their time here. The students will receive three credits from their home college when they return.

ICIC specializes in English for Specific Purposes instruction, and designs short term language training programs to suit many different educational and professional needs. For more information about ICIC or its programs, call (317) 274-2555 or visit the Web site at www.iupui.edu/~icic/.