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The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91�Թ�) honored three top students of the 2012 Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP)—Brooke Nowakowski (San Antonio, TX), Seunghwa Madeleine Han (San Ramon, CA), and Emily Waltman (Tenafly, NJ)—at the RSP Japan Day event at 91�Թ� on August 10, 2012. The RSP, an online course on Japan and U.S.–Japan relations that is offered to high school students across the United States, recognized the students based on their coursework and exceptional research essays.

The event featured remarks by Consul General Hiroshi Inomata, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco; Renay Loper, Associate Program Officer, Center for Global Partnership (CGP), Japan Foundation, New York; Naomi Funahashi, RSP Manager and Instructor; and Gary Mukai, 91�Թ� Director. Professor Emeritus , 91�Թ�, gave a compelling talk on Japan’s energy options since the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan. 91�Թ� also presented a plaque to Consul Midori Yamamitsu, Director of the Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, in honor of her longtime support of the RSP.

The program was highlighted by presentations by student honorees Nowakowski, Han, and Waltman, who wrote research essays on the modern consequences of cultural change in Okinawa, the rise of feminism in Japanese politics, and the role of propaganda in fueling racism and public support for Japanese-American internment, respectively. Many individuals and organizations from the San Francisco Bay Area’s Japan and U.S.–Japan community and 91�Թ� were in attendance. Funahashi noted the following about her three student honorees: “The poise and intellect of these young scholars is truly impressive. It is an honor to work with such bright, inquisitive, and engaging students who share a genuine interest in learning about Japan and fostering U.S.–Japan relations.”

Brooke Nowakowski	Seunghwa Madeleine Han

Entering its tenth year in 2013, the RSP presents a creative and innovative approach to teaching high school students about Japan and U.S–Japan relations. The program provides American students with unique opportunities to interact with top scholars and diplomats, and introduces both American and Japanese perspectives on many historical and contemporary issues. 

Named in honor of former Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer, a leading educator and noted scholar of Japanese history and culture, the RSP annually selects 25–30 exceptional high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors from throughout the United States. Since 2003, the RSP has cultivated a model for reaching a diverse population of students by utilizing technology to share high-quality course material across large distances. Using online lectures and discussions, the program provides students with a broad overview of Japanese history, literature, religion, art, politics, economics, education, and contemporary society, with a focus on the U.S.–Japan relationship. Prominent scholars affiliated with 91�Թ�, the University of Tokyo, the University of Hawaii, and other institutions provide lectures and engage students in online dialogue. The RSP received initial funding for the program (2004–2006) from the United States–Japan Foundation. The program is currently funded by a generous grant from CGP, Japan Foundation, and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at 91�Թ�.

The RSP will begin accepting applications for the 2013 program in September 2012. For more information about the RSP, visit or contact Naomi Funahashi, RSP Manager and Instructor, at nfunahashi@stanford.edu.  

Stanford’s Korean Studies Program (KSP) has recently been awarded with a major gift from Hana Financial Group and a grant from the Korea Foundation, which will provide a major boost to Stanford’s already strong K-12 outreach education offerings. KSP will collaborate closely with the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91�Թ�) on its outreach activities.

Hana Financial Group has provided $600,000 for the next five years in support of an annual Hana-Stanford Conference on Korea for U.S. Secondary School Teachers. The first conference took place this summer, from July 23 to 25, at Stanford. It brought together secondary school educators from across the United States and a cadre of Korean teachers from Hana Academy Seoul for intensive and lively sessions on a wide assortment of Korean studies-related topics ranging from U.S.-Korea relations to history, and religion to popular culture. In addition to scholarly lectures, the teachers took part in curriculum workshops and received numerous classroom resources developed by 91�Թ�.

The Korea Foundation has awarded a three-year grant of $609,527 to support the new K-12 Education on Korea in the United States curriculum development project. Gary Mukai, director of 91�Թ�, noted, “The coverage of Korea in U.S. high school curriculum is often limited to the Korean War.” To help address the identified need to broaden the coverage of Korea, KSP will work with 91�Թ� to develop three high school-level curriculum units and Stanford’s first distance-learning course on Korea for high school students. The curriculum units will examine the experience of Korean Americans in U.S. history; various aspects of traditional and modern Korean culture; and the development of South Korea’s economy. The distance-learning course, called the Sejong Korean Scholars Program (SKSP), will be offered in 2013.

The SKSP will annually select 25 exceptional high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors (from public and private schools) from throughout the United States to engage in an intensive study of Korea. The SKSP will provide students with a broad overview of Korean history, literature, religion, art, politics, and economics—with a special focus on the U.S.–Korean relationship. Top scholars, leading diplomats, and other professionals will provide lectures to students as well as engage them in dialogue. These lectures and discussions will be woven into a broader curriculum that provides students with reading materials and assignments. The SKSP will encourage these students to become future leaders in the U.S.–Korean relationship and lifelong learners of Korea.

“We’re grateful to receive these two major sources of funding for Korean studies outreach education, and look forward to working with 91�Թ� to establish Korea as a subject taught regularly in classrooms throughout the United States,” said Gi-Wook Shin, director of KSP.

Connie Straub selected a small pink jar from the bottles and utensils scattered on the picnic table. “It’s shrimp – kind of a shrimp paste,” she told her audience, giving the jar a skeptical glance. “But it’s optional, it really doesn’t matter.”

Laughter erupted from the crowd of Koreans and Americans new to their cuisine. Straub, who grew up in Korea, set the jar aside and reached for a bottle of soy sauce – the base, she explained, for a traditional Korean marinade.

The cooking demonstration was part of a national conference that brought nearly two dozen American teachers to Stanford to learn about Korean history, culture, security, and politics from scholars at the university and other schools. Teachers and students from Hana Academy Seoul, a private high school in South Korea, also attended.

Stanford’s Korean Studies Program (KSP) co-sponsored the conference, along with the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91�Թ�), an organization that works with Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies to develop curricula on international topics for American elementary and secondary school students.

Despite Korea’s growing economic clout and important role in international security, little is taught about Korean history, politics, and culture in American schools. The conference organizers are trying to change that.

“South Korea is an incredibly important U.S. ally and partner,” Gi-Wook Shin, founding director of KSP and a sociology professor, told the conference participants. “And Korean-Americans are becoming a very important part of American society.”

David Straub, the program’s associate director who is married to Connie Straub, said South Korea is significant “not only because of the North Korean division… [and] because it is the world’s eighth-largest trading economy…but also because of its impressive development.”

Since 1979, South Korea’s per-capita GDP has increased more than twentyfold. The country has also undergone sweeping political reform and dramatic social change in the last three decades.

“I don’t know of any other country that’s developed as quickly,” Straub said. “Not only economically, but also socially and culturally.”

91�Թ� has produced several middle and high school curriculum units focused on Korea. Each teacher attending the conference received a collection of 91�Թ� materials, and 91�Թ� staff also conducted curriculum demonstrations and shared instructional strategies during the event.

91�Թ� director Gary Mukai said he believes early exposure to the country’s history and culture could inspire students to study Korea in college and beyond.

“Coverage of Korea in U.S. high schools has generally been limited to the Korean War,” he said. “The fact that the coverage is so limited really restricts students’ understanding of a very vibrant country.”

Mukai told visiting teachers that he hoped the conference would lead to “the creation of a community of learners” including both Korean and American teachers.

The teachers appeared to be fulfilling Mukai’s hopes. On the first day of the conference, after a presentation by Hana Academy teachers on the Korean educational system, American and Korean teachers discussed educational policy.

James Covi, who teaches world history at Lakeside High School in Seattle, commented on Korea’s efforts to move away from rigorous standardized testing in secondary education.

“Here in the U.S., we look at [Korean] test scores and we’re quite jealous,” Covi said, laughing. “Maybe there’s some common ground in the middle we’re trying to meet at?”

Covi attended the conference to expand his knowledge of Korea, which he said is insufficient to “teach [Korea] well.” He said he enjoyed learning more about Korean culture, through events such as the cooking demonstration and presentations on the educational system, as well as about the divided peninsula’s history and politics.

American teachers also learned from several visiting Korean students, who delivered short presentations on Korean society. The students also interacted with American teachers during meals and social events, answering questions about academics and daily life in Korean high schools. 

“The concept of coming abroad to meet other people from this country, and to talk about my country, was really exciting,” said Minji Choi, one of the students. “It’s a great opportunity.”

But the best opportunity for cross-cultural engagement may have come in a simpler form, as Connie Straub concluded her demonstration and her audience scattered to nearby tables piled high with traditional Korean food. The spread including several varieties of the fermented and fragrant vegetable dish known as kimchi, often approached with skepticism by the uninitiated.

The American teachers quickly shed their inhibitions – and then their misconceptions. “It’s delicious,” said one, a loaded forkful raised to her mouth. “The cucumber is extraordinary.”