After the remainder of their semester abroad in Kyoto was cancelled, the nine Boston University students who returned to the United States are deciding how they should finish off their Spring semesters, including studying at Dartmouth College or taking courses online.
The students were participating in the Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies at Keio University, a program run in collaboration with Columbia University that offers an eight-credit course in Japanese language as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.
Due to the disasters in Japan, KCJS decided to cancel the remainder of the program and all students were urged to leave Japan immediately, according to a March 19 letter posted on the BU International Programs website.
To prevent students from falling behind on degree requirements, Dartmouth has agreed to accept those returning from Keio University as visiting students for the spring quarter.
“Dartmouth offers a range of Japanese language courses in related areas that should enable you to take a variety of courses that can be applied to your program of studies at Boston University,” DeWinter wrote in a March 17 letter, addressing students returning from Japan.
While the nine students returning from Kyoto are unable to finish their spring semesters at BU, Dartmouth’s quarter system gives students the opportunity to receive full credit for Japanese courses.
“It was too late for students to study in the spring semester at Boston University,” DeWinter said in an email interview. “We wanted to offer students another option to continue with their studies without losing the entire semester. Dartmouth is on the quarter system, some of our students will take advantage of this option while others plan to go to summer school instead.”
Chris Pappas, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences who had been studying in Japan, said he was unaware of the options at Dartmouth, but is completing his KCJS courses online.
“We have readings and online discussions,” Pappas said. “The courses are still on schedule.”
Pappas said that while he was disappointed with the cancellation of the program, he felt it was the best decision.
“We didn’t feel the earthquake. We all felt very safe,” Pappas said. “At first we were all opposed to the decision because we were enjoying ourselves so much. I think the biggest concern was our safety though, so they had good intentions. It’s better safe than sorry.”
Alex Dow, a CAS junior who studied in Kyoto last fall, said he disagreed with the decision to cancel the entire program.
“I don’t necessarily agree with canceling the rest of the semester,” Dow said. “I heard a lot of the local faculty didn’t agree with it either. I understand their reasoning, but I don’t agree with it.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
