This program has been several years in the making. In 2022 I was asked to help develop a study abroad trip to Japan as part of a UISFUL grant. This grant was designed to encourage students in STEM fields to study abroad. Historically study abroad has predominately been tied to areas within humanities departments, so the grant specifically looked at pairing together content areas with locations well suited to the area of study. Web Development and Digital Media was chosen to pair with the Japanese language department since Japan, and Tokyo in particular, are well known for their influences in technology and media.
Professor Kotoko Grass and I developed the original trip to Tokyo, Japan which we ran in the summer of 2024. Students had opportunities to learn about user experience and design in Tokyo by visiting two colleges (Oberlin our sister college and HAL technical college), visiting two globally famous companies (TeamLab and Mercari), and seeing a variety of museums, temples and shrines, and areas famous for their technology. Students also experienced cultural immersion and language acquisition through various activities like tea ceremony as well as a homestay visit with local families in Tokyo. Since this first grant funded trip, I have been working with Professor Andrea Thimesch on campus to develop the program to run again in 2026. In the future I am hoping to run this program every two to three years so that students have opportunities to not only learn about technology and design in another country, but to experience how culture informs how we communicate and engage with the world.
Working with the Global Engagement and Japanese language departments has been a great opportunity to expand my own research. Since joining the project in 2022, I have begun doing my own supplemental research into user experience in other countries. Preparing for the initial trip led me to pick back up my studies of Japanese and take classes at the college. I was able to finish the last semester offered at the college prior to leading our first trip. I am currently looking for opportunities to take what I have gained from leading this program back into my regular curriculum to not just share with the students who go to Japan, but to enhance our core curriculum.
Whitney Bandel 