College Students from Japan to Study U.S. Language and Culture at UMaine
Contact: Erin-Kate Sousa at (207) 581-3842
erin-kate.sousa@umit.maine.edu
ORONO — For the tenth consecutive year, a contingent from Japan’s Hirosaki University will visit the University of Maine for an intensive three-week course on English language and U.S. culture. The 12 students begin the course on Monday Feb. 22. It continues through Friday March 12.
UMaine’s Intensive English Institute will host the students and conduct the programming. The schedule includes a tour of UMaine’s newly transformed Hudson Museum, to view the Maine Indian Gallery, on Friday Feb 26. On Thursday March 4, they will participate in a scavenger hunt curriculum tour at UMaine’s Page Farm and Home Museum, which highlights life in rural Maine from 1865 to 1940. Side trips into the greater community to provide further opportunities to sample aspects of life in America.
Linkages between UMaine and Hirosaki University are strong. After participating in this program in past years, several of the Japanese students have returned to UMaine to enroll in classes. UMaine students have also attended Hirosaki University.
The visiting students live with host families during their three weeks in Maine.
The University of Maine, founded in 1865, is the state’s premier public university, located in the town of Orono. It is among the most comprehensive higher education institutions in the Northeast and attracts students from across the U.S. and more than 60 countries. It currently enrolls 12,000 total undergraduate and graduate students who can directly participate in groundbreaking research working with world-class scholars. Students are offered 88 bachelor’s degree programs, 64 master’s degree programs, 25 doctoral programs and one of the oldest and most prestigious honors programs in the U.S. The university promotes environmental stewardship on its campus, with substantial efforts aimed at conserving energy, recycling and adhering to green building standards in new construction. For more information about the University of Maine visit http://www.umaine.edu