New grant expands Japanese course offerings at WFU
Wake Forest University students interested in studying Japanese language and culture will have more course offerings soon as a result of a $86,400 grant from the Japan Foundation Salary Assistance Program.
The grant is being used to hire a second professor to double the number of Japanese courses available in the university’s East Asian languages and literature program. Kyoko Takashi Wilkerson, previously an assistant professor at Middlebury College, will begin teaching next fall. In addition, she will help train teachers and develop curriculum for Japanese language courses in local secondary schools.
“The grant will allow us to offer a four-year program in Japanese language and more courses in Japanese literature and culture,” said David Phillips, visiting assistant professor in East Asian languages and literatures. Previously, only two years of Japanese language and a small number of literature courses were offered.
Phillips said the growth in Japanese courses will complement Wake Forest’s exchange program with Tokai University in Japan. Each year, Wake Forest students study at Tokai, while a group of Japanese students take part in a special program at Wake Forest.
