The College of Charleston offers one of the most comprehensive Japanese programs in the state of South Carolina, and from Saturday, March 9 to Sunday, March 10, 2013, educators of Japanese from around the Southeast will gather at the College for the Southeastern Association of Teachers of Japanese Conference. The conference will be held in rooms 216 and 218 of the Beatty Center (5 Liberty Street). View conference schedule.

College of Charleston Japanese Studies Program Director Yoshiki Chikuma says, “The conference is a wonderful occasion to develop contact with colleagues in the field. We have been getting together annually for the past 27 years. It gives instructors of Japanese an opportunity to update their knowledge in the areas of Japanese linguistics, language education, film, literature, and civilization and improve teaching techniques.” All sessions will be taught in Japanese.

Paul Kei Matsuda, Professor of English and Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University, will deliver the keynote lecture Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Auditorium. He has published widely on second language writing in various journals and edited collections in applied linguistics, rhetoric and composition and TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), and has received a number of prestigious awards for his publications.

Japan—an island nation of approximately 128 million people—holds a strong role in global commerce and economics. It’s also recognized as a prominent player in the field of science, particularly technology, machinery and biomedical research. Along with language courses and literature taught in translation, the College also offers courses in history, art history, political science, religious studies.

For more information about the Japanese Studies Program at the College of Charleston or the SEATJ Conference, contact Yoshiki Chikuma at 843.953.7821 or chickuma@cofc.edu.