Ms. Melinda Marquardt from Northern Arizona University (NAU), a U.S. university with which we have an international exchange agreement, visited Yamaguchi University (YU) from November 29th (Tue.) to 30th (Wed.), 2023. Ms. Marquardt is currently working as a senior program coordinator for the Interdisciplinary Global Program (IGP) at Northern Arizona University.

Ms. Marquardt paid a courtesy visit to Professor Yuri Ishii of the Vice President for International Cooperation. We exchanged discussion about NAU and IGP, the support system for international students at YU, and future directions and possibilities for exchange. Ms. Marquardt shared an episode about that an IGP students who was accepted to YU from NAU last year had told NAU students her wonderful experience and fruitful student life in YU. In addition to this courtesy visit, she visited the Faculty of Global Science Studies and the Faculty of Engineering, where they exchanged opinions on the possibility of accepting NAU IGP students in their respective faculties and the possibility of expanding student exchange between the two sides.

Other activities included meeting with Associate Professor Aiko Miyanaga of the International Student Center, who specializes in Japanese language education, and enthusiastically asking questions about Japanese language education for international students at YU, observing an actual Japanese language class, and touring a “YU International Share House” where many exchange students live.

On the 30th, a presentation entitled “Higher Education in the United States of America” was given to YU faculty and staff. About 50 faculty and staff members attended the presentation. It was a valuable opportunity for them to listen to the presentation on the state of higher education in the U.S.A directly from a practical person in the field, which they would not generally have the chance to hear.

We expect that Ms. Marquardt’s visit will serve as a good opportunity for further development of exchange with NAU in the future, and we hope that student exchange between the two universities will become even more active.

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