Since FY2019, Okayama University has been designated as the only host institution in Japan for the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program, under which outstanding American undergraduate and graduate students are selected by the U.S. Department of State to learn the languages and cultures of other countries in an intensive manner.

This year, the program will be provided face-to-face for the first time in four years. Okayama University will receive 25 undergraduate and graduate students, selected from across America, for eight weeks from June 16 to August 8.

At the opening ceremony held on June 16, after a video message from the Executive Director for Academic Affairs SUGA Seiji, Okayama University’s involved parties and each CLS student introduced themselves. Then, Ms. Natalie Montecino (program participant in FY2020), who completed the program and is currently in the Academic and General Okayama University Regional Research Association, and Mr. David Anderson (program participant in FY2019), who went to the Harvard University Graduate School, delivered supportive messages to the FY2023 students. Afterward, Mr. Matthew Thomas Steinhauer gave an address on behalf of the FY2023 CLS students, saying that: “I have only learned out of textbooks so far, but I am finally faced with the real Japan. I am excited. Although we may now encounter challenges beyond our imagination, let’s develop our potential through such challenges, and grow together.” At the end, the ceremony was closed with a greeting from the Vice President for International Affairs SUZUKI Takayoshi, Institute Director of the CLS Program.

Along with Japanese language classes, this CLS Program gives the Okayama University students opportunities to interact with CLS students as their language partners. In addition, the CLS students live with Japanese roommates at Okayama University’s International Student Shared House. Furthermore, as extracurricular activities, the CLS students will learn about the development of a regional community at the Kyoyama community center, as well as the industrial waste issues in Teshima, the creation of a historic town through a public and private partnership in Yakage-cho, a sustainable society through interviews with local people, etc., and will make a presentation under the theme of the SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals) which Okayama University promotes.

●CLS Program
The CLS Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, aims to promote the mastery of 15 languages such as Russian or Chinese, which are considered to be critical to U.S. national security and the country’s economic development. This program is implemented by the American Councils for International Education, a U.S. non-profit organization specializing in international education and exchanges. Institutes in Japan started to receive the CLS students in 2010.