Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award for Scholarship/Research Yoko H. Sakurauchi, Ed.D. 2014 YOKO H. SAKURAUCHI is an Adjunct Senior Instructor in the Department of International ôi Global Studies, specializing in Asian Studies. She teaches “Japan and U.S. Cultures in Contact,” “Nuclear and Renewable Energy in Japan and U.S.,” and “Topics in Asian Thought” focused on Southeast Asia. She also teaches a Capstone course in the Department of University Studies, titled “Japanese and Chinese Language Programs for Youth,” where students volunteer at a local language immersion school as teaching assistants. Instructor Sakurauchi’s teaching career at PSU began in 2000 when she started teaching Japanese language as a teaching assistant while studying intercultural communication in the Master’s program. She came to love teaching and decided to pursue studies in education in the doctorate program in the College of Education, focusing on intercultural education at the postsecondary level. In the summer of 2006, Instructor Sakurauchi took ten PSU undergraduate students to Hokkaido University in Japan where she designed and taught the Japan & U.S. Cultures course that she has been teaching since then. This course is unique in that it is a culturally hybrid class with approximately 75% domestic and 25% international students from Japan. The students have many opportunities to interact with each other both inside and outside the classroom, and exchange multiple cultural experiences and perspectives. Part of the richness of her teaching experience is learning from the diversity of her students’ cultural backgrounds, and working hard to create a safe learning environment for everyone. She does this by encouraging students to discover and explore their own cultural identity, and to view intercultural contexts through multiple lenses. The end goal is to help students acquire knowledge, skills, and awareness in order to live and work effectively in the globalized world. “Professor Sakurauchi created classes that fundamentally changed the way I see the world. Her support and guidance taught me life lessons about how to make friends in spite of traditional barriers related to race, culture, and ability.” says a former student. The Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award for Scholarship/Research recognizes and honors the outstanding scholarship and research contributions of adjunct faculty. 21
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