Project Abstract
This three-year professional development project focuses on a series of issues involving Japan and its interaction with the Americas. JapaNet is an innovative model for linking rapidly growing but previously diverse educational and community resources in South Florida. A dynamic network of local institutions and associations, JapaNet promotes awareness of relations between Japan and the U.S. as well as the role of Japanese immigration to a variety of communities in North and South America, which influence global economics and international trade policies. In particular, the project tracks the evolution of developments affected by migration trends in a globalized economy.
Based at the Institute for Asian Studies (IAS) at Florida International University (FIU), the state university of the Florida system located in Miami, and developed in collaboration with a variety of organizations including the Consulate General of Japan in Miami and the prestigious Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, JapaNet will become a crucial instrument for the enhancement of Japanese studies. The South Florida region has been experiencing a growth in demand for understanding Japan in a multicultural context. As the largest minority-serving major research university in the nation, FIU is located in the "Gateway City" of Miami, which plays a vital role in commercial, professional, and cultural exchanges between East and West (Asia and the Americas) as well as North and South (U.S. and Latin America). Over the last decade, the Asian-American population has more than doubled in this region and Japan's role as a trade partner with the state of Florida has dramatically increased. Along with these developments, course offerings and enrollments dealing with Japanese society and language have risen significantly. Furthermore, JapaNet builds on the success of the IAS project funded by the Department of Education Title VI programs from 1999-2002, Asian Globalization and Latin America, which focuses on links involving Japanese political economy and intellectual heritage.
JapaNet establishes a network of professional development programs on Japanese business and society for selected teachers so that the curriculum at secondary schools will be infused with a broad-based and professionally oriented approach to understanding Japan and its relations with the Americas. The
development program involves workshops led by speakers from FIU as well as visitors from the U.S., Latin America or Japan. It will include on-site visits to institutions in the area, and roundtable discussions of important topics open to the public. There will also be dissemination of curriculum development via a website, listserv, and electronic newsletters.
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