Professor, G30 International Programs Admission Coordinator, Nagoya University
The Japan Foundation played a key role in not only my career trajectory but my life trajectory. My two fellowship experiences were life changing, giving me the opportunity to improve my language skills, expand professional networks, and learn more about Japan.
Professor Linley is a two-time Japan Foundation fellowship recipient. In 1997, a four-month language training fellowship allowed him to attend the Japan Foundation Kansai Language Institute near Osaka. Then, between 2006 and 2007, a Ph.D. fellowship allowed him to conduct research at Waseda University.
My research as a Japan Foundation Ph.D. Fellow was on how newspaper coverage in the Japanese media influences public opinion about foreign nations. The fellowship was essential for two reasons. First, it supported my fieldwork, which involved library research for media and public opinion data only available in Japan. Second, it allowed me to have a supportive academic supervisor at Waseda University. He was essential in helping me collect and analyze the data. I could not have done it without him.
Both Japan Foundation fellowships have played a key role in my career. The language fellowship allowed me to improve my Japanese language to a level that I was comfortable doing research and speaking in public about my work. The second fellowship allowed me to complete my Ph.D. work at the Australian National University and to establish networks with Political Scientists in Japan.
Today, I am a faculty member at Nagoya University. I use both written and spoken Japanese in my job every day. This includes speaking in public in Japanese. Without the Japan Foundation fellowships, I doubt that my language proficiency would have been sufficient for my current position. I also think that having had the fellowships were important additions to my CV when I applied for this position.
I have many favorite memories from both of my Japan Foundation fellowships. But strong bonding and friendship between the participants marked the fellowship at the Kansai Language Institute. We were all young graduate students at the time with an interest in Japanese society. As part of the program, we visited Hagi and Hiroshima. Most international students only see the large cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. But the Japan Foundation attempted to show us some less travelled areas (it was 1997 so before the tourist boom of the past few years).
Since his first fellowship, Professor Linley has finished a Master’s Degree at Nagoya University as well as his Ph.D in Political science and International Relations from the Australian National Univeristy. He is now Head of the Department of International Programs at Nagoya University, and he welcomes any Canadian high school students wishing to do a full degree at a Japanese university to reach out to him.
Between 2008 and 2014, I was an Assistant Professor at Temple University Japan in Tokyo. Since 2014, I have been a professor at the International Education and Exchange Center at Nagoya University. I am the Head of the Department of International Programs, which is responsible for the full-degree English-taught programs. I was advisor to the university president for two years and am now the advisor to two university vice-presidents.
The Japan Foundation played a key role in not only my career trajectory but my life trajectory. My two fellowship experiences were life changing, giving me the opportunity to improve my language skills, expand professional networks, and learn more about Japan. I cannot thank the Japan Foundation enough. I remember even using the Japan Foundation Toronto library a lot back in 1997! I am head of the department responsible for admissions to the G30 program at Nagoya University. https://admissions.g30.nagoya-u.ac.jp/ — This is the full degree English taught program. If there are any Canadian high school students interested in doing a full degree at a Japanese university (in which they pay the same tuition fees as domestic students), I would be happy to talk to them!
