Shawn M. Higgins - Bridges

Art by Ian Lynam

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Temple University Press

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122

www.tupress.temple.edu

Copyright 2021 by Shawn M. Higgins

All material in this work is licensed under a Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License unless otherwise noted. A copy of this license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Excerpts from Intercultural Learning: Critical preparation for international student travel by Peter Jones, Debra Miles, and Narayan Gopalkrishnan are used under this Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License with permission.

ISBN 9781439919859 (paperback); 9781439919866 (ebook)

To my teachersthe good, the bad, and the ones who brought donuts on final evaluation day.

To all those underachieving kids who repeated classes in summer school and are doing awesome things in their lives now.

To the university administrators who put quality of instruction over profit margins, who seek out ways to make precarious students and staff safe, who lead by example, and whose actions speak louder than their listserv emails.

To all the students without a mentor. If you dont have one, I would like to extend an offer: contact me. Ask me some questions, and Ill see if I can offer advice, wisdom, or support. Feel free to email me:

First, I want to thank the Bridge Program students at Temple University, Japan Campuspast, present, and future. Your dreams are so big, and you are working so hard to achieve them. This book is for you. I hope its helpful.

Mary Rose Muccie, Annie Johnson, and Alicia Pucci of Temple University Libraries and Temple University Press were so wonderful to work with. Thank you for finding value in this project and for helping get this information to students around the world. I also want to thank my two anonymous readers who provided such useful suggestions and criticism. This manuscript is much stronger because of you.

Thank you to Bruce Stronach, Dean of Temple University, Japan Campus, as well as the Deans cabinet, including Tom Dreves, Masamune Furukawa, Chie Kato, George Miller, Paul Raudkepp, and Miyuki Shoju, for making Temple University, Japan Campus a great place to teach, research, and grow.

Emiko Mizunuma, the Director of the Academic English Program and of the Undergraduate Bridge Program, has been a champion of mine ever since 2011 when I finished my masters program and came to teach in Japan. She is a hard-working visionary, and Temple University, Japan Campus is lucky to have her. Im lucky to work with her.

Thank you to all of my colleagues in the Bridge Program: Karin Admiraal, Sarah Allen, Trevor Ballance, Kevin Buckley, Graham Christian, Hank Curtley, Dan Clapper, Jonathan Derr, Mark Diab, Adriana Estevez, Eric Firestone, Felipe Franchini, Shota Fujii, Paul Furfaro, Nick Giarratani, Teppei Hayashi, Kung-Cheen Howng, Sandy Ito, Jamil Karim, Luther Killebrew, Jiekai Liao, Thomas Meyer, Shayela Mian, Yuki Nakamura, Jill Okamoto, John Rajeski, Jonathan Richardson, Susana Sanchez, Kathy Schmitz, Tiffany Toeda, Adam Valerio, Matthew Williams, and Holly Woolbright. Rab Paterson and I worked closely together during short-session programs, and I am honored to call him a colleague and a friend. Jeff Hulihan of the Academic English Program has been a mentor here at TUJ since 2011, and I want to thank him for his wisdom and support. Mark Azzopardi gave me a great foundation from which to keep building as the first academic coordinator for the Bridge Program.

I would not be able to do my job of touching hearts and opening minds on my campus without the guidance and support of the following: Sunghee Ahn, Ada Angel, Jeremy Baba, Tom Boardman, Nicole Despres, Anais DiCroce, Glenn Davies, Hisako Deakin, Paul Gaspari, Tom Gurney, Yasuko Harada, Maki Hirono, Scott Tatsuro Inagaki, Masaki Kakizaki, Hana Kadosawa, Jeff Kingston, Ayako Kitaoka, Kanako Kunimatsu, Frank Lau, Ian Lynam, Zane Mackin, Andrew Merzenich, Motoko Mita-Hasegawa, Ajisa Mitsui, Mai Mitsui, Mariko Nagai, Kazuko Nemoto, Atsuko Nogawa, Tomo Norman, Ryoko Otani, Geo Otsu, Lee Roser, Tina Saunders, Norihisa Shimada, Takeki Shimamoto, Dariusz Skowronski, Mika Sumida, William Swinton, Shojiro Takemoto, Hanako Utahara, Danielle Vokal, May Watabe, Shinya Watanabe, and Jonathan Wu.

I also want to acknowledge and thank my former colleagues at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology: Liza Apache, Gaby Benalil, Kip Carrico, Mary Dezember, Taylor Dotson, Doug Dunston, Susan Dunston, Benjamin Duval, Rosrio Duro, Julie Ford, Paul Fuierer, David Grow, Janet Kieffer, Elizabeth Kramer-Simpson, Rafael Lara-Martinez, Yulia Mikhailova, Peter Phaiah, Lois Phillips, Jesse Priest, Alexander Prusin (RIP), Roland Rowe, and Steve Simpson.

I presented parts of the For Instructors section of this book at The American Studies Association of Koreas annual meeting at Korea University in 2019. I want to thank Russell Berman, Yoon-Young Choi, Barbara Demick, Jeannie Kim, Yangsoon Kim, Fred Lee, Tina Lee, Jungman Park, Jae Roe, Chenelle Seck, and Ka-eul Yoo for their conversation at this meeting.

I especially want to thank the people who contributed to sections throughout this book: Floyd Cheung, Shota Fujii, Teppei Hayashi, Patrick Lawrence, George Miller, Lata Murti, Mark Padoongpatt, Kristina Reardon, Eleanor Reeds, Otis Richardson, Sarajean Rossitto, Nitasha Sharma, Casey terHorst, and Caroline Kieu Linh Valverde. Also, a special shoutout to Ian Lynam for the awesome cover design work. Thank you all for your generosity!

Finally, I want to thank those closest to me. My best friend, Vince, made getting through my high school, community college, and undergraduate years fun, weird, and hilarious, and Ive appreciated his support. My aunt, Jo Anne, has been a caring, loving, and thoughtful force in my life, and she has taken an interest in my intellectual and professional pursuits ever since I was a child. My father, Michael Patrick, has supported me in every decision Ive made, even the tough ones like moving away from California to New York and then again out to Japan. More than anyone, I want to thank my wife, Mio, for all her love, sacrifice, and patience. I decided to get a doctorate degree because we thought high qualifications would help maintain our transnational relationship through transitions and visas over time. I couldnt have done any of this without her. To you, the readerfind someone to support you through your college years. Its a hard bridge to cross alone.

This book is for students who are considering entering undergraduate or graduate school programs at a United States college or university. Some of the information in here might be useful for students entering specialty programs such as technical schools, law schools, executive programs, or medical schools. However, it does not directly discuss these programs.