Muhlenberg-SOIS Cultural Exchange, Thursday 25th May 2017

Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Some of their courses include short-term international study components.

Kammie Takahashi (Assistant Professor of Religion Studies) and Kimberly Heiman (Lecturer in Sustainability and Conservation Biology) brought 14 of their undergraduate students to Japan, spending one day with 13 SOIS students as part of their Japan sojourn, traveling to the UNESCO World Pilgrimage site of the Kumano Kodo and visiting at various shrines and temples.  They saw the trip to SOIS as exploring education in Japan and getting an idea of how urban setting and institutions deal with issues such as sustainability, green space, and sacred spaces.  The intention was for the students from Muhlenberg College and SOIS to interact with each other both in formal and informal settings. Prior to their arrival, Muhlenberg students had been in contact with SOIS students using the internet.

The day began with a brief reception and refreshments where the decline in SOIS electricity consumption was enthusiastically noticed.

Then Professor Heiman presented a lesson on climate change and human interaction with the environment to the OIS grade 11 class together with a group of SIS volunteers. For the OIS students this was a useful revision of recently studied matters about the human activities that affect climate change.




Professor Takahashi then gave a brief talk about the involvement of religion and ethics on how humans relate to their environment.









The OIS students then returned to their normal timetable whilst The SIS students accompanied the visitors on a tour of the local area. Prior to, and during, the tour, Mr. Stone gave a brief orientation about the Japanese culture and local area from his international perspective. Onohara-nishi does have its own bamboo forest, along the edge of Senrikita park, as well as the Kasuga shrine, the Satorusho temple and the surrounding heritage area. This walk gave many opportunities for conversations and interaction, and the SIS students did an excellent job of explaining many aspects of Japanese customs and traditions.

OIS and SIS students then accompanied the visitors to lunch and an open exchange of views between the students afterwards. Emi Tsudaka also gave a thorough explanation of the Super Global High School Initiative and what it entails for the SIS students.