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Conference: Looking for 32 Good Students Like most seniors, Krin Haglund is busy with the stuff of college life, whether it's flinging a Frisbee or finishing up academic requirements for her East Asian languages and literatures major and chemistry minor. She's also departmental liaison for her East Asian department, captain of Ultimate Frisbee and a language tutor at the Jacobson Center. Not to mention the fact that she's helping to mastermind a month-long student-run conference in Japan. Of course, she has some help from the 15 other students--seven more Americans and eight from Japan--working on the project. But as American chair of the executive committee of the 51st annual Japan-America Student Conference (JASC), which convenes in July, Krin is charged with many responsibilities, from recruiting 32 college students for the American delegation to organizing the conference program and overseeing the collaboration of board members, who are on campuses all over the country. At the same time, an eight-member executive committee in Japan is doing much of the same--enlisting 32 Japanese students and handling the logistics of hosting a month-long event that moves among three different university campuses in Japan. The chair of the Japanese executive commitee is also a woman, Krin points out with pride; in fact, this is only the second conference in JASC's 64-year history for which both chairs have been women. Krin says that the public-speaking and problem-solving skills she fine-tuned as a first-year and a sophomore in Smith's Leadership Program-special leadership training for selected applicants held during Smith's January interterm-came in handy last summer at the first planning session, held in Chicago. "The styles for planning and decision-making are very different between the American and Japanese executive committees. To reach agreement, Americans prefer to let the majority rule; the Japanese prefer unanimous consensus. We all learned a lot about each other right then and there." Each JASC program is entirely organized and managed by and for university students. The conferences alternate between the U.S. and Japan. "Evaluating the Japan-U.S. Relationship to Shape Our Future" is the theme of JASC's 1999 program, which will take its 64 participants to Kyoto, Sapporo and Tokyo. At each site delegates will get involved in roundtable discussions, research-paper presentations, plenary sessions, local homestays and field trips. The conference is conducted entirely in English. American delegates must be full-time college students. They will be selected from all fields of study and range from college first-years to Ph.D. candidates. "What we'll be looking for as we review applications," notes Krin, "is an enthusiasm for and interest in Japan and U.S. relations, and someone who is willing to take some risks. We also look at extracurricular interests. The wonderful thing about JASC is that it's a cultural exchange, a learning exchange and a chance to gain wonderful new friends and a mutual understanding through these 30 days together." Last summer's 50th conference included students from Duke, Georgetown, Howard, Tokyo and Keio universities; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges. Although Krin is not the first Smith student to participate in JASC, which is the oldest program of its kind, she is the first to chair the official American executive committee. And she hopes not to be the last. An application for and further details on JASC are available through its Web site (www.jasc.org) or through Krin Haglund at (413) 585-4786 or khaglund@mail. smith.edu. All applications must be posted by March 1, 1999. |
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