An Introduction to HWS and Technos

Tuesday - May 28, 2013

Hello!

My name is Chris Hatch and I am a professor of theatre at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) in Geneva, New York.  I've also recently been selected to be the HWS faculty representative for an amazing two-week cultural exchange to Japan.  Along the way I'll be blogging about my experiences and hopefully posting a lot of pictures.  My hope is that this blog will not only showcase some of the wonderful people and places of Japan but that it will also serve as an aid for others who participate in this exchange in the future.

So what is this exchange I keep referring to?  There is a college in Tokyo called Technos College.  Every year, through the generous support of Dr. Kenji Tanaka and the Tanaka Ikueikai Educational Trust, faculty and students from various colleges around the world all come together at Technos College for a two week cultural exchange with the students and faculty of Technos.  Dr. Tanaka has long been a supporter of HWS and the Asian Studies program at HWS.  Starting in 1992, our college was fortunate enough to be chosen as one of the colleges to participate in this program.

More information on Dr. Tanaka, his relationship with HWS, and the Technos program can be found here.  I highly recommend that any HWS student or faculty member (perhaps even students and faculty from other participating schools) read this report before applying for the program.

http://www.hws.edu/academics/global/pdf/technos_anniv.pdf

So, on June 1st I'll be headed to Japan with two great HWS students, both of whom just finished up their first year at HWS.  Dayana Mendoza and Alex Sanford were chosen by a committee from a pool of applications to join me on the trip.  I really enjoyed their interviews and think that I am going to have an exciting time traveling with and getting to know Dayana and Alex.

In the meantime, I have to attend a conference right before the trip on something completely non-related to Japan!  So my mind is spinning a bit but I am looking forward to soon being on a plane to Japan headed towards this great adventure of a trip.  I also will try and make sure that this is the only post that doesn't have great pictures!