Associated Kyoto Program, Japan
The Associated Kyoto Program (AKP) invites applications for a position as full-time Instructor in Japanese Language, beginning Fall 2025. The initial appointment will be for two years, renewable for an additional three years (and thereafter at three-year intervals) depending on the candidate’s successful teaching and the Program’s curricular needs.
AKP is a study abroad program housed at Doshisha University in Kyoto and operated by a consortium of 13 U.S. liberal arts institutions, including Amherst, Bates, Carleton, Colby, Connecticut, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, Pomona, Smith, Whitman, and Williams Colleges, and Bucknell and Wesleyan Universities. AKP follows a U.S. academic calendar with fall and spring semesters. Instructors are required to be on campus for the eight months that AKP is in session, generally from the beginning of September until the end of April, and should also be available for occasional meetings prior to and following the AKP academic year. For more information about AKP, please visit our website at www.associatedkyotoprogram.org.
The main responsibility of the position is to teach one intensive Japanese language course each semester, which will meet for ten 50-minute sessions per week; and one 50-minute skill development course per week. Other responsibilities include weekly office hours, curricular planning and development, regular meetings with the language faculty and resident director, supervision of extracurricular activities such as field trips, service as coordinator of the language program on a rotating basis, and additional service as necessary to support the pedagogical mission of the language program.
Candidates are expected to hold a Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Japanese language pedagogy or a related field. Candidates must have native or near-native proficiency in Japanese, as well as competency in English sufficient to carry out administrative duties. Candidates should be prepared to teach all levels of Japanese language. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience teaching Japanese as a foreign/second language to students from U.S. colleges, whether in the U.S. or at a study abroad program in Japan. Candidates must be eligible to work in Japan.
Application materials should be submitted by email in PDF form. Candidates should submit (1) a letter of interest, (2) a CV, (3) a one-page statement of teaching philosophy, (4) syllabi and samples of teaching materials for two courses the candidate has taught, and (5) a link to a video recording of a class or teaching demonstration (please include the link in the body of an email message). If available, candidates are encouraged to submit recent teaching evaluations. Candidates should arrange for three confidential letters of recommendation to be submitted directly to the email address given below.
Review of applications will begin on 15 October 2024, and will continue until the position is filled. Depending on the candidate’s location, interviews of finalists will be conducted either in Kyoto or at an AKP member institution in the U.S. Application materials and inquiries should be directed to Professor Erik R. Lofgren, Chair of the Associated Kyoto Program (lofgren@associatedkyotoprogram.org).
