Professors Hao Lou and Chris Thompson
The Business Global Mentoring Program (GCP) heads to Tokyo in May, thanks to the leadership of College of Arts and Sciences Professor Chris Thompson and Business Professor Hao Lu.
Tokyo is one of two new sites for GCP this year, said Lowe, co-director of the Tokyo program with Thompson. Tamarindo, Costa Rica, is also a new location with return stations in Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Italy.
“I couldn’t think of a more dynamic duo than Dr. Thomson and Dr. Lu to lead this exciting line-up of our experiential opportunities at the Center for International Business Education and Development,” said CIBED Director Andrew Pushell. “The benefits of this multidisciplinary leadership collaboration will have lasting positive benefits for participating students or international partner relationships.”
Like most of Ohio University’s activities in Japan, this one also sees OHIO’s 50-year relationship with Chubu University in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan. But OHIO’s connections — both faculty connections and an extensive local alumni network — now extend beyond Chubu.
Since 1973, OHIO and Chubu have exchanged faculty annually through the Visiting Professors Program, providing a unique opportunity for students and professors to have a truly international learning experience. Faculty members coming to OHIO from Chubu University are named Robert Glidden Visiting Professors. OHIO faculty members traveling to Chubu University are Kohei Miura Visiting Professors – named in honor of Chubu University’s founder.
Thompson, a cultural anthropologist who teaches Japanese in the Department of Linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a visiting professor in 2018. Lowe was on the selection committee several years ago as an exchange professor. So when the College of Business was looking to add a Japanese destination to its popular mentoring program, which prepares students for the challenges of the global business environment, it was only natural that Lowe Thompson found it.
“Hao really wanted me because the China destination was getting cut off. We talked to Chubu about doing this in Nagoya, but they were very enthusiastic, so we contacted Musashi University in Tokyo with Chubu’s blessing and sent students there. Dr. Brian Maschardt immediately decided to take us on at Musashi, using our extensive OHIO alumni network in Japan. It’s because we can provide placement,” Thompson said.
“Extending the International Mentoring Program to Tokyo is a great collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business. We are excited that OHIO students will benefit from Dr. Thompson’s expertise in Japanese language and culture research combined with Dr. Lu’s expertise in international business. In Japan “With the help of our existing OHIO alumni network, our students will enter into a life-changing experience where they can contribute to learning and bilingual workplaces,” said Sarah Poggion, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Placement on alumni jobs
“At one time, I was involved in organizing a Japanese international engagement project called the OU-Iwate Prefectural University (IPU) Tsunami Volunteer Project, involving our OHIO students at their workplace in Tokyo,” Thompson said. In the year In 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean west of Japan sent a wall of water more than 100 feet high into some coastal communities. More than 20,000 people died. In addition to hands-on volunteer assistance, the Thompson Project continues to look at the cultural impact of the disaster and how communities are recovering, as a group of students and alumni recently gathered for the 10th.Th Activity year on the weekend of September 24 in Iwate.
“As a cultural anthropologist and linguistics faculty member, I’m always interested in the sites where our OHIO students are working in Japan using their OHIO degrees and the Japanese language skills we’ve been able to teach them. Those who are Japanese have also benefited from our exchange program. Therefore, we place Tokyo Global Mentoring Program students in positions led by OHIO graduates. Thompson said, noting that knowledge of the Japanese language is not a prerequisite for the International Mentoring Program.
Among the sites where students can experience is a French restaurant run by two OHIO students, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Japan and Japanese residents from various African countries, led by an OHIO graduate, and creates interaction. A Japanese event planning company where the recent OHIO graduate is a sales representative.
“All these sites were chosen on purpose because they are bilingual where everyone works in English. Otherwise, it would be impossible to provide a meaningful experience for our students in a short period of time,” said Thompson. Another site is a sports management company affiliated with a business college in Tokyo.
“The alumni connections I’ve developed are the basis for sharing this experience with the College of Business and the OHIO campus. It’s no secret that most of the students who attend Japantown at OHIO are business savvy. And Dr. Lu understands the value of these connections and the way alumni connections work outside of the U.S. in many parts of the world. “It gave me the opportunity to work with him in leading programs to develop something truly unique with his great experiences,” Thompson said.
A growing presence in Tokyo
Thompson’s relationship with Musashi University isn’t as visible as Chubu’s partnership, but it’s just as active.
“Many OHIO teachers and administrators are not even aware of the extensive ties that OHIO—specifically the Ohio Intensive English Program (OPIE) and the language arts department—have had with Musashi over the years. I have worked with them extensively on various projects, student exchanges, and administrative visits over the years. Tokyo GCP College is just the latest project I’m working on related to Japan,” said Thompson.
Also, Dr. Charlie Morgan, associate professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, will be in Japan this year on sabbatical. He directs the OU-MU exchange program.
Currently, eight OHIO students are on exchange to Japan this semester, four to Chubu and four to Musashi.
For more information about the Center for International Business Education and Development at the OHIO College of Business or the International Mentoring Program, contact Pueschel at pueschel@ohio.edu.
