Columbia’s Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies is suspending its on-site program for the spring semester following the March 11 earthquake, a University official confirmed Sunday.
KCJS Director Henry Smith said in an email that courses will continue to be offered remotely online.
A number of universities send students to study in Kyoto through KCJS, which is a Columbia-administered program. Brandeis University’s Director of Study Abroad J. Scott Van Der Meid was quoted in the Brandeis Hoot on March 18 saying that the program was being suspended for concerns about the future safety of students.
“After much debate and despite the fact that our students are quite safe at the moment, KCJS felt they could not guarantee safety moving forward and reluctantly decided to suspend the program,” Van Der Meid said.
On March 18, Columbia said that its 35 affiliates still in country, including 33 at KCJS, were safe and accounted for, but that they asked them to leave the country.
“Given the ongoing uncertainty about how events will unfold as Japan responds to the situation in the affected areas, or whether the potential health risk may increase elsewhere, we believe it is prudent for students to make arrangements to leave Japan at this time,” the statement said.
A Columbia spokesperson could not comment about the future of KCJS on Sunday night, but the University has said it is currently providing travel assistance to those who request it.
The 8.9-magnitude quake flattened buildings, triggered tsunamis, and damaged nuclear power plants in northern Japan.
KCJS is located at the Imadegawa campus of Doshisha University, about 300 miles from Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, one of the nuclear power plants that suffered explosions in its reactors as a result of damage from the quake.
Following the earthquake, the University released a statement expressing sympathy for the victims of the tsunami and earthquake.
“Our thoughts and concerns are with the people of Japan. At this time, we have accounted for 126 students and faculty who are in Japan, including one in Sendai,” the statement said.
The crisis at Fukushima is currently categorized as a level six nuclear accident. According to Reuters, level seven has only been used for the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island was classified as a level five.
news@columbiaspectator.com
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy