The Associated Kyoto Program (AKP)
The Associated Kyoto Program is a study-abroad program at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, sponsored by a consortium of American colleges and universities. The Program maintains high academic standards and dedication to a sound liberal arts education for which its sponsoring institutions are known. The students accepted study the Japanese language intensively and take courses in English on Japan, mainly in the humanities and social sciences. The sponsoring institutions are: Amherst College, Bates College, Bucknell University, Carleton College, Colby College, Connecticut College, Mount Holyoke College, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Smith College, Wesleyan University, Williams College, and Whitman College.
Kyoto, the only major Japanese city to escape catastrophic bombing raids in World War II, was the capital of Japan from 794 to 1868 and has a cultural heritage incomparably greater than that of any other city in Japan. Today it is a modern city of more than one million inhabitants, but impressive reminders of its central historical role survive in great number, making Kyoto an ideal location for the serious study of traditional and modern Japanese society and civilization.
The AKP Center occupies part of a handsome, nineteenth-century brick building on the main (Imadegawa) campus of Doshisha University in north-central Kyoto.
The language program carries two course credits per semester. Each elective class carries one course credit. The usual course load each semester consists of the Language program (2 courses) and two electives, for a total of eight courses for the academic year. All AKP member institutions automatically accept AKP credits towards graduation.
Consortium students who receive financial aid from their home institutions continue to do so as participants in the program.
All AKP students live with home-stay families in the Kyoto area throughout the duration of the program. Students living with a family are exposed to a broader range of linguistic and social situations than those living in dorms or apartments, thus AKP students' personal lives and academic endeavors complement each other.