Short-Term Faculty Exchanges
THE AMHERST-DOSHISHA FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAM IN JAPAN
Through the Amherst-Doshisha Faculty Exchange Program, the college sponsors one Amherst faculty member each year to visit Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, in late May and early June. During a three-week visit, the faculty member delivers several lectures. As part of the exchange, Amherst invites a guest lecturer from Doshisha University to visit the college in late February and early March. The college provides a stipend of $2,500 and reimbursement for travel expenses. (Travel expenses include airfare in economy class and economy parking for the duration of the exchange, or Valley Transporter or other car service to the airport.) The Amherst faculty member, accompanied by a spouse or partner if desired, can stay free of charge in the comfortable Amherst faculty apartment on the Doshisha campus in Kyoto. The Amherst representative at Doshisha, Professor Yoshiaki Azuma, and the current Amherst-Doshisha Fellow (a recent graduate of Amherst) will help in introducing the visitor to Doshisha and to Kyoto, Japan’s political capital from the eighth to the nineteenth centuries and the traditional of Japanese culture.
THE AMHERST-ASHOKA FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAM IN INDIA
Amherst College and Ashoka University, a liberal arts university in Delhi, India, began a short-term faculty exchange program in 2019. Under this program, one Amherst faculty member travels to Delhi in the spring semester each year, and an Ashoka faculty member visits Amherst in the fall semester. Faculty participating in the exchange spend approximately two weeks at the host institution, offering several lectures and connecting with colleagues. Each professor has a home department at the host institution and also has opportunities to connect widely with other colleagues on campus. The college provides an honorarium of $2,500 and reimbursement for travel expenses. (Travel expenses include airfare in economy class and economy parking for the duration of the exchange, or Valley Transporter or other car service to the airport.) Ashoka University provides accommodation in a guest house and meals on the Ashoka campus. As our academic calendars are similar, faculty will likely travel around Amherst’s spring break period, which is usually a week before the Amherst spring break period.
HOW TO APPLY FOR SHORT-TERM FACULTY EXCHANGES AND TIMING OF DECISIONS
To apply for the Amherst-Doshisha or the Amherst-Ashoka Faculty Exchange, faculty are asked to send Janna Behrens the following by December 1: a proposal on college letterhead (not to exceed five hundred words) that is based on your noteworthy research and that answers these questions: Why are you interested in the host location? No prior experience is necessary: curiosity is a valid reason to apply and can be an opportunity to foster new connections. How might participation in this short-term exchange promote your growth as a scholar-teacher at a liberal arts college? And in turn, how might you imagine your proposals appealing to the host university? Please also include the titles and descriptions of three public lectures that you would present at the exchange partner, along with your updated CV. If you are applying for more than one program, please rank them in order of preference.
All Amherst faculty are eligible to submit proposals for short-term exchange, but preference is given to tenured faculty. Members of the faculty Committee on Global Education will review the applications and make recommendations to the provost. Proposed lecture titles and descriptions may be shared with the host university. Those who are selected for the short-term exchange programs will be informed by the end of the calendar year.
Semester or Yearlong Faculty Exchanges
THE AMHERST/YALE-NUS FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAM IN SINGAPORE
Amherst and Yale-NUS College, a liberal arts college in Singapore, began a faculty exchange program in spring 2022 when the college hosted a Yale-NUS faculty member. Applications are now being accepted from Amherst faculty members to participate in the exchange for a single semester in the 2024–2025 academic year. Yale-NUS College was formed by Yale University and the National University of Singapore and graduated its first class in 2017. Though Yale will no longer be associated with this college starting in 2025, Amherst's exchange agreement is active until then. The student body of one thousand is approximately 60 percent Singaporean and 40 percent international students or permanent residents. The faculty is also diverse, having been recruited from around the world. Students are taught a common curriculum for their first two years and may choose from fourteen majors. This exchange is for a single semester in the fall of 2024 or spring of 2025.
THE AMHERST-UIC YONSEI FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAM IN KOREA
Amherst and Underwood International College, a liberal arts college at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, will begin a yearlong faculty exchange program in the 2024–2025 academic year. (Applications will be accepted for a single semester on exchange, with preference given to full-year applicants.) Underwood International College (UIC) is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in Asia, having begun offering courses exclusively in English since 2006. The student body of 2,500 come from sixty-six different countries. Students are taught a common curriculum and may choose from sixteen majors.
THE AMHERST-DOSHISHA FACULTY SEMESTER EXCHANGE PROGRAM AT DOSHISHA
Amherst and Doshisha University have recently expanded our opportunities for exchange. Amherst will send a faculty member to teach at Doshisha in the spring semester and Amherst will host a Doshisha faculty member in the fall semester. The spring semester at Doshisha is from April through July. Faculty will teach in the Institute for Liberal Arts at Doshisha University, where all courses are taught in English.
HOW TO APPLY FOR LONG-TERM FACULTY EXCHANGES AND TIMING OF DECISIONS
Faculty members who are interested in teaching at Underwood International College at Yonsei University for the fall, spring, or full year or teach at Doshisha University in the spring semester should send to Janna Behrens the following by December 1: a proposal on college letterhead (not to exceed five hundred words) that is based on your noteworthy research and that answers these questions: Why are you interested in the host location? No prior experience is necessary: curiosity is a valid reason to apply and can be an opportunity to foster new connections. How might participation in this exchange promote your growth as a scholar-teacher at a liberal arts college? And in turn, how might you imagine your proposals appealing to the host university? Please also include the titles and course descriptions of four courses you could teach at the exchange partner, along with your updated CV. If you are applying for more than one program, please rank them in order of preference.
Only tenured Amherst faculty are eligible to submit proposals. Members of the faculty Committee on Global Education will review the applications and make recommendations to the provost and dean of the faculty. CVs and proposed courses may be shared with the host university.
Additional details for long-term exchange:
As part of the long-term exchanges, faculty members teach two courses per semester and, in some cases, may hire a student research assistant for the duration of the exchange. (All courses are taught in English.) Faculty may also be asked to advise a few thesis students. Faculty maintain their regular Amherst salaries while participating in the exchange, and the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty will contribute up to $10,000 toward expenses related to the exchange, e.g., travel costs to and from Kyoto, Singapore or Seoul for the faculty member and immediate family members, tax advice and preparation, and visa fees. (Faculty unable to enroll their children in public schools due to a language barrier may be eligible to receive a subsidy from the college to offset costs associated with private school. See Janna Behrens for details.)