Dear Dr. Tanabe and Dr. Longcope,
Hope you find this email well.
I have finished all of my course exams in the fall semester a couple days ago. I am ever grateful that I was able to survive the rigorous academic semester in my first year at Penn. The three courses that I took this semester were all eye-opening and certainly transformed my view toward education in a myriad ways.
During the winter break, I am planning to visit Eugene from December 19th to 25th to see my old friends from the University of Oregon, where I studied as an exchange student for about ten months from 2008 to 2009. I am so excited to go back to Oregon for a first time in 14 years. Hopefully, I can enjoy the laid-back atmosphere in the West Coast while driving through the Oregon coast.
The spring semester will begin in the second week of January. I have registered four credits: Language Assessment and Technologies for Language Learning by Dr. Butler, Sociolinguistics by Dr. Moore, and Second Language Development by Dr. Matsumoto. I will continue to work hard to represent Senshu and Japanese educators in this community.
The president of University of Pennsylvania, Liz Magill, submitted her tender resignation after a series of gaffes during the States House Committee on Education on December 5th. I have witnessed some sporadic both pro-Palestine and pro-Jewish demonstrations after the footages of the Israel-Hamas War were reported on TV. The tensions between the two opposing groups kept simmering on campus, which added another growing pressure on her resignation. Now the University set up a task force to eliminate any form of discriminatory acts on campus, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. Everyone is not happy about this measure; some students and faculty are now concerned that their freedom of speech will be oppressed by the university government. It seems that the University is deeply troubled drawing a line between the right to freedom expression and the violation of their code of conduct. I will carefully follow the news regarding this matter and see how the University approaches this complicated issue.
CNN 10: Ivy League presidents face backlash after hearing on antisemitism on campus
https://youtu.be/d0I6N8YbcfM?si=Ehj2UORaNHt1NlyF
Wish you a warm holiday season.
Let me conclude with some photos.
Pic 1: Christmas market at City Hall
Pic 2: illuminated university’s Main Street
Warmest regards, Camel