The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership has initiated a new program intended to foster a network of “New Generation” Japan specialists. This unique effort is intended to build and enhance a network of “New Generation” Japan specialists that can bring diverse expertise and perspectives to the bilateral policy-making process in the mid- and long-term. This will lead to deeper and more vigorous dialogue and research on topics of immediate concern as well as on ways to strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship through cooperation and shared goals in the global arena.
Applications for the initial two-year program will be accepted through October 1, 2009. Selected specialists will be announced in late-November, and from January 2010 - January 2012 will participate in a series of meetings and workshops and a study trip to Japan. They also will prepare policy papers and recommendations and will present their findings at a public Policy Brief Session.
Advisory Committee
The program receives guidance from a four person advisory committee comprised of the following:
Dr. Michael Green, Senior Adviser and Japan Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Dr. Susan Pharr, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor, Director of Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard University
Dr. Leonard Schoppa, Professor, University of Virginia
Dr. Ezra Vogel, Henry Ford II Research Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University
Purpose of the Program
The purpose of the “U.S.-Japan Network for the Future” program is to identify and support the next generation of American public policy intellectuals interested in Japan. The network will include Japan specialists from all regions of the U.S. with diverse expertise and perspectives and the ability to participate constructively in the bilateral policymaking process and to contribute to U.S.-Japan understanding. The program seeks to nurture a new generation of scholars working on the following policy areas: security relations between the U.S. and Japan; economic relations between the U.S. and Japan; issues where the two countries confront common domestic challenges (such as aging societies or income inequality); and issues where the two countries have opportunities to work together to resolve global challenges (such as global warming or food security).
Selected specialists will participate in a series of meetings, workshops and a study trip to Japan beginning in January 2010. They also will prepare brief policy papers and will present their findings at a public Policy Brief Session in Washington, D.C.
Eligibility
Applicants must be American citizens or permanent residents who are currently and actively involved in the Japan-U.S. dialogue and have a working knowledge of the Japanese language. The program is targeted at scholars in the social sciences who focus on Japan in their work, but others who have a strong professional engagement with Japan, and who have at least two years of professional experience in policy-relevant fields, may also apply. Because we are seeking to identify a future generation of leaders, our preference is for candidates in the early to mid-career stages. In the academic context, normally this translates into scholars at the advanced assistant or early associate professor levels.
Requirements/Benefits/Terms:
Applicants must be able to make a two-year commitment to the program and should be prepared to participate in at least four meetings and a study trip, including a two-day meeting in Washington, D.C. in January 2010; a week-long workshop in Washington in June 2010; a two-day retreat in Montana in the autumn of 2010; and a week-long Japan study trip in June 2011. In addition, network members will be expected to share their Japan expertise with the policy community and to: participate in follow-up meetings; engage with other network members; conduct independent research; and produce brief policy papers, opinion pieces and memoranda.
The program will cover the costs of travel, accommodations, and meals associated with project meetings and study trips. Program participants may be eligible to compete for cash awards contingent upon publication of their pieces.
