Photo by Nora Lewis
URI students in JPN302 (Pre-Advanced Japanese) recently brought their enthusiasm for the language and culture of Japan to Davisville Middle School, for the second year of a partnership started by Mya MacNeil ’25, a senior Japanese major.
The Davisville students are starting a “Silk Road” journey in their seventh grade social studies class. This visit builds on connections between the two schools and illustrates the University’s commitment to offering students a range of experiential learning opportunities throughout the curriculum.
The Japanese major, which resides in the Global Language and Area Studies (GLAS) program, is the fastest growing language at URI, and demonstrates the University’s role as a leader in Japanese language instruction in Rhode Island.
These URI student language ambassadors have diverse career interests—from international relations to engineering—and each have chosen to study Japanese for their own reasons.
“Learning a new language and experiencing a different culture makes you more open-minded about differences,” says Mya MacNeil. After she graduates, she hopes to bring that mindset to a career in diplomacy.