Two CCSU students visited Atsugi, the Japanese sister city of CCSU’s hometown of New Britain, during a conference of municipal representatives from the USA, China, Japan, and South Korea in February.

Lisa Daigle, a junior majoring in criminal justice, and Christian Lyon, a junior and a German major who has also studied Japanese at CCSU, were selected from among 55 students who applied for the weeklong study trip to Japan offered under the auspices of the University’s George R. Muirhead Center for International Education (CIE).

Dr. Robert N. Aebersold, Interim President, said: “We are delighted to offer this exciting overseas learning experience to CCSU students, in keeping with the CIE’s role as Connecticut’s Center for Excellence in International Education. We are proud and honored to be active in the New Britain-Atsugi Sister City Program.”

 Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, professor of economics and director of CCSU’s East Asian Studies Center, with CCSU students Lisa Daigle and Christian Lyon in Atsugi, Japan







“Through academic exchanges, our students broaden their personal knowledge of another culture, while experiencing the ‘global village’ we so often hear about, as they compare and contrast their stay in a foreign culture with life in their own,” noted CIE Interim Director Lisa Marie Bigelow.

Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, professor of economics and director of CCSU’s East Asian Studies Center, and (then) Mayor William J. McNamara founded the Atsugi-New Britain sister city relationship in 1983. McNamara, now a German instructor at CCSU, is president of the New Britain Sister City Committee, which maintains links with communities in Japan, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Poland. During the Atsugi visit, Kim represented CCSU, which is the beneficiary of a scholarship dedicated to promoting Japanese-American cultural relations and is named in Kim’s honor. McNamara also participated in the Atsugi conference.

The New Britain Sister City Program is a joint venture between the City of New Britain and the University. Over the years, CCSU students have participated in cultural and educational events in some of New Britain’s sister cities, and the University has hosted students and other representatives from the sister cities.

 

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