Yoshiko Higurashi, Ph.D.

Professor Emerita of Japanese Director, Director, AASCU/SDSU Japan Studies Institute Advisor, Fulbright Student Program Department of Linguistics and Asian/Middle Eastern Languages San Diego State University 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego, Ca 92182-7727 Phone: (619) 594-1005 Email: yhigurashi@mail.sdsu.edu Home Page: https://higurashi.sdsu.edu

Education

Ph.D.	Linguistics	University of Texas at Austin
M.A.	Linguistics	University of Oregon
B.A.	English	Waseda University (Tokyo)

Biography

Dr. Yoshiko Higurashi is Professor Emerita of Japanese. She joined the faculty of SDSU in the Fall of 1983 as the 14 th professor to take charge of the Japanese Language Program in its first 17 years and retired completely from teaching duties in the Spring of 2023. During the 40 years of her directorship, she created both major and minor degrees in Japanese with strong support from the University Administration, the Japanese government, the U.S. government, and the local San Diego community. She is proud that the Japanese Language Program remains the second largest foreign language program on campus in terms of the number of majors. She established the Japanese Language Scholarship Program during her first year and had been raising funds annually. She also developed 11 internship programs with local businesses/organizations. Furthermore, she directed the Japan International Programs from 1997 to 2023. Among 21 exchange programs currently available to all majors, 10 were created by her.

Her teacher/scholar career as a linguist has blossomed at SDSU. With the publication of Volume 3 of Elementary Functional Japanese in March 2000, Dr. Higurashi completed her project to publish textbooks for college students at all three levels (elementary, intermediate, advanced). The Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies selected her as one of its 12 senior scholars for the Distinguished Speakers Bureau. Her successful three-year term, which began in 2011, was extended a fourth year into 2015. In January 2015, she was awarded the Reischauer International Education Award by the Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana.

Dr. Higurashi has been directing the Directing the National Faculty Development Institute "Incorporating Japanese Studies into the Undergraduate Curriculum" (also known as "Japan Studies Institute" or "JSI") since the 2006 Institute. Sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and co-sponsored by SDSU , this multidisciplinary program is designed to engage faculty with little or no prior training, nor professional experience in Japan and Japan studies, who can impact undergraduate education, either through teaching or academic support service that affect undergraduate studies. It provides faculty with expertise and support to assist them in developing courses and initiatives that will enable students to gain a better understanding of Japan. For the summers from 2014 to 2017, Dr. Higurashi brought JSI's past participants to Japan to better equip scholars to incorporate information about Japan into their courses.

Effective June 1, 2023, she became the Advisor of the Fulbright Student Program. She is thrilled that she can continue to work with students and faculty and stay committed to international education.

Research & Publications

Current Research Areas

Professor Higurashi's research is in linguistics, speech pathology, second language pedagogy, and intercultural communication.

Work in Progress

Higurashi, Yoshiko. Current Functional Japanese: Intercultural Communication (Tentative title, approximately, 500 pages)

Selected Publications

Higurashi, Yoshiko. (1983) The Accent of Extended Word Structures in Tokyo Standard Japanese, Tokyo, Tokyo: Educa, pp.x, 140

Higurashi, Yoshiko. (1987) Current Japanese: Intercultural Communication, Tokyo: Bonjinsha, pp.xxv, 210. (currently in its 6th printing)

Higurashi, Yoshiko. (1990) Advanced Japanese: Social and Economic Issues in Japan and the U.S., Tokyo: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Japan, pp.xxv, 237. (currently in its 8th printing)

Higurashi, Yoshiko. (1996) Kaigai de Oshieru Nihongo (Teaching Japanese Abroad), Tokyo: ALC Press, pp.171.

Higurashi, Yoshiko. (1998) Elementary Functional Japanese: Intercultural Communication, Volume 1, Tokyo: ALC Press, pp.xxi, 423.

Higurashi, Yoshiko. (1999) Elementary Functional Japanese: Intercultural Communication, Volume 2, Tokyo: ALC Press, pp. 432.

Higurashi, Yoshiko. (2000) Elementary Functional Japanese: Intercultural Communication, Volume 3, Tokyo: ALC Press, pp. 410.

Teaching

	Courses Japanese 111/112 First Year Japanese Japanese 211/212 Second Year Japanese Japanese 311/312 Third Year Japanese Japanese 411/412 Fourth Year Japanese Japanese 495: Japanese Internship Japanese 499 Special Study: Fifth Year Japanese Japanese 499 Special Study: Teaching Japanese as a Second Language Linguistics 798: Special Study
Photo appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education