iSAWT (International Summer: America and the World Today)
Summer 2019

Program Description
Program Dates
Arrival: Monday, August 5, 2019
Airport: Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Departure: Monday, August 19, 2019
Airport: Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)

Program Cost
The cost of the program cover:● Tuition● Housing with Notre Dame host families● Breakfast and most dinner at host families’● Hotel room in Chicago● All program-sponsored activities● Round trip ground transportation from/to Chicago O’Hare International Airport● Ground transportation for academic field trips● Program group meals and receptions

Program participants will be responsible for arranging their air travel to/from Japan.

Locations
University of Notre Dame campus and academic field trip to Chicago.

Program Description
The program will consist of four main sections with a total of 32.5 course contact hours. The firstsection is a course that focuses on American society and culture. This course will be taught by a preeminent scholar on American Studies, Associate Professor Jason Ruiz. The second section is acourse on US-Japan Business taught by Jessica McManus Warnell from Notre Dame’s Mendoza
College of Business. The third section is a series of workshops presented by the Center for the Study2

of Languages and Cultures that will assist in improving students’ academic communication skills in
English. The fourth section is an additional Global Leadership course taught by one of Notre
Dame’s senior leaders/directors/faculty.
Sections

Section Leaders

American Studies Course

Prof. Jason Ruiz

Japan – USA Business Course

Prof. Jessica Warnell

English for Academic Purposes Course

ESL Faculty Amanda Bohne

Global Leadership

Rafael G. Guerra

1. American Studies Course
The course (10 contact hours) aims to introduce Keio undergraduate students to the cultural, social,political, and economic life in the United States through the interdisciplinary field of Americanstudies. It will challenge students to interrogate some of the commonly-held assumptions about lifein the United States by focusing on several deceptively simple questions, such as: Is there a sharedand distinctive American culture? What and who is an American? What are the dominant myths,values, and beliefs that Americans seem to share? How have ideas about race, class, gender,sexuality, ethnicity, class, and religion shaped what it means to call oneself an American? What is the“American Dream” and why do many in the United States hold it so dear? This interactive course
includes lectures, films, discussions, and presentations.
2. Japan – USA Business Course
The course (10 contact hours) will provide an introduction to U.S. business, and allow for
exploration of similarities and differences among U.S. and Japanese business philosophies andpractice. Students will examine key ideas and examples of business decision-making, with a focus on
best practices in ethical business and sustainability. We will engage in discussion to practice ourEnglish skills as we explore American and Japanese culture together. The course will include brief
readings, discussions, film clips and presentations.
3. English for Academic Purposes Course
The English for Academic Purposes (EAP) portion of the program (10-12 hours) is specificallyintended:● To improve students’ linguistic proficiency, fluency, and overall communicative competence3

in English.
● To develop students’ ability to recognize the expectations of US academic culture in order tomaximize possible future success within an American post-secondary institution.
The following is a list of general goals for the EAP Curriculum:● Motivate students to develop academic language skills.
● Help students increase their confidence and communication capability.
● Provide a forum in which students can express opinions, ask questions, and deal withapprehensions about US culture.
● Provide immediately accessible resources for students to use when they enter the classroom.
● Give students the opportunity to practice their language skills and become aware ofindividual linguistic issues of concern.
● Encourage students to become reflective language learners.
● Foster connections between participants and the Notre Dame community.
4. Global Leadership and Intercultural Communications
The course (3-6 contact hours) will provide an introduction to various concepts of leadership as wellas have the opportunity to cultivate and practice leadership skills, such as public speaking. Students
will learn what leadership means in the global context and understand the dynamics of the concepts
in different geographic and regional settings. They will engage in conversations around what makes agood and ethical leader and the challenges to leading in a global contemporary world.

Program Services❖ Housing: All participants will live in the households of faculty and staff members at theUniversity of Notre Dame. Some students will be rooming with other program participants.
❖ Meals: The host families will provide daily breakfast and most dinners for students. Students
will be responsible for daily lunch on campus and any other personal meals either on or off
campus.
❖ Visas: Japanese students staying in the United States for less than 90 days are not required toapply for a B-2 visitor visa. Instead, students are able to travel through the Visa Waiver Program(VWP) and must have a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) approval prior
to travel. If needed, the University of Notre Dame’s International Students and Scholars Affairs
office will issue the invitation letter required to process a B-2 visa. However, students will be
responsible for requesting and paying for the appropriate visa type.
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❖ Airfare and air travel arrangements: Airfare will be the responsibility of the student’s homeinstitution. The University of Notre Dame will provide ground transportation to/from Chicago
O’Hare International Airport (ORD).
❖ Orientation and Services: Students will participate in an orientation session provided by Notre
Dame International the day after their arrival. The session will cover safety, regulations, andpolicies of the University of Notre Dame.
❖ Status at Notre Dame: Students will be registered as visiting non-degree seeking students at theUniversity of Notre Dame.

Program Personnel
Name

Title

Program Role

Jason Ruiz

Associate Professor, Chair,College of Arts and Letters

American Studies
course instructor

Jessica Warnell

Associate Professor,
Mendoza College of BusinessJapan-USA Businesscourse instructor

Katherine Bennett

Instructor for English for Academic Purposes,
Center for the Study of Language and Cultures

English for Academic Purposes
course instructor

Rafael G. Guerra

Assistant Director,
Notre Dame International

Global Leadershipcourse instructor

Amber Li

Academic Program Director,
Global Engagement ProgramsiSAWT program director

For additional information, please contact:
At the University of Notre Dame:
Amber Li
Academic Program Director
Global Engagement Programs
Notre Dame International
Email: zli15@nd.edu
Office: +1-574-631-5527

5Faculty Biographies

Jason Ruiz
Associate Professor, Chair
Director of Undergraduate Studies
1041 Flanner Hall
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone: (574) 631-2168
Fax: (574) 631-4399
Email: jason.ruiz@nd.edu
ProfileJason Ruiz is an Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where
he is an affiliated faculty with the Program in Gender Studies and the Institute for Latino Studies.
He teaches courses in Latino studies, race and representation, border studies, and popular culture.
Ruiz’s research focuses on American perceptions of Mexico and Latin America with emphases onrace, cultural and economic imperialism, tourism, gender, and sexuality. His first book, Americans in
the Treasure House: Travel to Porfirian Mexico and the Cultural Politics of Empire was published by theUniversity of Texas Press in January 2014. Ruiz has also published in the Radical History Review,American Studies, Journal of Transnational American Studies, and elsewhere. In addition, he is the coeditor of Radical History Review #100 (Winter 2007), Queer Twin Cities (University of Minnesota Press,2010), and Radical History Review #123 (forthcoming). Professor Ruiz is currently researching his
second book, Searching for Mañana, which examines American enclaves in Latin America from theturn of the twentieth century to the present.
Bachelor of Arts, University of Minnesota
Ph.D., American Studies, University of Minnesota

6Jessica McManus Warnell
Associate Teaching Professor
Department of Management
254 Mendoza College of BusinessPhone: 574.631.9182
Email: jmcmanus@nd.edu
ProfileJessica McManus Warnell teaches the required undergraduate-level course in business ethics, andelective courses in sustainable business, values-based decision-making, and managing millennials.
Her research explores moral reasoning and business ethics curricula, sustainability education, andmanaging millennials toward effective, ethical leadership. A faculty fellow of the Notre Dame Liu
Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, she served as visiting faculty fellow at Reitaku University 麗澤大学, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan, April – July 2013 with ongoing visits and collaboration with Japanesescholars.
Bachelor of Arts, Saint Mary’s College
Master of Arts, University of Chicago
Notre Dame Executive Education Certificate in Executive Management
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Certification (LEAD Canada)

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Katherine Bennett
Instructor of English for Academic Purposes
Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures
College of Arts and Letters
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Email: kbenne10@nd.edu
ProfileKatherine (Katie) Bennett first discovered her love for languages as a high school student on aweek-long trip to Juarez, Mexico. This experience led her to pursue a BA in Spanish at BethelCollege and to minor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). During her
undergraduate studies, Katie began teaching English as a Foreign Language and English as a Second
Language in both academic and non-academic settings. In 2017, Katie completed an MA in TESOL
through Azusa Pacific University. Katie has worked as a tutor, teacher’s assistant, and adjunctinstructor with the CSLC for the past three years, and she is thrilled to be teaching for both the EAPand Notre Dame International programs.
M.A. in TESOL, Azuza Pacific University8

Rafael G. GuerraAssistant DirectorNotre Dame International
105 Main Building
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone: (574) 631-0644
Email: rgalvaog@nd.edu
ProfileRafael G. Guerra is an Assistant Director at the University of Notre Dame, where he oversees thestrategy and implementation of study abroad programs in Latin America, and parts of Europe. Priorto joining this role, Rafael worked in the corporate finance division of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in
Lima, Peru, and conducted research for three years in the Moral and Adolescent Psychology Lab in
Notre Dame. He is the lead author of a paper on emerging adulthood individuation, and haspresented on the topic of cross-cultural, leadership, and adolescent psychology to a range ofinternational delegations. Having traveled to 32 countries, with vast working and living experience inBrazil, Peru, Venezuela, and the United Kingdom, he is a strong advocate of interculturalcompetency, and global leadership through openness, knowledge, and inquiry.
B.A. in Psychology, University of Notre Dame
M.S. in Business Analytics, University of Notre Dame (Expected Dec. 2019)9