UWF in the Community

UWF College of Education and Professional Studies dean serves as visiting summer scholar in Japan

Dr. William Crawley, dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at the University of West Florida, spent his summer abroad as a visiting scholar to the Japan Center for Michigan Universities.

Crawley was appointed by Michigan State University to teach a course entitled “Comparative Social Control,” exposing students to numerous high-impact practices and experiential learning outside the classroom. During one field experience, he supervised his students interacting with elementary-aged children at a local Japanese school.

Visiting scholars all hold a doctorate or equivalent degree, and preference is given to those with a research interest and background in Japanese studies. In addition to his teaching duties, Crawley continued his work researching Japan’s lay-jury system, saiban-in, which was introduced into the Japan national court system in 2009.

“As a comparative criminal justice scholar, this was a wonderful opportunity to further my research on its evolution into a democratic system,” Crawley said.

As a representative of UWF, Crawley engaged with leaders from various Japanese universities and professional organizations in an effort to foster ties to Northwest Florida.

During his travels, the dean met with the provost for the Tamagawa University in Tokyo, as well as the Associate Director for the Japanese U.S. Teacher Education Consortium – both visits advancing collaborative partnership possibilities with the College of Education and Professional Studies.

UWF recently entered into a new institutional agreement with MSU, affording UWF students more opportunities to participate in Japan-based programming.

“Core to our mission is teaching, and UWF supported two groups of students and faculty to study in Japan this summer,” he said. “The groups focused on the delivery of social support service through a comparative examination of culture and field experiences. These trips not only enhance students’ education and professional development, but they will also be memorable experiences during their time at UWF.”

For more information about the UWF College of Education and Professional Studies, visit uwf.edu/ceps.