The Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP) will run a new winter quarter abroad experience beginning January 2013, according to a statement released Monday.

Only one quarter of Japanese language study will be required to participate in BOSP Kyoto during winter quarter. However, the language requirement for students who are interested in obtaining an internships in Japan – three quarters of Japanese for technical majors and six quarters for humanities and social science students – will remain the same.

Additional language and cultural training will be available for winter quarter students who want to apply for summer internships in Japan.

The program will be a shift from BOSP Kyoto’s spring focus on technology majors, offering humanities and social science courses on popular culture, Japan’s rapidly growing minority populations, the practice of religion in contemporary Japanese society and the challenges posed by memories of war and colonialism for Japan and its neighbors in Asia.

The academic portion of the program is based at Doshisha University campus, while students studying abroad with Stanford in Kyoto stay with Japanese host families.

Although Doshisha students are on holiday during February and March, clubs run year-round, so winter quarter students will still have an opportunity to interact with their Japanese peers.

— Alice Phillips