“I felt that the welcome was extremely warm and gracious everywhere,” Dr. Merritt recalls her two-week experience as a participant in the 2019 International Education Administrators (IEA) Program.

In her position as Dean, she is responsible for managing the University of Richmond’s global connections through study abroad, international student services, and faculty development. She also teaches Russian Politics, a field she has been involved in for nearly 30 years. Her focus on Russian politics includes Japan, as a very significant neighbor. Dr. Merritt has been drawn to Japanese literature and the aesthetics of Japanese art, since graduate school.

Although the University of Richmond already established two partner universities in Japan, Dr. Merritt wanted to better understand the changes happening in Japanese higher education. “I found out about the IEA Program from colleagues who had been on it to other countries. They knew I was looking for a productive way to come to Japan, so they recommended it to me.”

Through this program, she and nine other international educators visited various educational institutions in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima. At one of the universities, she states, “they had put together an impressive committee which included several scholars. It was a very well-constructed group and throughout my time on the Fulbright Program, I was in touch with the members about various projects that we wanted to do together.” She continued, “every university wants to host their international students as productively and warmly as possible, so my colleagues and I discussed how to work with non-native students who face the big challenge of learning the language and living in a different culture. Another topic that was discussed, at almost every university, was the mental health of young people. I think this generation feels a great deal of stress.” Dr. Merritt firmly believes that communication among the administrators is crucial. Discussing and understanding the challenges of the students, faculty members, and administrators, created the opportunity to share possible solutions.

Dr. Merritt highlighted that one of the most beneficial features of the program was being connected with the Fulbright network “to meet impressive scholars who are working on various important issues.” She advises the future Fulbrighters to deepen exchanges by asking and listening: “Asking people questions about everyday life often helps them to relax and feel more comfortable because they can see you actually want to learn about Japan and about their lives in Japan. Interestingly, I would often tell my students and others to be quiet and observe people around them when they travel.”

Even after the completion of the program, Dr. Merritt’s enthusiasm and passion did not fade away. She planned to return to Japan with a faculty group of scholars who work on Japan in May 2020. She wanted to connect this group with the scholars that she met during the program; however, it had to be on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At least the University of Richmond was able to host two Japanese guests last November [2019], the first of what I hope will be many visits between our campuses by faculty and administrators,” she smiles, “We will travel to Japan in a future year, and I very much look forward to resuming these connections.”