Emeritus Faculty Participate in Cross-Cultural Exchange

Students heard Larry Brammer lecture on positive psychology.

A group of Sanno University students from Japan visited Seattle this August.  The purpose of the visit was to give a group of graduate students in counseling psychology a taste of the pacific northwest and some professional development.  Their teacher, Akiko Morita, is a former student of professor emeritus Larry Brammer from his days teaching at the University of Washington.

Morita, currently a professor at Sanno University, brings her students annually to Seattle for cultural learning and professional development. This year, Larry Brammer and his wife, Marian, hosted the group for a day of sightseeing, lectures and more.

In addition to sightseeing, the college students engage in a day of learning, including lectures and a tour of University of Washington.

As part of the professional development section of the trip, Larry Brammer and Gerald Forster delivered lectures on their work. Forster gave a lecture on building and utilizing one’s strengths. Brammer delivered a lecture on psychologically surviving the current economic crisis, focusing on happiness promotion and coping skills.

“My lecture went over the research and applications to counseling for the literature on positive psychology,” Brammer explained. “There are thousands of studies on happiness and coping skills, meaning things like cognitive change and stress management.”

“Forster had them in small groups,” he continued, “where they recalled their own strengths and predicted what others thought were their strengths. They discussed how they would use those and build on them in the future.”

The Brammers also hosted a lunch in their home for about 30, including the visiting students as well as friends of the students. After lunch, they toured the campus and ate dinner at Wild Ginger, where the Japanese college students presented a short program.
 
“They sang songs and read poetry,” Brammer explained. “And their interpreter, Jean Morishima, who is also a University of Washington graduate, and her husband, James Morishima, who was the acting dean of the College of Education at one point, joined the group…James Morishima welcomed the students and gave a short speech on the history of the University.”

Brammer also opened up his schedule to sign his book Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others, a caregivers survival manual, which was published in English and Japanese last year. He has five other books that were translated into Japanese.