DEPARTMENT OF ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

Yumi Shiojima brings extensive experience in classroom teaching, instructional coordination, and curriculum development in both the U.S. and Japan. Her teaching background includes positions at Rhodes College, the Japanese School at Middlebury College, the Summer Intensive Program at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities in Hikone City, and the University of Missouri’s Language, Culture, and Performing Arts (Ningyō Jōruri) Program in Iida City.  

At Northwestern, Shiojima has developed and taught courses across all levels of Japanese language curriculum, including a writing-focused course at the thematically based fourth-year level. This course seeks not only to refine students’ language proficiency, but also to serve as a bridge to the students’ academic disciplines, allowing them to explore paper topics from their fields of study. She is currently creating a fifth-year course titled “Food for Thought: Japanese Society, Culture, and Identity,” which examines contemporary Japanese society through the lens of food culture, incorporating a range of interdisciplinary perspectives. In recognition of her excellence in teaching, Shiojima received the 2011 Arts and Sciences Alumni Teaching Award from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. In 2025, she was one of five faculty members honored with the University Teaching Awards and was appointed Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Professor of Instruction. 

Her scholarly interests include second language writing instruction, study abroad, and teacher development. Shiojima is the co-author of the IES Abroad MAP (Model Assessment Practice) for Language & Intercultural Communication (2011, first edition). From 2008 to 2011, she served as Co-Chair of the Council on Language Instruction at Northwestern, the overarching organization of language faculty that advises on language pedagogy and supports the professional development of language instructors.

Shiojima serves as a Faculty Fellow at the International Studies Residential College. In 2020, she received the T. William Heyck Award for her outstanding contributions as a fellow to the residential college program.