Overview
Yumi Foster graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo, Japan, with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. Later, she came to Wichita State University to pursue her MA in Education. With her MA degree, she started teaching Japanese at Southeast high school in 1996 and Butler Community College in 1997.
In 1999, Foster received grants from the Japan Foundation to initiate the Japanese program at Wichita State University. She has developed the Japanese language program and has taught Elementary Japanese I, Elementary Japanese II, Intermediate Japanese I, Intermediate Japanese II, Conversational Japanese, and Special Studies in Japanese.
She also contributes to the Asian Studies Certificate Program at WSU, presenting “Japanese philosophy and film” and “Literature by Japanese women.” In addition, she presented with a group of WSU professors at the Annual Conference of the Japan Studies Association in New Orleans (2000). That same year, she participated in ACTFL OPI training in Monterey, CA.
Currently, Foster is an active member of Association of Asian Studies, American Association of Teachers of Japanese, and Kansas World Language Association. Her services include World Language Advisory Council, KS Japanese Standard Committee, KS World Language Advocacy Committee, Japanese Language Contests in Kansas, Japan Festival in Kansas City and Wichita. She has given workshop presentations at annual conferences of the Kansas World Language Association.
Foster was born in Shizuoka, Japan. She has been to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, and England. More than 30 students of hers have studied in Japan through WSU Study abroad program or taught English in Japan through the JET program.