Noriko Ito Krenn, Ph.D, Academic Director
Dr. Krenn is the founder of this summer program and a graduate of Doshisha University. She teaches Japanese language at the University of New Orleans and Tulane University. In her free time, she enjoys visiting mountains and lakes. Her favorite foods are seafood gumbo and メロンパン (not together).
2025 Courses: JAPN 2001
David Rands, Ph.D, Professor of History
Dr. David Rands is a Professor of History and Coordinator of Asian Studies Program at the Austin Peay State University. He has studied at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan for his Masters in International Relations. Dr. Rands is very excited to be joining us in Japan again this summer to share amazing experiences and learning with his students in Kyoto.
2025 Courses: HIST 3992 & HUMS 2090
Dan Rule, Professor of Fine Arts (Digital Arts and Animation)
Dan is a Professor of Art at the University of New Orleans where he runs the Digital Art, Video and Animation area. Notable recent screenings of Dan's animations include the New Orleans Film Festival, Anifilm festival in Liberec, Czech Republic, the Flux screening series at the Hammer Museum of Los Angeles, Athens International Film and Video Festival, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. He taught in the UNO-Kyoto program in 2012, and lived in Nagano, Japan for a year and a half after graduate school, working at a produce sorting facility.
2025 Courses: FA 1500, FA 4270, FA 1001 & FA 3301
Jennifer Torres, Assistant Director of International Education at UNO
Jennifer was a student of the UNO-Japan program back in the summer of 2010. She has always wished for work involving Japan, and to share her knowledge and love of Japan. Now that wish is a reality, as she comes back to the UNO-Japan program years later. She is also involved in the Japan Society of New Orleans as their Vice President, and helps run the organization's event programming such as the Kwaidan Book Club and Krewe of Japan Podcast. Recently, Jennifer has become a Goodwill Ambassador for the New Orleans sister city of Matsue, in Shimane Prefecture of Japan. Jennifer is looking forward to sharing the same experiences she had on the program with other students.