Atsuko Kuronuma is the Assistant Professor by Special Appointment for service-learning of the Department of Education and Language Education at International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo, the pioneer of Liberal Arts College in Japan. Before being involved in service-learning at ICU, her subsequent professional experience was quite diverse, including teaching Japanese in Malaysia and working for several Japanese companies at home. Throughout her work at ICU, Atsuko has been developing outbound and inbound international service-learning programs to build reciprocal relationships with partner universities in Asia, including China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and India. She teaches service-learning courses in liberal arts education and starts advancing partnerships with a university in South Africa.

Atsuko earned her MA in Education from The University of Tokyo. She is completing her doctoral dissertation, which focuses on institutionalizing service-learning and community engagement at Liberal Arts Colleges in the US. Inspired and informed by her work experience at ICU, her comparative research will imply how service-learning can be institutionalized as an educational practice that promotes undergraduate civic learning in the Japanese context. Atsuko also serves as the Vice Principal of the Japan Service-Learning Network, a network among scholars and practitioners of Japanese higher education. She actively promotes service-learning in Japan and hopes to contribute her experiences locally and globally.