Biography
Belle Arkham earned her Bachelor's degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with a Minor in Japanese at the University of Washington before relocating to the Kansai region of Japan for nearly a decade. While abroad, she worked with the Kobe Board of Education helping to develop a pilot program and speaking skill assessments for ESOL in public elementary schools with a focus on bilingual instruction. She returned to the US in 2020, when she shifted into education administration. She nurtured her curriculum development skills by building a four-level Japanese program at a local private school focused on 1:1 education for students with special needs. She joined the Asian Languages and Literature team in 2023, achieving a longtime goal of working for her alma mater. Belle enjoys a lively performance art life and continues to teach Japanese with the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington when she isn't in the office passionately supporting the department.