THE APU TIMES

Forty students with a professor from Ritsumeikan University and thirty nine students led by APS Professor, IGUCHI Yufu actively participated in the so called Educational Exchange Program at APU during the quiet summer vacation. Several exchange programs in between the two universities including those on club level had been organized in the past, however, this exchange program was quite different in that, its objective was to engage students of both the universities in lively academic discussions on an array of topics.

The program started at 9 am in the morning. Despite the fact that Ritsumeikan team had arrived the same morning by ship, the spirit and enthusiasm was up from the beginning. As the teams according to the topics had already been decided prior to the program the event started off pretty well. The topics for discussion were: a. Peace Studies b. Gender Studies c. Summer Vacation. Students from Ritsumeikan University made presentations in Japanese first followed by uninterrupted discussions on respective issues. Summaries of the discussions were later presented in front of all the students.

Everybody was upbeat when Professors IGUCHI Yufu and OHARA went up on stage to deliver lectures on Gender Studies and International Education Cooperation respectively. To give a taste of APU’s multicultural environment to RU students, various language classes namely Malay/Indonesian, French, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese were also set up before dinner.

Towards the end of the program a short analysis about the program in general was made. Several opinions for bettering the program such as the program not being academic although it was named an Educational Exchange Program surfaced. Some students were quite critical about the topic Summer Vacation. However, those opinions only help to make the program even better next year.

In conclusion, everybody enjoyed the program throughout. In addition, this program provided a rare opportunity to both, APU and RU students to befriend and share ideas in close affinity. And the ultimate credit goes to Mr. YU Tatsuno, In Charge of Extra-Curricular Activities in Student Activities Office without whose incessant effort and preparation, foundation for this annual program would not have been laid.