International Symposium"Education without Frontiers for a Sustainable Future"

On March 23, 2024, the international symposium “Education without Frontiers for a Sustainable Future” was held at the University of Hyogo, as part of the University’s efforts towards an international education based on open communication, educational exchanges, and collaborative research projects between Japanese universities and universities from outside Japan.

Online speakers for the event were Dr. Erin Brightwell (University of Michigan), who discussed a classical approach to Japanese studies and what interests American students in the study of Japan, Dr. Malgorzata Citko-DuPlantis (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), who discussed the relationship between academia and Japanese enterprises active in the United States, and Dr. Otilia Milutin (Middlebury College), who focused on the relationship between Japanese studies, international students, and the local community.

The onsite speakers were coordinators of some of the longest study-abroad programs in Japan, who discussed various aspects related to the education and lifestyle of international students in Japan. Dr. Christopher Mayo (Kogakkan University) presented the long-standing “Ise and Japan Study Program,” which is a collaboration between Ise City and Kogakkan University for international academics, meant to deepen their understanding of Japanese history and traditional culture, as well as ties with the local community.

Dr. Kimberly Jones (Arizona University) and Dr. M. Cody Poulton (Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies) are the leaders of two intensive programs which receive Ivy League students, as well as students from Canada, Australia, and Europe, and they discussed the strong aspects of the programs they are coordinating, as well as the areas that need improvement. Dr. Irina Holca (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) is one of the founders of the “Japan in the World, the World in Japan: A Methodological Approach” project (held in Japan, Romania, the UK, and Thailand), and her talk focused on the project goals: the strengthening the cooperation between faculty involved in teaching Japanese studies and working with international students around the world. Mr. John Rucynski (Okayama University) is a successful educator and author whose work is centered on improving intercultural communication through language basics and cultural studies, and he discussed the methodologies he implements to this purpose.

The event has attracted the attention of professionals from various places, both within and outside Japan. On site were present professors from Otemae University and Osaka University, and online the audience was composed of members from Doshisha University, Meisei University, Osaka Jogakuin University, German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo, the University of Hawaii, University of Berkley, California, University of New England (Australia), Bowdoin College, the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies.