TMU launched a new “Global Communication Camp” in 2018 as a support program for international exchange activities.

This program supports students participating in debates and discussions with students of overseas universities, with the object of fostering global leaders who are capable of solving issues and problems in collaboration with people from diverse cultures.  We supported 45 students on the program as of the end of September 2018. The program takes place all over the world – China, India, Myanmar, USA, the Netherlands, France and Russia, etc.

We expect the total number of participating students to increase over 50 by the end of AY 2019.

Our students visited one of our partner universities, the South China University of Technology, to deepen mutual understanding through participation in an oral presentation event and an excursion together with Chinese students whose major is Japanese.  At the oral presentation, students introduced differences between Japanese and Chinese cultures, each country’s food culture and popular sightseeing spots, and findings through studies of Chinese language and literature, covering so many topics.

Another group of our students took part in a summer school hosted by one of our partner universities, Tomsk State University.  Joining together with over 40 students from South Africa, Singapore, Italy, the Netherlands, etc., our students conducted vegetation survey and glacier observation at the place used as a research base, also used as a base camp on the climbing route in the Altai Mountains, and survey of birds, mammals, beaver dams at another research base located along the Obi River. They were overwhelmed by the magnificent landscape that can never be seen in Japan.

Staying at an agricultural area (Anji Prefecture, Zhejiang Province) in China, our students conducted research and design a city plan for the town in collaboration with students from the Shanhai Institute of Visual Arts, and presented it to the local government.  They developed communication skills as well as skills with which they could carry out the project from research to presentation in such a short period of time and in such a foreign land as they had never been to.