Meiji, Rikkyo, and IUJ Project Selected for the MEXT FY2012 Program for Promoting Inter-University Collaborative Education
Sep. 06, 2012
The program to cultivate young people to contribute to international cooperation in cooperation, among others, with international organizations, a collaboration project between Meiji University, Rikkyo University, and the International University of Japan (IUJ), was selected for the FY2012 Program for Promoting Inter-University Collaborative Education of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). There were 153 applications from public and private universities nationwide for the program this year, of which 49 projects were selected.
This project aims to cultivate human resources who can harness the power of the various rules that are considered standard in the international community and the various international organizations that preside over these rules as instruments to achieve goals as well as to participate in creating new philosophies. Ultimately, the project aims to create a career path for international civil service (UN staff, etc.).
The project defines the necessary intellect to work in international cooperation as Liberal Arts for Global Common. The goal is for students to understand the diversity and causal connections of issues in the dramatically changing post-Cold War world, as well as to grasp in a comprehensive manner how the international community with the United Nations at its core dealt with these issues and to establish the ability to explain this with their own words and carve out their own career paths as international cooperation personnel.
Together with international cooperation organizations, Meiji University and Rikkyo University, whose students comprise many who aim for careers in international cooperation or international civil service, and IUJ, a graduate school which aims to nurture internationally successful professionals with highly specialized knowledge, will collaborate to establish a joint educational program that is conducted entirely in English in order to nurture people who can contribute to international cooperation in the bachelor’s degree programs at Meiji University and Rikkyo University.
The project will also allow students to take graduate school classes at IUJ to motivate and put students on the career path toward becoming human resources in the international cooperation and international civil service fields. The project will issue certificates of completion to those who have completed the joint education program and establish an international cooperation personnel cultivation network that collaborates with partner organizations to guarantee the quality of international cooperation personnel development.
The three universities, which each have divisions, schools, and graduate schools related to the international field, signed an agreement in June of this year on nurturing international cooperation personnel . Additionally, they announced their participation in the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) initiative to take action toward resolving global issues. This project aims to establish an inter-university model project to advance the cultivation of international cooperation personnel, and it is expected to expand overseas through the UNAI initiative.
[Partner Organizations]
Global Compact Network Japan
Human Rights Watch
The Pacific Islands Centre
Japan International Cooperation Center
Amnesty International Japan
United Nations Development Programme
[Persons in Charge of the Project at Each University]
Susumu Nagao, Vice President, Meiji University
In order to share peace and prosperity with people all over the world and co-exist with them, it is necessary not only to have expert knowledge and language abilities, but also human quality backed by a rich education including the understanding of other cultures and a love for humankind. The three universities have their respective philosophies and school spirit, and students with various values gather from all over Japan as well as from around the world. The interaction you will have with the new friends you make through this project will enrich your student life. I hope you will have a strong sense of curiosity and learn a lot.
Noriyoshi Shiraishi, Vice President, Rikkyo University
The ability to execute projects in cooperation with people who have different values, while possessing a strong sense of public commitment and ethics as a member of the international community as well as the regional community and be able to recognize and amend any intrinsic prejudice one may have about other cultures, genders, handicaps, etc., is essential to become a person who contributes to international cooperation.
This project is an innovative endeavor in which Rikkyo University and Meiji University—members of the Tokyo Six universities—and IUJ—a postgraduate university—collaborate to organizationally and systematically cultivate personnel who can contribute to international cooperation equipped with the ability to resolve global issues. I hope to see students actively participate in this endeavor, moving beyond the boundaries of universities.
Takahiro Akita, Vice President, International University of Japan
As Japan’s first postgraduate university, IUJ has accepted elite students from 110 countries worldwide to date, to provide them with world-class postgraduate level education completely in English.
From the viewpoint of international cooperation, this joint project of the three universities provides a groundbreaking opportunity to encourage mutual understanding and cross-cultural exchange by having young Japanese students and young elites from around the world learn together in an environment beyond the borders of undergraduate and graduate schools. I hope that as many students as possible, who are interested in international cooperation and global issues such as the environment, poverty, and disparity, participate in this project to create new value and reach a great turning point in their lives.
This project aims to cultivate human resources who can harness the power of the various rules that are considered standard in the international community and the various international organizations that preside over these rules as instruments to achieve goals as well as to participate in creating new philosophies. Ultimately, the project aims to create a career path for international civil service (UN staff, etc.).
The project defines the necessary intellect to work in international cooperation as Liberal Arts for Global Common. The goal is for students to understand the diversity and causal connections of issues in the dramatically changing post-Cold War world, as well as to grasp in a comprehensive manner how the international community with the United Nations at its core dealt with these issues and to establish the ability to explain this with their own words and carve out their own career paths as international cooperation personnel.
Together with international cooperation organizations, Meiji University and Rikkyo University, whose students comprise many who aim for careers in international cooperation or international civil service, and IUJ, a graduate school which aims to nurture internationally successful professionals with highly specialized knowledge, will collaborate to establish a joint educational program that is conducted entirely in English in order to nurture people who can contribute to international cooperation in the bachelor’s degree programs at Meiji University and Rikkyo University.
The project will also allow students to take graduate school classes at IUJ to motivate and put students on the career path toward becoming human resources in the international cooperation and international civil service fields. The project will issue certificates of completion to those who have completed the joint education program and establish an international cooperation personnel cultivation network that collaborates with partner organizations to guarantee the quality of international cooperation personnel development.
The three universities, which each have divisions, schools, and graduate schools related to the international field, signed an agreement in June of this year on nurturing international cooperation personnel . Additionally, they announced their participation in the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) initiative to take action toward resolving global issues. This project aims to establish an inter-university model project to advance the cultivation of international cooperation personnel, and it is expected to expand overseas through the UNAI initiative.
[Partner Organizations]
Global Compact Network Japan
Human Rights Watch
The Pacific Islands Centre
Japan International Cooperation Center
Amnesty International Japan
United Nations Development Programme
[Persons in Charge of the Project at Each University]
Susumu Nagao, Vice President, Meiji University
In order to share peace and prosperity with people all over the world and co-exist with them, it is necessary not only to have expert knowledge and language abilities, but also human quality backed by a rich education including the understanding of other cultures and a love for humankind. The three universities have their respective philosophies and school spirit, and students with various values gather from all over Japan as well as from around the world. The interaction you will have with the new friends you make through this project will enrich your student life. I hope you will have a strong sense of curiosity and learn a lot.
Noriyoshi Shiraishi, Vice President, Rikkyo University
The ability to execute projects in cooperation with people who have different values, while possessing a strong sense of public commitment and ethics as a member of the international community as well as the regional community and be able to recognize and amend any intrinsic prejudice one may have about other cultures, genders, handicaps, etc., is essential to become a person who contributes to international cooperation.
This project is an innovative endeavor in which Rikkyo University and Meiji University—members of the Tokyo Six universities—and IUJ—a postgraduate university—collaborate to organizationally and systematically cultivate personnel who can contribute to international cooperation equipped with the ability to resolve global issues. I hope to see students actively participate in this endeavor, moving beyond the boundaries of universities.
Takahiro Akita, Vice President, International University of Japan
As Japan’s first postgraduate university, IUJ has accepted elite students from 110 countries worldwide to date, to provide them with world-class postgraduate level education completely in English.
From the viewpoint of international cooperation, this joint project of the three universities provides a groundbreaking opportunity to encourage mutual understanding and cross-cultural exchange by having young Japanese students and young elites from around the world learn together in an environment beyond the borders of undergraduate and graduate schools. I hope that as many students as possible, who are interested in international cooperation and global issues such as the environment, poverty, and disparity, participate in this project to create new value and reach a great turning point in their lives.