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Student Visiting Program at Mills College

2011年3月7日更新

From February 28 to March 7, 2011, six Japanese students, two students from Ochanomizu University, and one each from Nara Women’s University, Konan Women’s University, Kobe College, and Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts, had visited Mills College in Oakland, California for a week.

Amid the vast campus of Mills College, the Japanese participants were inspired by the enthusiasm of the local students toward their classes and studies, and they exchanged views with both students and faculty about policies on security and peace-building between Japan and the United States, which form the basis of the program’s theme of Developing an Intercollegiate Network for Peace-Building in a Global Society. Mills College was even kind enough to offer the participants the opportunity to sit in on lectures on peace-building and ethnic groups.

Although struggling somewhat to keep up with the all-English discussions and lectures, the participants walked out deep in thought about problems of a global society like poverty and conflict, and those facing multi-cultural, multi-ethnic communities. A large part of their motivation clearly came from the students at Mills College and their energy to take action. A lecture by Dr. Margo Okazawa-Rey on the issue of American military bases and peace in Okinawa also prompted the participants to discover anew the necessity of re-examining their awareness of what they can do on a personal level.

The training program brought together participants from different universities, majors, and backgrounds to think about Peace-Building in a Global Society. This chance to work with students of a women’s university outside Japan on dealing with issues in an international society was step forward in expanding our peace-building network both in Japan and in the world.