We completed the HU-RUPP COIL Project for AY2020-2021. Students from two universities (Hiroshima University, Japan and Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia) worked together through a roughly 2-month fully online project designed to promote Collaborative Online International Learning or COIL. The project communication took place mainly on Facebook. We also used some apps (Flipgrid and Padlet) that are helpful for icebreaking and brainstorming. 

The core theme of the project was “peace.” By completing a series of online activities, the students of both universities were able to get to know each other, compare and analyze the war histories of Japan (during World War II) and Cambodia (Khmer Rouge Regime), and do collaborative research projects on related topics.

Their excellent research outcomes (research reports and recorded presentations) are available below:

• “Post-war Recovery” Group

[Members]: Pheak Sreypich (RUPP), Phall Maneth (RUPP), Va Phavan (RUPP), Wajjwalku Pornphan (HU), Suenaga Riko (HU)

[Report]: Post Incidents Recovery_A Comparative Report on Cambodia and Japan’s Cases

[Presentation]: Post Incidents Recovery_A Comparative Report on Cambodia and Japan’s Cases (19:45)

• “History Education” Group

[Members]: Misuzu Kanda (HU), Nanase Shode (HU), Hinano Kondo(HU), Sopheak Pha (RUPP), Sinarath Seng (RUPP)

[Report]: The Influence of WWII and Khmer Rouge on Education

[Presentation]: The Influence of WWII and Khmer Rouge on Education (21:30)

In July 2019, Hiroshima University held a two-part seminar on social entrepreneurship for PEACE exchange students with the aim of developing PEACE students’ “Social Planning Capacity.” 

We invited two lecturers (Prof. George R. Harada and Mr. Richard A. Forrest) from Hiroshima University of Economics, our domestic PEACE project partner university, to deliver special lectures on Japanese businesses and management, and its relationship with the environment and the Sustainable Development Goals.

On Saturday, July 20, PEACE Student Exchange Program held an SDGs Ideas Mining Workshop on the Higashi-Hiroshima Campus of Hiroshima University, with food-related SDGs being the topic of discussion.

Engaging in a series of creativity-enhancing activities designed by trained ideas mining moderators, PEACE exchange students spent one full day discussing with Japanese and international students the topic of the workshop to explore possible, creative and innovative solutions.

PEACE Student Exchange Program offered a one-week study tour in Cambodia from February 25 to March 3, 2019. During the program, the participants visited two cities in Cambodia, that is, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

The study tour was designed for PEACE students to develop an international mindset as well as a deeper understanding of international cooperation taking place in Cambodia. The students visited various places of cultural importance such as Angkor temples (wherein we also visited the Sophia Asia Center for Research and Human Development) or S-21, local NPOs (Little Angels, SALASUSU, Anacott Cambodia), JICA Cambodia Office, and some of Hiroshima University’s partner universities in Cambodia.

On January 25, PEACE exchange international students from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand visited the Aga Elementary School in Kure City, Hiroshima, for cultural exchange purposes.
 　　
The PEACE exchange students introduced their own country and culture to the Japanese pupils through their country’s games, music, and dancing performances. 

The International students also enjoyed Japanese calligraphy, the pupils’ presentations on Japanese culture, and the school meal.

In November and December 2018, Hiroshima University organized a two-part seminar on social entrepreneurship for developing PEACE exchange students’ “Social Planning Capacity.” 

We invited two lecturers from Hiroshima University of Economics, our PEACE project partner university with strengths in business and management, to deliver special lectures on Japanese businesses and management, and its relationship with the environment, on November 27 (“Japanese Companies and Culture” by Dr. George R. Harada) and December 4 (“Environment and Business – Lessons from Japan” by Mr. Richard A. Forrest).

On December 1, 2018, Hiroshima University (HU) and Hiroshima University of Economics (HUE) jointly organized an Ideas Mining Workshop at “Seifu-kan” in Miyajima, a seminar house owned by HUE   

The participants, who were Japanese and international students studying at HU or HUE,  enjoyed the one-day long workshop, discussing “sustainable tourism” on Miyajima with an eye to Goal 15 (“Life on Land”) of the SDGs.

On Friday, August 3, 2018, Hiroshima University of Economics held the first Ideas Mining workshop of its own, which was offered as part of staff development (SD) of the university.

The workshop was run by two Ideas Mining moderators from Hiroshima University of Economics, collaborating with one academic staff from Hiroshima University, who served as an assistant moderator for the session. We can say it is a new form of collaboration between Hiroshima University of Economics and Hiroshima University that could be further explored and developed within the framework of the PEACE Student Exchange Program.

In May and June 2018, our PEACE exchange students engaged in cross-cultural exchanges with hibakusha or more widely known as A-bomb survivors at Mutsumi-en, a dedicated nursing home for A-bomb survivors in the city of Hiroshima.

Working together with the A-bomb survivors, our students enjoyed creating and painting pottery, using special materials such as gravels taken from the river bed of Motoyasu River (running next to the Atomic Bomb Dome) and soil from Ninoshima (an island where many victims of the atomic bomb were buried).

As the national university established in Hiroshima, we will continue to offer our students as many opportunities as possible to learn about the history of Hiroshima as well as to interact with the A-bomb survivors living in Hiroshima.

In March 12-18, 2018, the PEACE Student Exchange Program of Hiroshima University organized a one-week study tour of Cambodia. A group of Hiroshima University students (Japanese and international, undergraduate and graduate), along with some faculty and staff members, traveled to Cambodia to visit Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

The tour participants joined the PEACE-SDGs Ideas Mining Workshop, which was held on the campus of the National University of Management, the next day after their arrival in Phnom Penh. During the workshop, they engaged in intensive discussion with 8 local Cambodian students of the issues surrounding education in Cambodia, with SDG 4 (“quality education”) in mind.

The next day, the students attended a series of special lectures delivered by professors of our partner universities in Cambodia, which covered the historical, cultural, industrial, economic, legal, and agricultural aspects of the country. After these lectures, the tour’s participants visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum－a very important place in understanding the modern Cambodian history－which helped them develop a deeper understanding of peace.

During the tour, they also visited the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Cambodia Office and a community factory of the Kamonohashi Project (a local NPO trying to solve the human trafficking problem in Siem Reap) to learn what is happening in the field of international cooperation and consider how it should be promoted in Cambodia. The tour ended with visits to major Angkor temples such as Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm.

The following are the travel guidebooks (in English and Japanese) our students created as part of the assignments but are for anyone who is interested in but has never visited Cambodia.

Cambodia Travel Guide 2018_Group A

Cambodia Travel Guide 2018_Group B

Cambodia Travel Guide 2018_Group C