Objective

The purpose of this program is to establish a triangle overseas study program built on Hiroshima University’s experience in education and research in Africa. Seven partner universities work in collaboration to offer this program to their students: five Egyptian universities in North Africa (Cairo University, Ain Shams University, Aswan University, Beni-Suef University and Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST)), and two universities in Sub-Saharan Africa (the University of Zambia and the University of Malawi). We foster future international professionals in both Japan and Africa who will not only help serve as a bridge between Japan and Africa, but will also help built new, or strengthen existing connections between the various African regions. The participants of the Japan-Africa Triangular Study Abroad Program are expected to be able to demonstrate leadership in multilateral international cooperative efforts and lead high-quality economic development. The three areas that we focus on – namely education, health care science, and food security – are areas that have high human resource development needs in Africa and are fundamental to high quality growth. These are exactly some of the areas, where Japan has abundant scientific and technological know-how, and that are viewed to be of high importance for Japan’s business outreach in Africa. Thus, strengthening the cooperation between Japan and Africa, with special attention paid toward high quality growth, is expected to bring great benefits to both regions.

Features

The program has the following features.

1. We foster students’ growth and promote academic exchanges in the interdisciplinary areas of education, healthcare science, and food security, where the needs of the participating African countries and the strengths and new ideas/products/services proposed by Hiroshima University intersect.
2. We will provide students with rare learning opportunities that wouldn’t be obtainable by studying abroad in only one country, and enhance their competencies in working with people from vastly different backgrounds.
3. We use Project Based Learning (PBL) to combine peace studies, Japanese language education and post-internship debriefing in a combination of online and face-to-face classes to increase the effectiveness of the study abroad programs.
4. We provide a variety of learning opportunities in industry, government, and academia, such as local fieldwork and technology development through cooperation with companies and institutions expanding operations overseas.
5. We will engage in an improvement process to share the results of the BEVI (Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory) learning effectiveness measurement analysis with other universities and make continuous efforts to improve and refine our programs.
6. We will provide a comprehensive educational program, starting from short-term programs for undergraduate students all the way to degree programs, so that motivated students can increase the overall quality of their education.