Impression of Institute for the Liberal Arts
Bong Doo Jung(ILA, 1st Year, Korea)
Knowing the changing technologies and advancements in knowledge of every field, it has become inevitable for people to move from their country of origin to other places for personal development, and higher education. The personal development is greatly affected by cultural exchange. I have spent a majority of my secondary school years abroad and would like to continue this learning process by studying at Doshisha University; thus, I enrolled in ILA, Institute for the Liberal Arts, at Doshisha University for higher education. Last year, I wholeheartedly believed that this course will provide me with the opportunity to fulfill my educational goals and as of yet, there is no doubt on my decision.
Japan formulated the plan of eGlobal 30f, in order to create an attractive educational environment to both international and domestic students. In 2009, 13 universities are selected to Global 30, and ILA at Doshisha University is one of them. The most impressive fact about ILA is that, this program is taught in English for international and domestic students, which will give students an opportunity to thrive in this program. This actually have attracted students who wish to study Japanese language and experience firsthand its culture. Furthermore, even though students come from different countries, they share cultures and interact with each other, and ILA helps students in getting social and having friends with people from different origins. Consequently, it gives an understanding of other cultures and traditions along with the expertise of dealing with people from other cultural boundaries. Therefore, the important task for me while studying in Japan is how to understand and appreciate different cultures and expand my own beliefs.
Another impression of ILA is the sense of responsibility. ILA is commenced this year and the 1st year students have to advance themselves by breaking through all of the difficulties. Of course, students are getting a lot of advice from their professors, but we donft have alumni, foregoer or senior members, e ĉ y f to guide us. However, this responsibility should not be taken as a negative impact on the studentsf growth but it in fact is a very valuable factor. It provides them with the sense of commitment. It further helps students in understanding the culture, tradition and values of other people because students have to cooperate or compete with each other in order to advance themselves. In the diversified population of today, it has become an important factor to learn to adopt and survive with people of different backgrounds. Carrying a responsibility could help students in understanding, managing and resolving the issues.
In conclusion, the impression of ILA is not only about cultural exchange, but also I could improve myself in diversified field. However, so far ILA has not been well-known to current Japanese students in Doshisha University and many people emphasize with ILA and consider this as a problem. Moreover, majority of the students in ILA are not familiar with Japanese language and there are fewer opportunities to interact with Japanese students. Consequently, my deep desire is to improve these facts by letting people know and get interests in ILA.
ILA students & professors visited
eResearch in Institute for Humanity
& Nature (RIHN)f
