Proactive interactions online with international peers

Report on participation in the U21 Global Citizenship program

In Fall 2020, Sota Ishii participated in the U21 Global Citizenship program sponsored by Universitas 21 (U21). He is a first-year student in the Department of Global Political Economy at Waseda University’s School of Political Science and Economics.

Waseda University is a member of U21, a global network of 27 leading research-intensive universities. U21 activities are based on the three pillars of Researcher Engagement, Educational Innovation, and Student Experience. Waseda is the only Japanese university participating in this international consortium of top-level universities.

U21 Global Citizenship was a three-week program held online. The program included on-demand courses, as well as real-time lectures involving joint study with students from 18 countries worldwide, all from member universities of U21. In this program, students learn about and discuss complex issues facing our contemporary world and societies. Many Waseda University students participated, with 39 students completing the entire program.

We asked Sota Ishii why he decided to participate in this program, despite not earning university credits from his participation, and talked about what he learned.

First, tell us about yourself.

I graduated from Ichikawa High School in Chiba Prefecture. Now, I am a first-year student in the Department of Global Political Economy, School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University.

Do you participate in any student clubs?

Not at the moment because of COVID-19. When actual (offline) club activities are provided, then I would like to join a martial arts club.

After a half year at university, why do you think this was good timing for you to join in the program?

I had wanted to study both political science and economics at university and had heard that Waseda was perfect for this, so I decided to come here. I have met great professors during the course of my studies, and I am satisfied in that respect. I also wanted to join volunteer activities, but that is not possible with the current pandemic. So, I was looking for some interesting things I could do even at home. I knew there was a risk that just sitting at home alone would result in my worldview becoming increasingly narrow. When I found that this program was recruiting on MyWaseda (a web portal for Waseda students, faculty, and staff), I thought it would be a great chance to broaden my international perspective, so I decided to apply.

COIL-type learning^*1 enabled a deeper understanding of SDGs with students worldwide

Every week during the program, we watched a variety of videos, each of which gave us a deeper understanding of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). Using the U21 platform, we then had discussions about what we had studied. Concrete topics were the goals that we ourselves had chosen. (In my case, for example, I selected Goal 17; “Partnerships for the Goals.”) These discussions really helped us to refine and extend our thoughts and ideas. In the real-time sessions which were held twice, we had a chance to build friendships with fellow students and talk about current situations in our home countries, and the changes we intend to help make in the future.
^*1 COIL stands for “collaborative online international learning.” This is an educational method that uses information and communications technologies (ICTs) to perform exchanges with foreign universities and institutions.

Stimulated by discussions with students from the world’s top universities

Students from every country had the same motivation: they all want to make contributions to our world. I was strongly impressed by the fact that, despite coming from completely different environments, there are people everywhere who have the same aims and goals.
Still, although we might be striving for the same things, there are big differences in our activities depending on where we are from, which was very interesting for me. Particularly impressive was the case of a Malaysian student at the National University of Singapore (NUS).^*2 He is part of a student movement for extending human rights and plans on becoming a politician so that he can achieve his goals. My goal is also to help create a better world, but I prefer to be involved with promoting international cooperation. I get excited when I think that someday I might be able to work together with people who are aiming for the same goals, but in different ways.
^*2 NUS was ranked number 11 globally and was the top-ranked university in Asia in the QS World University Rankings 2021.

What can you do right now about your plans to contribute to world peace?

My dream is to become a diplomat, to protect the security of Japanese people, and also to contribute to world peace. The experience with U21 gave me a rough idea of what it is like to discuss matters with a diverse group of people. I feel that my English-language abilities are still pretty poor, so I intend to practice my English every day. This program also allowed me to reconfirm the importance of focusing on the other person’s perspective when communicating with people.
My next step is to study abroad at Uppsala University in Sweden, starting in the fall of this year (2021). As an exchange student there, I will learn about peacekeeping and security in conflict areas. I want to keep moving forward, step by step, to make my dreams come true.

Waseda University provides online international programs using its membership and connections in international consortiums including U21. We present notifications and information about all our programs on the MyWaseda website. We eagerly look forward to the participation of all of our students in these wonderful programs.