Summer Service-Learning Connected to the World Online

Last summer, all domestic and international Service-Learning (SL) programs were cancelled. This summer, Service-Learnig Center decided to conduct the Community SL program (domestic) online and face-to-face, and the International SL program (overseas) entirely online. Hence, 27 students for the Community SL and 20 students for International SL, in total 47 students, participated in the 30-day SL program.

 

The Community SL program was implemented as a mix of online and face-to-face activities, and the students participated in international exchange with local elementary school students, agricultural life, educational support in developing countries, and peace promotion activities at the institutions hosting ICU for many years. In addition, as part of the "self-arramged SL" program, many of the students developed their own service projects and negotiated with their host institutions. Moreover, in the "JSSL (Japan Summer Service-Learning)" program in collaboration with Middlebury College in the U.S., ICU students stayed in Tenryu Village in Nagano Prefecture and worked together with students from the U.S. and other Asian countries in a new type of practicum. ICU students researched the comparison between urban and rural areas with students from abroad, sharing information about the depopulating village and Mitaka City as a city.

 

In the International SL, in addition to partner institutions in China, India, and the Philippines, Ghana joined us for the first time, and we were able to connect with countries around the world while adjusting for time differences and maintaining the Internet environment. Through various activities such as online visits to facilities for the disabled and the elderly, introducing "Japan" to children at a local elementary school, interviewing local people about gender issues and the caste system in India, and conducting research for public health issues in Ghana, the students deepened their learning about social issues in Japan and abroad while engaging with various local communities.