［TUFS］2020 COIL Fukushima Class (2021. 02. 14-16)
2021.06.09
The second Fukushima class was held online due to COVID-19.
This course was conducted in cooperation with the Nippon Foundation Student Volunteer Center (Gakuvo). In order to learn about the disaster in Fukushima, the project aimed to understand and learn about the situation in Fukushima 10 years after the disaster by connecting with Fukushima online and proactively interviewing several local people, including priests, farmers, and the activist involved in activities to raise awareness about the nuclear accident.
The course was opened to a U.S. partner university, California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and its students joined the class and got credits. After asynchronous preparatory sessions about the Fukushima disaster, students interviewed people living in Fukushima by groups which had both TUFS and CSUN students and collaboratively compiled the interview article.
These efforts helped to build relationships between students in Japan and U.S., to promote understanding of participants with various backgrounds, to improve discussion skills, and to stimulate interest in studying at the other side of the university.
Many students at CSUN and TUFS were too young to understand the disaster when it happened in 2011. For such students, it was a good opportunity to listen to the voices of the victims and know what is needed for the recovery. TUFS students studying English and CSUN students learning Japanese formed groups and enjoyed the exchange using Japanese and English on various topics such as university life, culture, influence of COVID-19, family, and hobbies.
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