Greeting

One of our university’s important goals, is to equip our students with the advanced skills and mental strength essential to become active players in this globalized world. It is with that purpose in mind that we first established, in October 2013, our Centre for EU-Japan Collaborative Education (EJCE) as a managing unit to our “Kobe University Programme for European Studies (KUPES)”. The KUPES programme, which lies on our close ties with European universities, is an inter-disciplinary, BA to MA programme that involves the faculties and graduate schools of Intercultural Studies, Law and Politics, and Economics. From 2013 to 2017, the EJCE has also supported the “EU-Japan Advanced Multidisciplinary Master Studies (EU-JAMM)”, a double degree project funded both by the Japanese government and the European Union (EU). Both KUPES and EU-JAMM programmes have been successful in producing young experts in EU and Japanese studies.

To build upon these achievements, the EJCE has since 2016 grown into a section serving the university as a whole: the “Program Coordination Section” within the “Center for International Education”. As such, we will promote more exchanges, with more universities around the globe, becoming a “hub campus” where academics and students can gather and exchange, and in turn expand to the world. Working on its unique programmes and international openings, Kobe University will aim, through our section, to reinforce its role and function as a leading international university.

EU-related studies are core to our University, as reflected in our KUPES and EU-JAMM initiatives, and are also dating back to earlier days, when the EU Institute in Japan, Kansai (EUIJ-Kansai) was created within our walls. The EUIJ-Kansai’s activities have now been partly taken over by our new Jean Monnet Center of Excellence (JMCOE), an open programme started in 2015 and supported by the EU Commission. Our section is supporting all of these EU studies related programmes, promoting further and deeper exchanges with Europe.

Our activities however, do not limit themselves to Europe, nor to sending students abroad. Since 2016, we have started our new “Kobe University Education Program on Current Japan (KU-EPOCJ)”, providing multi-disciplinary courses on modern Japan studies aimed at our exchange students from all over the world.

Today’s globalized society calls for international perspectives in all fields of studies, even when working domestically in Japan. When focusing on a specific country or region, it is only through a vision that is relative, multi-faceted and flexible, that the world will show its true beauty and value.

Our section strongly supports interdisciplinarity, through the collaboration of several faculties and graduate schools. It will continue to strive at developing and promoting a variety of international education programmes, hand in hand with all faculties to produce world class actors.

April 1, 2020
Program Coordination Section, Center for International Education, Kobe University
Section Head
Takuji Kinkyo