17 March 2022

Sunrise on virtual cultural exchange as ASEAN-Japan student programme concludes

By
Noppanun Sookping
AUN Programme Officer;

Key Takeaways:

  • ASEAN-Japan Virtual Cultural Exchange Programme 2022 (AUN-SUN/SixERS Cross-Cultural Event) was successfully co-organised by the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and the Six Universities Network/International Education and Research System, Japan(SUN/SixERS) on 1 - 3 March 2022.
  • The event served as a cultural exchange opportunity for student participants from AUN and SUN/SixERS universities to explore other cultures and exchange their culture among participants through interactive activities on virtual platforms.
  • In his opening and closing remarks, Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, AUN Executive Director, highlighted the importance of activity design for organising cross-cultural exchange and student activities on virtual platforms. He also noted the connection and networking of students in Japan and ASEAN countries amid the pandemic situation.

ASEAN-Japan Virtual Cultural Exchange Programme 2022 (AUN-SUN/SixERS Cross-Cultural Event)  was co-organised by the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and the Six Universities Network/International Education and Research System, Japan (SUN/SixERS) on 1 - 3 March 2022. 

The three-day virtual programme was geared to provide continuity to past cultural exchange programme collaborations between the AUN and SUN/SixERS. Similar to the AUN’s earlier collaboration with SUN/SixERS in the Japan-ASEAN Training Course towards SDGs "Learning Japanese culture and Biodiversity from UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Japan" in October, 2021, this cross-cultural programme served as a cultural exchange opportunity for student participants from AUN and SUN/SixERS universities to explore other cultures and exchange their culture among participants through interactive activities on virtual platforms.

The event concluded on March, 3rd 2022, with the successful participation of 32 student participants from universities in Japan and ASEAN countries.

The detail of the programme’s activities entails as follows:

Day 1

“Opening Session”

The first day of the programme began with an opening session on Zoom, joined by the honourable Prof. Takayoshi Suzuki, Director of SUN/SixERS and Vice-President of Okayama University, and Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, AUN Executive Director.

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Item 1: Dr. Choltis presented the AUN principles of activity design and their importance to the university student participants in his opening remark for the event.

In his opening remark, Prof. Takayoshi extended his gratitude to Dr. Choltis and the AUN, as well as all the participating students from the ASEAN+3 countries in this programme. He highlighted the AUN and the SUN/SixERS shared a history of collaboration and student exchange, as evident by inbound and outbound programmes between universities in Japan and the ASEAN region. Prof. Takayoshi hoped this virtual programme would serve as a platform for students from different backgrounds to connect and promote the understanding and sharing of cultural identity between students from different societies.

Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti then delivered his opening remark, emphasising on the importance of the AUN’s activity design principles to ensure the students’ attainment of competency, knowledge and skills throughout the programme. According to Dr. Choltis, while exposure to cultural exchange and active learning was a priority, the ultimate goal expected from this programme was to establish strong connections and networking among student participants from Japan and the ASEAN region. Dr. Choltis believed that while a lot of the content needed to be redesigned for the online medium, the AUN ED believed the participants would find the programme worthwhile.

“Cultural Dialogues: (1)The Effect of Technology on Culture: Dominance and Disruption & (2)  The Race to Global Citizenship and Culture ”

Following the opening session, the student participants were divided into groups and participated in an ice-breaking session in which the participants learned about one another through fun and convivial minigames revolving around the sharing of the participants’ own culture.

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Item 2: (Left)  Dr. Steven P.C. Fernandez and (Right) Dr. Bob Aubrey during the Cultural Dialogues session

The ice-breaking session was followed by Cultural Dialogues from distinguished guests, Dr. Steven P.C. Fernandez, DFA. from the Mindanao State University- Iligan ( Philippines) and Dr. Bob Aubrey, ASEAN Human Development Organization (AHDO) and Bob Aubrey Associates. In Dr. Steven’s session, “The Effect of Technology on Culture: Dominance and Disruption”, the students learned of the disruptive impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on performance arts and cultural activities, as well as the societal and historical patterns of how culture shapes – and is shaped – by major crises and events in human civilisations. In the following session by Dr. Bob Aubrey, “The Race to Global Citizenship and Culture”, the students learned about the multilayered concept of global citizenship and identity through Dr. Bob’s own lifetime experience in cultural exposure, immersion and learning.

“Cultural Exposure: ASEAN Virtual Museum Tour”

After such an insightful session with our experts, the participants relocated for the first time to the Gather Town platform – a virtual meeting platform where the participants got to create their own 2D avatar to join in activities and interact with one another in a virtual town.  In this session titled  “Cultural Exposure: ASEAN Virtual Museum Tour”, the students assembled on the Gather Town platform and were set to explore the virtual town and museum created by the AUN team, featuring exhibitions of several cultures in Japan and the ASEAN region.

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Item 3: The students gathered for the first time on GatherTown, participating in a virtual tour around the virtual museum full of exhibitions about ASEAN and Japanese cultures.

In conclusion of Day 1 activities, the knowledge obtained by students during the virtual museum tour were then put to test in the “Museum Tour Quiz” where the students got to work together in teams in completing a quiz about cultures in Japan and ASEAN countries.

Day 2

“Cultural Exposure: ASEAN Unseen Trip Activity”

On Day 2, the students first joined together on Zoom in the session “Cultural Exposure: ASEAN Unseen Trip Activity”. The two-hour activity for participants to plan and organise unseen trips in ASEAN Countries and Japan. Divided into small groups of 8 - 10, the students were tasked with discussing and coming up with a well-planned trip in a coordinative and convivial manner. Afterwards, they were set to present their fully realised plans to the rest of the participants. The aim of this activity was to enhance communication skills, soft-skill, and work with people from different cultures.

During the working section of the activity, the students were able to collaborate well in creating a well-rounded trip in Japan and ASEAN Countries based on research and sharing of knowledge and personal experience. When it came to the presentation, the students were able to showcase their knowledge in cultures, landmarks and traditions featured in their collaborative plan for a trip across Japan and ASEAN countries.

“Food For Fun Activities & Cross-Cultural Meal”

Following the presentations of unseen trips and activities in ASEAN, the students allocated themselves to Gather Town in the session titled “Food For Fun Activities” in which the students were tasked with exploring the food exhibition section of the virtual museum to learn about ASEAN food cultures. Their knowledge was then tested in an interactive quiz with questions related to ASEAN food featured in the museum.

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Item 4: The students enjoyed their dinner together on GatherTown, sharing the knowledge and experience behind their cultural dishes.

Day 2 concluded with the “Cross-Cultural Meal” session where the students brought a traditional dish of their cultures to the virtual table and had dinner together. During this session, the students got to relax and connect while also sharing information and background of their traditional food.

Day 3

“Arts and Crafts: Thai-style fish mobile: Pla Ta Pian”

On the last day of the programme, the students joined together on Zoom to participate in a cultural workshop called “Arts and Crafts: Thai-style fish mobile: Pla Ta Pian”. In this activity, the participants got hands-on experience in Arts and Crafts from our distinguished instructors who are experts in Pla Ta Pian handicraft, Ms. Chonvipha Sanguannoi and Mr. Wisan Wanichsuwan, while getting to know the story of carp weaving in Thailand. They also had an opportunity to learn Carp weaving from experts in Thailand. The objective of this activity was to gain an immersive cultural experience through active learning of traditional handicraft, traditions, history and lifestyles from another culture.

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Item 5: The students showcased their hand-crafted Pla Ta Pian after an insightful cultural workshop session with the instructor, Ms. Chonvipha Sanguannoi.

This cultural workshop on a virtual platform proved to be highly successful, with the students getting to spend some quality time together crafting and showcasing their handmade fish mobiles. The students showed interest to learn more about Thai culture and history behind these delicate woven carps and actively engaged in a conversation with the experts.

“Treasure Hunt”

After a break following the cultural workshop, the students said goodbye to the Zoom meeting as they relocated to Gather Town for their final activity – “Treasure Hunt”. In this session, the students were given a crossword puzzle and were encouraged to work collaboratively as they searched the virtual town and museum for hidden treasure chests containing clues to help them complete the puzzle. 

This activity was aimed to promote collaboration and networking of the participants when faced by challenges. At the end of the activity, the participants got to learn the meanings of the words featured in the crossword puzzle; all of which reinforced the prevalent theme of cross-cultural immersion and the idea of becoming a responsible and collaborative global citizen. The treasure hunt activity served as a perfect roundup of all the knowledge, multicultural experience and friendship the participants had gained over the three-day programme.

“Closing Session”

The programme concluded with the closing remarks by Prof. Takayoshi Suzuki, Director of SUN/SixERS and Vice-President of Okayama University, and Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, AUN Executive Director.

Prof. Takayoshi first expressed his sincere gratitude to student participants from SUNSixers Universities and ASEAN universities for fruitful participation in the programme. The students managed to showcase excellent skills of leadership and collaboration in an international and multicultural environment. While the long-term cultural exchange collaboration between Japanese and ASEAN universities was disrupted by the impacts of the pandemic, this cross-cultural programme marked the continuity of such collaborations through the digital platforms. Dr. Takayoshi hopes the students would make the most out of the experience gained in this programme in their life, studies, and future. Lastly, Dr. Takayoshi extended his appreciation to Dr. Choltis and the AUN team for the organisation of such a wonderful event.

Dr. Choltis shared a similar sentiment to Prof. Takayoshi in his closing remark, further reinforcing the importance of youth connection and networking in this era of Globalisation. According to Dr. Choltis, the success of the 3-day cross-cultural programme on virtual platforms was just a small step contributing to the long-term cross-cultural exchange collaboration between Japan and the ASEAN region. Given the persisting Covid-19 situation and other emerging challenges, Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti encouraged the participants to continue the student connection and networking between Japan and Southeast Asia.

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Item 6: Closing Session by  Prof. Takayoshi Suzuki, Vice-President of Okayama University, and Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, AUN Executive Director, joined by the university student participants from Japan and ASEAN countries.

The success of the ASEAN-Japan Virtual Cultural Exchange Programme 2022 (AUN-SUN/SixERS Cross-Cultural Event) is another evidence of possible continuity to this type of educational programmes through smart digital platforms and matching activity designs. Effective collaboration and planning are also the key to successful organisation of such activities on a virtual platform.
We at the AUN would like to extend our gratitude to the SUN/SixERS, Japan, distinguished guests, experts, and all the students participating in the programme for such a wonderful experience. We hope the success of this programme serves as a cornerstone of the AUN’s future collaborations and initiatives in cross-cultural exchange programmes and student activity. The AUN team wishes everyone good health and safety so that we may meet each other again in the near future.