The Omoro Challenge is an international program aimed at "fostering wisdom and an adventurous spirit" in students and developing "global human resources with intercultural understanding and international capability" -- goals articulated in President Juichi Yamagiwa's WINDOW Concept (link below).
Established with full support from Kanae-Kai, an association of KU-affiliated business leaders dedicated to supporting the President's visions, Omoro Challenge enables students to travel abroad to not just study, but also to pursue unique projects planned by the students themselves.
For the 2017-2018 program, 30 participants (22 undergraduate and eight graduate students) were selected from a pool of 143 applicants (74 undergraduate and 69 graduate) to pursue projects such as: a study of historical changes in downtown Koror, Republic of Palau; an anthropological look at the Himalayan honey bee in Nepal; a study of Indian and Tamil sanitary workers in Sri Lanka, with a focus on their daily struggles against discrimination; building a kitchen for a primary school in Uganda; mastering Khoomei, a type of Tuvan throat singing, and exploring its cultural significance by touring Mongol on horseback; and a survey of health information sharing among Tanzanian women.
After returning to Japan, participants are expected to share their overseas experiences at a debriefing session to be held next year.
- 2017-2018 Omoro Challenge participants and projects (PDF, in Japanese)
Related links
- Omoro Challenge participants share their overseas experiences (10 April 2017)
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/education-campus/events_news/office/kyoiku-suishin-gakusei-shien/kokusai-kyoiku-koryu/news/2017/170410_1.html - WINDOW -- A Vision for the Future
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/about/operation/window.html
