5Global and Local: Introducing the “International LiberalArts Program” and “Regional Development Program”(Minor Programs)
Principle 6:

Encouraging global citizenship through educatio

Principle 9

A commitment to promoting sustainability through education;

1. Introduction: Two Minor Programs in Liberal Arts Educatio
Iwate Prefectural University offers a systematic minor education as parts of liberal arts education.
From the rst year at the university, students take basic education courses for their cultural enrichment
and the development of a “foundation of knowledge” for the pursuit academic learning. However, theaim of the “Minor” is not to stop there, but to provide students with opportunities to further expand anddeepen their specialized studies in each faculty
The main features of the “Minor” are (1) students from all faculties are eligible to apply, and (2) it
consists of two programs: the “RegionalDevelopment Program” and the “InternationalLiberal Arts Program”. Both programs are practical
approaches to understanding the world from theviewpoints of regional and international
perspectives respectively. After completing eachprogram, students will be granted the titles andcerti cates of completion of “Specialist inRegional Development” or “Specialist inInternational Liberal Arts”

2. Minor in International Liberal Arts Progra
Program Managers:
Professor Wenjing Liu-Würz,

Professor Sachiko Kuroiwa,

Associate Professor Hideya Takahashi,

Associate Professor Tetsuya Kumamoto,Lecturer Minoru Otani(Center for the Advancement of Higher Education
The “International Liberal Arts Program,” which started in the 2020 academic year, is characterized by
the following features: (1) exploring the possibilities of cross-cultural understanding and multiculturalsociety, (2) examining the issues of global society, and (3) learning multiple languages. Based on thesecharacteristics, the following subject groups have been established: Core Courses, Foreign Language
Courses, Global Understanding Courses, Practice and Seminar Courses and Capstone Course .

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The Capstone Course, which is the nal course in the program,asks students to set a theme to carry out research andinvestigation, culminating in a presentation of theiracademic results. By providing an opportunity forstudents to express their own thoughts and opinions,they will be able to improve their presentation
skills and con rm whether they have theinsight of the “International Liberal Arts
Specialist”

Course structure of the International Liberal Arts Program• Class Example: Introduction to Global UnderstandinThis section will present “Introduction to Global Understanding”, one of the core subjects of the“Minor” in the International Liberal Arts Program. In October 2020, the class invited Mr. Keishi Otomo,
an internationally renowned lm director from Iwate Prefecture, to give a special lecture titled “Images
as a Communication Tool”. The aim of the lecture was to help students acquire an internationallycultivated mind by listening to a globally active person.

Mr. Otomo said that in recent years, the internet has made visual images more accessible and a meansof communication, but it has also created
new social issues, in particular fakenews. He therefore stressed theimportance of learning video literacy,such as “how videos are made” as it will
help us to read facts without being
misled by fake news

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All students are required to take Core Courses in their rst year and Capstone Course in theirnal year. Besides the two courses, students are eligible to choose classes depending on theirinterests from each course group (elective compulsory). For example, in the Foreign
Language Courses, students are required to take one language from among Chinese,Korean, Russian, Spanish, German and FrenchHe also emphasized that internationality is able to be reached by receiving and exploring our own
Japanese culture. Namely, he pointed out that local matters can be a key to approaching universal issues
in the world. Based on this international experience, Mr. Otomo explained the necessity of selfexpression in overseas communication and the importance of individuality for this purpose. In otherwords, in order to be active overseas, it is important to discover one's individuality through trial and error
rather than relying on a company or organization. Therefore, he encouraged the students to accumulate
experiences such as watching movies at the cinema

3. Minor in Regional Development Progra
Program Manager:

Associate-Professor Yoshiei Watanabe(Center for the Advancement of Higher Education)

I. Program conten
The major classes of this program are “Iwate Regional Development Studies I”, “Iwate Regional
Development Studies II”, and “Actual Practice in Iwate Research”
Iwate Regional Development Studies I“Iwate Regional Development Studies I” is a class to develop not only
basic-learning methods for the regional community, but also the ability tond out local resources and local issues through all ve senses in speci careas of the prefecture. In addition, by presenting the learning outcomes tolocal people, it is intended to acquire the ability to understand and explain
their learning logically and organically.
Iwate Regional Development Studies II
The students of “Iwate Regional Development Studies II” have to be
responsible for planning and managing the regional study of "Iwate
Regional Development Studies I". As a result, students acquire the abilities
of communicating with local residents and the designing of projects. Here,students make full use of the methods of regional community learning
acquired in "Iwate Regional Development Studies I” and the ability to nd
out local resources and local issues

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Mr. Otomo shot a lm called “Eiri” (2020), which is set in his hometown (Morioka city in Iwate
Prefecture) and based on a novel by Shinsuke Numata. It won Japan’s prestigious literary award, theAkutagawa Ryunosuke Prize (2017). His lm also received international attention, for instance, “Eiri”
won the Best Actor award prize at the 2nd Hainan Island International Film Festival in China, and wasalso released in Taiwan. In the lecture, Mr. Otomo stated that he valued “localness” in the lming of“Eiri” and the “Rurouni Kenshin” series, which is also popular overseas

Actual Practice in Iwate Research“Actual Practice in Iwate Research” is a capstone subject of this program and is a class that serves anoverall wrap-up. The goal is that students should point out local issues and implement methods forsolving them on their own. Therefore, there are more opportunities toactively interact with the local community than "Iwate Regional
Development Studies I" and "Iwate Regional Development Studies II”.
Students must go to a region many times to nd existing resources andissues, and to verify over and over again how they can be combined toprovide an appropriate solution. In addition, the "Actual Practice in Iwate
Research" is a half-year class, and thus schedule management is also
important in order to move toward its realization in this limited time.

4. Results of the 2020 scal Yea“Iwate Regional Development Studies I” and “Iwate Regional Development Studies II
The class conducted local learning in three areas: Nishiwaga Town, Miyako City, and Shizukuishi
Town. Nishiwaga Town has the highest aging rate in the prefecture and strives for the slogan of humanhealth and happiness. Setting up this slogan as a keyword, students tried to contact with hospital of cials
and migrants from the outside of the prefecture and look into current issues
In Miyako City, the students had the plan to learn how this city is revitalizing as we pass 10 years sincethe Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. And then, they went to see persons who were activelyengaged in various elds in this city, and discussed the earthquake recovery.
In Shizukuishi Town, the students focused on green tourism, visiting sites that are actually active in thetourism business, and had the chance to gain experience, and interact with the local people
Both program-classes were held on a Saturday and Sunday in October. The students of “Iwate Regional
Development Studies I” understood their two-day learning, and acquired the ability to summarize andexplain details in an easy-to-understand manner for the debrie ng session in November. The students of“Iwate Regional Development Studies II” planned the 2 day-course for "Iwate Regional DevelopmentStudies I”, spending 5 months preparing, and achieved many learning outcomesfi”

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“Actual Practice in Iwate Research
The 2020 hands-on exercise was put into practice in the Matsuzono district (hereafter M-town) inMorioka city. This district was developed as a new residential town in 1970 – 1990, and at presentsuffers from declining and aging populations like other similar districts. The two groups of students
visited M-town many times over the course of about four months, and discussed effective measures forsolving current issues in M-town. Both groups examined existing statistics and questionnaire surveys
conducted in this district, and while discussing with the local people many times, they valued what they
actually saw and felt in their hands-on experience in the district. They then devised their own solutions•Group 1:
Based on the questionnaires of residents, one group focused on the lack of places for residents togather. They experienced the real calm atmosphere of M-town, and aimed to solve regional issues on
the theme of books. Speci cally, the group had handmade bookshelves called "book racks" installedin three places in the town, and arranged about 100 books collected through the group’s own efforts.
And the group decided to use a free style of operation in which residents could borrow a bookwhenever they liked and return it at any one of the three places.
The only request to persons who borrowed books was to write down their impression of the book.
With this action, the group tried to promote close relationships with local residents through books.
Through the implementation of about two months, the group analyzed where the books moved from
where and how much they were utilized, and compiled the data as a report.

Group 2:The other group aimed to solve the issues by surveying existing statistical data and walking aroundthe town. As a result, it was found that the residents had negative comments on the lack of hustle
and bustle of shopping streets, and also showed a low evaluation on the quality of existing public
facilities. Based on these resident’s opinions, students tried to solve these issues by publicizing
stores and public facilities in M-town.
Consequently, the group proposed to make a “regional map” by referring to those of otheruniversities and local governments. While utilizing what was valuable from the preceding cases, thegroup considered the method of effectively disseminating and publicizing information by posting
contents from different internet gourmet sites. As a result, the group planned to make a booklet
called "Matsuzono Iitoko Map" which describes the information of stores including their origins,recommendations, preferences, etc. which they gained through interviews. The booklet also serves
an introduction to the "Ten Views of Matsuzono".

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”13fi•It took about two months to produce the booklet. Then, 1,500 copies of the map were printed anddistributed through local public facilities, elementary and junior high schools and stores that had
responded to interviews. After distribution, the group conducted a questionnaire on the internet
and received opinions on good points and points which should be improved.

5. Awarding of “Specialist in Regional Development” (Mini-Degree)
In scal 2020, 6 students completed all curriculums and were awarded the title of “Specialist inRegional Development”. The following message was received from the student who greeted the audience
as a representative at the award ceremony:"I think I was able to gain communication skills by jumping into the community and working with theresidents, and at the same time I also gained the ability to think in order to grasp and solve local issues,and until then I had tried to do it all by myself, but I was able to believe in my friends and enjoy it withmy friends."“Specialist in Regional Development” recipients of the 2020 Fiscal Year (left) and 2019 Fiscal Year (right).   

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