短期留学プログラムを通した広島大学「平和教育」の試み <研究ノート>

This research introduces an attempt at “Peace Education” at Hiroshima University through the short-term study abroad “START program.” This is an exchange program for 1st grade students, in which they visit other countries for 2 weeks and study their history and a culture at a local university. In the Vietnam unit of the program, Vietnamese and Japanese students had a discussion with each other about peace. During the discussion, students put forth a definition of peace that was much broader than simply not having war, and they imagined what they could do to contribute to a peaceful world. They concluded that international exchange to learn other cultures and histories, and to promote mutual understanding, is an immediate step that they can take toward world peace. The START program may therefore be an effective means of raising citizens who will work toward peace, and who will reframe discussions about peace from those centered on reducing war, to those centered around working together with people from other nations in an increasingly globalized world.