School of Agriculture
International collaboration agreement signed with National Taiwan University
The School of Agriculture has a history of actively seeking out international exchange since our first exchange in the 1980s with Yanbian Institute of Agriculture (now the School of Agriculture of Yanbian University) in China’s Jilin Province. This was followed by visits by researchers from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and Liaoning Province. Exchanges in those days centered mostly on teaching and research staff, but since 2000 we have been pursuing exchanges involving students. Moreover, the School of Agriculture independently makes funds available from the School of Agriculture Academic Promotion Fund and the School of Agriculture Education and Research Promotion Fund to promote international exchange for business purposes by assisting staff and students with foreign travel expenses. A solid example of this is the Foreign Farm Stay program introduced by the Department of Agriculture and Economics (now the Department of Agri−food and Environmental Policy) in 2000. Under this program which is held with the cooperation of National Taiwan University’s Department of Agriculture and Economics, students attend lectures and go on field trips in Taiwan and are supported by the local students who act as tutors, allowing the students from both countries the opportunity to engage in cultural exchange and to learn about agriculture in Taiwan.
In 2008 the Department of Agriculture and Economics overhauled its curriculums and was renamed the Department of Agri−food and Environmental policy and started afresh with its Foreign Agriculture Experience program which further deepened international exchange with National Taiwan University. Since then, many students from National Taiwan University have visited our school, and in order to expand exchange even further the School of Agriculture and Economics concluded a collaboration agreement with National Taiwan University in November of 2009 and we now plan to increase exchanges which also include the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agricultural Chemistry and the Department of Life Science. We also have plans to introduce to all of our departments an ‘Agriculture through English’ course, which will be taught by a specially appointed British lecturer, and we are considering employing teaching staff who are well versed in the area of international cooperation. In addition, we have requested a few graduates of our school who are among the many former students now active in organizations such as the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and the Japan International Development Organization to teach some general classes. Furthermore, through our exchanges such as the one with Yunnan Agricultural University, for which we have Prof. Hiroshi Nagashima of the Department of Life Sciences to thank, with the international exchange achievements of individuals at laboratory units at the core, we are pursuing active international exchange and an internationalized education.
