Grooming global citizens
TO succeed in a global marketplace, graduates need to have self-direction, adaptability, creativity, innovation, motivation, empathy and digital capabilities.
Another key skill that will set them apart as well-rounded and versatile professionals with mature ethical development is their ability to manage cultural diversity.
At Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU), efforts have been made to develop its students’ global competence through the integration of intercultural dimensions into the university’s formal and informal curriculum.
Led by APU partnerships and standards senior director Prof Dr Andy Seddon, the Erasmus+ Friends project, which kickstarted in early 2019, is co-funded by the European Union and is built around the concept of Internationalisation at Home (IAH).
Erasmus, established in 1987, is an acronym for the European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students, while Friends stands for Furthering International Relations Capacities and Intercultural Engagement to Nurture Campus Diversity and to Support Internationalisation at Home.
According to Prof Seddon, the project with an Rm4.9mil allocation shared among four European and 12 South-east Asian partners will continue to be funded until November next year.
APU is one of two universities in Malaysia supporting the programme, together with 10 other Asian higher education institutions in Bhutan, Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand.
Its recent Second Annual APU Friends Day: International and Intercultural Festival offered its diverse student community from more than 130 countries an opportunity to share their cross-cultural experiences through a digital storytelling competition.
Out of the 190 digital stories showcased, five were selected as winners.
Judges Assoc Prof Wong Bee Suan and Assoc Prof Dr Jason James Turner, who head the university’s schools of computing and business, respectively, said from the shared stories, they saw real and personal reflections on experiences that had shaped the students’ attitudes towards other cultures, and how the experiences helped them break down preconceived ideas.
The festival also saw the virtual launch of the Erasmus+ Friends Teahouse, where members of the university’s Student Representative Council will be able to meet, discuss and organise events.
It will also be a zone to promote international mobility pathways and semester break activities, as well as intercultural awareness and the Intercultural Awareness and Cultural Diversity (IACD) module delivered on campus.
Prof Seddon said APU’S Erasmus+ Friends Teahouse will extend beyond the end of the funding period.
“We will widen its scope to create an ongoing cultural dialogue with local minorities and locals from different cultural backgrounds.
“In addition, the Teahouse will ‘adopt’ a local community group to jointly develop a Community Development Plan,” he said in a press release on July 12.
The APU Friends Day also celebrated the work done by non-governmental organisations – namely, Soroptimist International Region of Malaysia, Soroptimist International Club of Shah Alam, Yayasan Health on World, Rumah Ozanam, Campus Hope, and Kiwanis Club KL Central – with students, particularly in the areas of poverty, mental health and equal opportunities.
The discussion session focused on diversity and inclusivity where guest speakers from APU and its partner university De Montfort University in the United Kingdom shared their views on these aspects.