▎TEACHING & LEARNING

After two years of dialogue and pilot programs, the Trans-disciplinary Bachelor Degree Program (TBD) at D-School@NTU and the School of Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation (ISI) at Kyushu University (KU) officially launched an eight-week international Off-Site Study course in the Spring 2025 (113-2) semester. Centered on the theme of “Sustainable Wellbeing,” the course brought together 28 students from Taiwan and Japan, working in transnational teams through a hybrid model of online collaboration and in-person fieldwork.

Fifteen ISI students traveled to Taiwan in February 2025 for a two-week study visit. On February 19, Prof. Shenglin Elijah Chang, Director of TBD, and Prof. Chien Wen Yuan led the Taiwanese and Japanese students to Pinglin in New Taipei City, where a series of expert-led sessions took place. Local researchers and practitioners who had long been rooted in Pinglin shared insights on such topics as life course studies, environmental education, carbon footprint analysis, and place-based sustainability practices. Students visited tea plantations, tea factories, and ecological monitoring stations to gain firsthand understanding of the local landscape and the corresponding social dynamics—deepening their awareness of social engagement and ecological sustainability.

Following the fieldwork, students held intensive group discussions and conducted interviews for their project-based inquiries. Topics explored by the student teams included:

• Promoting edible insects
• The impact of nighttime phone use on sleep
• Over-tourism in Kyoto
• Loneliness and solitary living
• Parenting challenges faced by working mothers
• Plastic packaging in food products

The course stressed turning learning into actionable change, encouraging students to develop problem-solving skills through cross-cultural collaboration and hands-on engagement. By navigating real-world issues and working with peers from different backgrounds, the students strengthened their ability to confront global challenges and create meaningful social impact.