On November 29, 2018, we had a visit from The Australian National University (ANU). The delegation, including Professor Michael Wesley, Dean of ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, and Professor John Blaxland, Director of ANU Southeast Asia Institute and Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre in the Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs of ANU College of Asia and the Pacific (CAP), visited our Suzaku Campus as well as Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC).

Professor Yoshio Nakatani, Vice Chancellor of the Ritsumeikan Trust and Vice President of Ritsumeikan University, Professor Tsutomu Kanayama, Director of Development Committee of College of Global Liberal Arts (GLA), Professor Eugene Choi, Assistant Director of Development Committee of GLA and Professor Yasushi Kosugi, Vice Director of Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Institute welcomed them and had a lively discussion. Dr Christopher Hobson, Program Convenor for a new dual degree program being offered in collaboration between GLA at RU and CAP at ANU, also joined the visit.

During the meetings, both parties celebrated the great progress they have made together toward the establishment of the College of Global Liberal Arts in April 2019 and confirmed their commitment to build on this already successful partnership through the dual degree program.

The meeting with Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Institute also saw a lively exchange of views to deepen the collaboration between the two universities particularly through the promotion of researcher exchange programs and research collaboration.

The Australian National University (ANU) is one of the world’s leading universities. Its location means it has close ties with the government of Australia and it prides itself in its rich and unique history as an intellectual hub for the Australian people. ANU is ranked #1 in Australia and recognized as a world-leading university.

The 2017/18 QS World University Rankings placed ANU 20th in the world. In the wake of the establishment of GLA, we will accelerate our development of research and education activities in even closer collaboration with ANU.