Video Library & Student Voices

Look Inside GDP

Please explore our program and campus life at the Discovery Program for Global Learners (GDP) through presentations and interviews by faculty members and students.
Learn more about our education and community and find out what makes GDP different.

• Voice of Graduates
• Virtual Tour
• Interview with the Professors
• Sample Lectures
• Welcome Messages from GDP Students
• Student Voices

Disclaimer: Some videos contain dated information. Please check the homepage for updates.

Voice of Graduates

Interviews with recipients of the 2021 graduate student awards from GDP’s first October batch. Find out how they spent their time at GDP since entering in October 2017 and how they accomplished academic and personal goals; click here for reading their interviews.  

Virtual Tour

A Short Film “My Okayama”

Students created a short film in March 2021 as a class project in the spring intensive course “Practical Course on Creative Film Making”. Students learned basic rules and tips for film making from the special instructor, John Wells, who is a professional cinematographer/visual anthropologist.

“Welcome to the Discovery Program”

A group of students created this video in June 2020 as a class project in the Discovery Seminar I, a required course for first-year students. Students collaborated as a team, worked hard, and enjoyed this learning experience.

Created by
　● Tsukasa Oka (Japan/Australia) – narration
　● May Myat Su Kyi (Myanmar)
　● Natsuha Tanino (Japan)
　● Norika Mawatari (Japan)

Interview with the Professors

Five GDP professors share their passions and talk about “Unique features of the Discovery Program” and “Who will be a good fit with this program?”.

Topics mentioned by each professor in the video
　● “My teaching philosophy” by Professor CHUNG Haeng-ja (Cultural Diversity and Communities)
　● “Project-based teaching” by Professor YOSHIOKA Takayuki (Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship)
　● “Think globally, act locally” and “Okayama is a paradise” by Professor GONG Yuanyuan (Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship)
　● “My own student life in Okayama” by Professor Md Azhar Uddin (Transdisciplinary Sciences)
　● “Academic Japanese” by Professor USHIDA Eiko (Mentor, Japanese Language Education)

Sample Lectures

Here are some of the lectures recorded for GDP’s admission events. Please watch to get a feel of what each class is like.

1. Personality

Professor Yuanyuan Gong（Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship)

Professor Gong earned a Ph.D. in Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and teaches many classes including “Leadership”, “Business Ethics”, and “Human Resource Management”. In this 20 minute sample lecture, she talks about what personality is using a popular personality test.

2. What is Work?

Professor Yumiko Yamamoto（Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship)

Professor Yamamoto earned a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Utah and teaches many classes including “Introduction to Microeconomics”, “Japanese Economy and Gender”, and “Trade Policy and Development”. In this 13 minute sample lecture, she talks about unpaid work which closely relates to the SDG Goal 5 “Gender equality and women empowerment”.

Note. The lecture starts after a short introduction at 1:30.

3. Nonrenewable and Renewable Resources

Professor MD. Azhar Uddin (Transdisciplinary Sciences)

Professor Azhar earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and teaches many classes including “Fundamentals of Chemistry”, “Mathematics for Physical Chemistry”, and “Biomass and Bioenergy”. In this 10 minute sample lecture, he talks about renewable energy which closely relates to the SDG Goal 7 “Affordable and clean energy”. The lecture ends with a unique demonstration showing how geothermal energy works.

Welcome Messages from GDP Students

Please watch the first promotional video created by our students (2018).

Our students strived during the COVID-19 pandemic and looked forward to welcoming new students around the globe (2020).

What is GDP?
“…This video is for all applicants, incoming students, and all those families and friends who have no idea what you are about to go through to save some time and energy explaining. I will make it easier for you…” WATCH MORE

Alyana Reina Quinto Morales (watch to find where she is from) – Joined GDP in October, 2019
Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Why I came to Japan and applied to GDP
“…I am half Japanese…After high school, I knew I wanted to come to Japan…I am interested in business management, politics, and non-profit organization. So I take courses related to these fields… I am not limited to just focusing on one field… ” WATCH MORE

Sonava Tadao (Cambodia) – Joined GDP in October, 2019
Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship
*Recipient of the Japanese Government (MEXT) Super Global University Scholarship 2021

What Makes GDP Stand Out
“…One class impressed me the most in Culture Cluster is called Peoples of Japan, the class offered by Professor Haeng-ja Chung…We had an opportunity to visit a Korean primary and junior high school…” WATCH MORE

Yushi Song (China) – Joined GDP in October, 2019
Cultural Diversity and Communities
*Recipient of the Discovery Scholarship 2021

GDP-insights on course content, teachers, and more!
“…I consider as life-changing to me because they challenged my mental disposition, a skill set, and the way I see myself as a member of global society… Contemporary Migration in Global Perspective. It’s a course taught by Professor Haruna Miyagawa…” WATCH MORE

Pandita Suthanporn (Thailand) – Joined GDP in October, 2017
Cultural Diversity and Communities
*Recipient of the UWC-ISAK Nippon Foundation Scholarship 2017-2021

Study at the Matching Track in Japanese
“…I am now preparing myself to study at the Matching Track which I will take classes conducted mainly in Japanese…However, I am also taking classes in the Discovery Track; core faculty teach their classes in English. I find them awesome…” WATCH MORE

Ingyn Phoo (Myanmar) – Joined GDP in April, 2020
Matching Track – Faculty of Engineering

Day In the Life: Peach Part Time Job
“…Okayama is known as the “Kingdom of the Fruits” and the folktale of “Momotaro” (Peach Boy) is said to be based on Okayama’s peaches…” WATCH MORE

Otomi Tochika (Hawaii) – Joined GDP in October, 2020

Student Voices

Our faculty members and students come from diverse backgrounds and bring rich experiences from different parts of the world. Currently, students from more than 30 countries and regions are studying in an interdisciplinary and bilingual environment.

What is it like to study at the Discovery Program?