A Living Laboratory for Multicultural Coexistence: An International Program for Thinking and Creativity
The Mei-Writing Spring Camp in Singapore, organized and led by Professor LAI Wai Ling of the Mei-Writing Center, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Nagoya University, was held for the first time from March 4 to 12, 2026, with 10 student participants. Despite being its inaugural year, more than 90% of participants reported high overall satisfaction, and the program fostered vibrant exchange with students from the National University of Singapore (NUS). The results confirmed the program’s strong design and its potential for the future.
You can view the video of this program here.
Multicultural Co-Learning as Structure, Not Just Theme
What sets this program apart is that multicultural co-learning is not merely its theme — it is built into the program’s very structure. The Nagoya University cohort itself brings together undergraduate and graduate students from across the humanities and sciences. With both Japanese students and international students participating side by side, the NU team is already multicultural before it leaves Japan. When these students then form cross-national teams with their NUS peers in Singapore, four distinct layers of diversity — year of study, academic discipline, nationality, and international background — become interwoven, producing a learning environment unlike any other.
Four Pillars of the Program
The program is built around four pillars as outlined in the Spring Camp Concept Diagram.
① Team-Based Learning — students work collaboratively in internationally diverse teams, grounded in trust and mutual respect.
② Singapore Immersion Experience — beyond joint work with NUS, students explore Chinatown, Little India, and Kampong Glam through guided field activities, experiencing the city’s multicultural fabric firsthand. Sessions provided by Inlingua, a leading international language school, focus not on language instruction but on specialist lectures covering Singapore’s history, religions, cultures, and society.
③ Foundational Skills — logical thinking, academic writing, presentation, and English communication are developed organically throughout every stage of the program. These three pillars come together in
④ the Spring Camp Learning Model, which aims to cultivate five core qualities in participants: humor, confidence, intercultural interaction, multiple perspectives, and original thinking.
Multicultural Coexistence as Lived Experience
The program culminates in an original performance script — collaboratively written and performed by NU and NUS students, drawn from their shared experiences in Singapore. Student feedback tells the story: “This was the most unforgettable experience of my university life” and “I absolutely want to come back next year.” These voices reflect a program that leaves multicultural coexistence not as knowledge learned, but as an experience deeply felt.
Next Cohort
The Spring Camp 2027 will be held from Wednesday, March 11 to Saturday, March 21, 2027. Applications are expected to open in autumn. Think, connect, and create in Singapore — one of the world’s most compelling examples of multicultural coexistence. Your journey starts here.
