As the part of embodying an internationalisation spirit, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, ITS, hosted the University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) Discovery Camp 2023. This program offers an incredible opportunity for students to experience student exchange, and it successfully took place from the 5th to the 17th of February 2023 in Surabaya and Semarang.
UMAP is a student exchange program that has been established since 1991, and Indonesia has joined the membership of this particular program since 2019. Throughout the years, the UMAP consortium has been promoting student exchange among 600 universities accross 36 countries in Asia and Pacific Rim region. In this year’s UMAP edition, ITS and Universitas Islam Sultan Agung (Unissula) Semarang got the opportunity to host this wonderful program.
During the first week, all participants spent the activities in ITS including campus tour activity, then the following week the journey continued in Unissula. The program consists of mini-lectures from doctors and professors, guests from the city government departments, embassies, famous personalities, video presentations, discussions, master classes, case studies/subgroup work, and homework. In Surabaya, the students had not only formal courses but also outdoor activities such as watching traditional dances, visiting schools and playing traditional Indonesian sports to get closer with the culture of Indonesia and Surabaya.
The UMAP Discovery Camp 2023 provided participants with the chance to immerse themselves in different cultures and meet people from various backgrounds, with the added benefit of gaining academic credits and enhancing their language skills. By conducting this program, it is expected that participants could gain new horizon of perspective of cultures in Indonesia (particularly Surabaya and Semarang) as well as promoting Indonesia to others.