NEWS

On Tuesday, January 19, 2016, APU students attended a session with APU alumni HARA Yusuke(Collage of Asia Pacific Studies Fall 2009, Japan) with a concentration in International Strategic Studies (now, International Relations and Peace Studies). The session was organized by Associate Professor TAKASHIBA Yukiko, HARA’s seminar supervisor while he was at APU.

HARA shared experiences from his time at APU and after graduation, leading up to his current job at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), where he oversees post-conflict development in Kosovo. After graduating from APU, HARA took courses on international law and human rights, and later earned a Master’s Degree in International Criminal Justice and Armed Conflict in the UK. Before working for OSCE, he interned and worked for various organizations including the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

He stressed the importance of building competencies and extending professional networks with people working in international organizations. According to HARA, by focusing on a certain field of interest, you can become a specialist equipped with deep technical knowledge and practical competencies, as opposed to simply being a generalist; this also allows you to gain the recognition of your colleagues, your employer, and other people in your networks with the same specialization. He suggested that the students should stick with their field of interest once they find it.