東京大学グローバル教育センターの講師で、メディアスタジオでの制作実習科目のひとつである“Visual Ethnography: Filmmaking for Fieldwork”を担当するディペシュ・カレル（Dipesh KHAREL）さんが制作したドキュメンタリー「希望の灯 アジア女子大学 〜未来を切り拓く女性たち〜」が、2026年3月13日NHKのBSスペシャルで放送されます。

国際女性デーにあわせてNHKが展開する取り組みである「#私らしく」の一環として放送されるものです。番組内容の詳細はこちらでご確認できます。ぜひご覧ください。

（柳志旼）

This documentary project is based on my long-term visual ethnographic research, utilizing the camera as a research tool. The documentary follows the life stories of students at the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Bangladesh. AUW also maintains an academic exchange program with the University of Tokyo.

AUW accepts students from across Asia, particularly from countries where women’s rights and social status remain limited. Many students come from extremely challenging backgrounds, including the lowest castes, impoverished families, conflict zones, and refugee camps. The university is built on a distinctive vision: to improve the status of women through access to higher education.

Established in 2008 in Bangladesh—geographically at the center of Asia—AUW brings together young women whose lives have been shaped by entrenched gender discrimination, structural inequalities, poverty, and ongoing conflicts. Each student carries her own story, and through their personal histories and everyday experiences, the documentary reveals the urgent and complex challenges facing women across Asia today.

Employing visual ethnographic and observational methods, the film closely documents the students’ daily lives on campus. Living together in dormitories, they engage in communal life that fosters leadership, mutual support, and cross-cultural understanding. Campus life is enriched by a wide range of activities, including student clubs, community volunteering, and student governance.

Through this immersive approach, the documentary explores a unique educational environment dedicated to nurturing the next generation of women leaders.

（Dipesh Kharel）