We are now facing multiple challenges under the context of globalization: 1) social conflicts, like nationalism, racism, class differentiation, colonial unconsciousness, and so forth; 2) influence from the Cold War era that includes political-economic conditions, population migration, and class struggle as its after effects; 3) democratization movements and construction of a "co-existential" society. All of these issues are urging us to reflect on the history of civil society so that we can design a better future from it. In this regard, universities, especially their research and education in the field of the Humanities, appear to hold a critical responsibility.

In this summer program, we will examine how universities can contribute to the development of civil society, and how the Humanities should respond to the current challenges, particularly within East Asian society. At the previous academic forum in 2015 under our collaborative relationship between the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) and National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), we confirmed the importance of nurturing a trans-Asian academic network for the sake of fulfilling a shared purpose towards the future development of the Humanities. This year, we are going to go even further by pondering and designing the possibilities of the university and civil society in the East Asian context.

The program will consist of two parts: lectures by scholars from UTokyo and NCTU and a discursive session among graduate students from both institutions. In addition to teachers of IHS who will lead the instruction, we will also invite Professor Shunya Yoshimi, the former vice president of UTokyo and the author of What Is University? (Daigaku towa nanika, 2011), and Yuji Nishiyama, associate professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, who have published several works related to the university and Humanities, as special lecturers.

We wish that participation in this program will promote mutual understanding for students from both countries and that this experience will serve to strengthen our friendship under the name of academia, for deeper, long-lasting collaboration. Although our main focus will be placed on the Humanities, we welcome all students from different academic backgrounds from the arts and sciences. We await your application.

Lecturers (Alphabetical Order by Surnames)

Kuan-Hsing Chen 陳光興, NCTU
Yuan-Horng Chu 朱元鴻, NCTU
Tsuyoshi Ishii 石井剛, UTokyo
Shinji Kajitani 梶谷真司, UTokyo
Satofumi Kawamura 川村覚文, UTokyo
Shu-fen Lin 林淑芬, NCTU
Joyce C. H. Liu 劉紀蕙, NCTU
Yuji Nishiyama 西山雄二, Tokyo Metropolitan University
Shunya Yoshimi 吉見俊哉, UTokyo

Detail of the Conference:

All student participants are required to attend all sessions of 4-day conference. Graduate students' session will be conducted on September 11 (Sunday), the last day of the summer program, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Each student participant should make a presentation in line with the subject of the Conference. Presentation time for each will be about 30 minutes including Q&A.

Program:

September 8, Thursday: Room 515, the 5^th building

9:45-9:55 Opening Remarks, Tsuyoshi Ishii

10:00-11:30 Lecture 1, Shunya Yoshimi, "Cultural Sustainability and the Redefinition of Humanities: The Role of University in the 21^st century Globalized Society"

13:00-14:30 Lecture 2, Kuan-Hsing Chen, "Envisioning a grounded global intellectual movement"

15:00-16:30 Lecture 3, Tsuyoshi Ishii, "Imagining the Community of 'Wen' - Humanities from East Asian Discourse"

September 9, Friday: Room 515, the 5^th building

10:00-11:30 Lecture 4, Joyce C. H. Liu, "Coloniality of Epistemology vs. Corporeal Knowledge"

13:00-14:30 Lecture 5, Yuji Nishiyama, "What Remains from Philosophers' Reflections on the University?"

15:00-16:30 Lecture 6, Yuan-Horng Chu, "University and Four generations of my family: a Slice of China-Taiwan's Social History since 1930s"

September 10, Saturday: Room K303, the 21KOMCEE West

10:00-11:30 Lecture 7, Shu-Fen Lin, "East Asia as Paradox"

13:30-15:00 Lecture 8, Shinji Kajitani, "Working with Citizens - Transdisciplinarity and Responsibility of University"

September 11, Sunday: Room K303, the 21KOMCEE West

9:00-13:00 Student Session, Moderator: Satofumi Kawamura

*Each presentation including Q&A will be 30 minutes

Notes for Application/How to Apply:

1. If you are interested in applying for the program, please email us at the e-mail address of IHS Project2 (refer to the contact information below) with your abstract attached by Friday, June 10. In case the number of applicants exceeds capacity, we carry out the selection process.
2. Please submit the title and an abstract of the presentation. Abstract should be no more than 300 words in length, written in English.
3. This program is one of the fieldworks provided by the Project 2 in the spring semester, so you can earn credits by participating (coordinated by Prof. Kajitani). However, we, needless to say, welcome everyone who is interested in.
4. Student participants are required to submit the activity report after the event ends.
5. Please take note that we record all activities in the ways of taking photos, videos, and audios, with a possibility to utilize them for activity reports. We assume these points are shared and agreed enough when you decide to participate in the activities.

Contact Information:

E-mail: project2[at]ihs.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp