Guest Speaker: Hazuki Sasaki. Ph.D. Student in Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, Japan.

The purposes of the workshop were to figure out the big picture of current trends in terrorism and counter-terrorism, exposed the tentative results of the current research, and identified the new theoretical framework for global governance.

This workshop analyzed why and how complex governance remained in the area of counterterrorism.  In particular, the workshop touched upon the most current issue namely propaganda and to what extent propaganda has worked in terrorism and counter-terrorism.  In the last part of the workshop, the audience had an opportunity to identify who and how to protect ordinary citizens from the influence of terrorist propaganda.

Approximately 30 participants attended the workshop.

・Philip Tutu

 Representative to Washington, DC

      Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N)

・Esther Sprague

Founder and director of Sudan Unlimited

Movie event was held in Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Campus, on November 26, 2015, hosted by the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) and Ritsumeikan University's Graduate School of International Relations.  Approximately 80 students attended the event.

The event consist of two parts: first part is watching a movie, “Madina’sFream” which is the story of rebels and refugees fighting to survive in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. Second part is discussion via skype with two prominent guest. One is Philip Tutu, a representative to Washington, DC, Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and the other is Esther Sprague, a founder and director of Sudan Unlimited, which is a non-profit that seeks to support all Sudanese and Southern.

Screening of parts of the film “Madina’s Dream” that offers a stirring portrayal of the crisis in Sudan, featuring one-of-a-kind footage and gripping testimonials to explore the human cost of conflict.

Students joined discussions actively. International students including the United States, Korea, and African countries eagerly listen to the explanations by the guests.  

Guest Speaker:

Kees Biekart, Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, which is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR).

This talk elaborated the following aspects: (1) how international NGOs can support civic-driven change processes to engage in advocacy in fragile states; (2) to what extent polycentric governance processes can provide space to overcome systematic exclusion of disadvantaged groups; (3) how capable civil society organizations can enter into dialogue and negotiation with their governments to arrive at inclusive forms of governance. In particular, the talk also explored the idea behind the civic-driven change and figured out the role played by international aid agencies and looked at the conditions needed for realizing the civic-driven change in a setting in which states are either absent or illegitimate because of their authoritarian nature. Among the conclusion are International NGO can expand civic space as the key condition for civic-driven change (CDC), provide international solidarity and links with global networks, and avoid traditional development aid.

The Special Talk was held in Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Campus, on November 25, 2015, hosted by the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) and Ritsumeikan University's Graduate School of International Relations.  Approximately 75 participants attended the workshop.

Guest Speaker: Gianluca BONANNO (Dr., International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, Japan, 2011) is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University; a research associate at the Mekong River Commission Secretariat; and a visiting research associate at the Asian Development Bank. He is a member of many academic associations dealing with Southeast Asia. He is a consultant at the International Criminal Police Organisation and the European Police Office for the trans-national crime. He serves as an international advisory board member for the Greater Mekong Sub-region Academic and Research Network. His main research interest is in trans-boundary issues in the Greater Mekong Sub- region (mainland Southeast Asia) and beyond, particularly the multi-faceted socio-economic development of border zones and its broader political implications.

The workshop discusses the gap between theory construction and its implementation in the day-to-day life. At the most basic, Dr. BONANNO argued that all the academic works should contribute and improve humanity and the quality of life of the human being. Dr. BONANNO elaborated the significance of how the academic products could inform the decision makers to formulate appropriate policies for the society. In particular, He exposed examples how the academic outcomes help to reduce human trafficking in the border of Cambodia and Thailand and assist people in solving the environmental challenge such as drought in Indonesia. 

The workshop was held in Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Campus, on November 12, 2015, hosted by the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) and Ritsumeikan University's Graduate School of International Relations.

Approximately 35 participants attended the workshop.

Guest Speaker: Ms. Slavica Ninic is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at Kobe University Graduate School of Law. In 2012, she earned her MA in Political Science at the same graduate school. After graduating in 2004 from Belgrade University Faculty of Philology, she enrolled Belgrade University Graduate School of Political Science, switching her major from Japanese language and culture to International Relations IR. Her main research interests today are in IR theory and gender issues. Since 2013, she has been a Research Fellow at EU Institute Kansai, and in September 2015 she became a part-time Training Management in Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). She actively involved in volunteering activities aimed at the promotion of cultural exchange and understanding and support of persons from socially marginalized groups.

The attractive points of the workshop were that the speaker had both exposed the content of gender equality in Japanese Armed Forces and spotlighted its research process. The workshop especially underlined how the steps of research had been conducted and what kinds of challenge and difficulties raised in the way. As the result, the participants of the workshop could hear the content and the process of the study. Most importantly, the participant could learn a lot that there is no royal road to science to step paths and to have a chance of gaining its luminous summits.

The workshop was held in Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Campus, on November 5, 2015, hosted by the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) and Ritsumeikan University's Graduate School of International Relations.

Approximately 35 participants attended the workshop.

This lecture interestingly described and explained how International Law and Convention of Diplomatic Protection have been constructed and how they have been practically implemented. The discussion was especially bold the States’ Responsibility in International Protection of Human Rights and underlined how they have been used and employed. The speaker showed many cases to learn.

Approximately 30 participants attended the workshop.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Tomoko Yamashita is JSPS Post-doctoral Research Fellow at Kyoto University. She holds a Ph.D. (2015), LL.M. (2009) and LL.B. (2007) from Kobe University and Master complémentaire en droit international (2012) from Université libre de Bruxelles.  She researches and publishes in the areas of international criminal law, international investment and human rights with a special focus on questions of jurisdiction.

On Wednesday, September 25, the Ritsumeikan University Undergraduate and Graduate School Spring Graduation Ceremony 2015 was held at Suzaku Campus. There, 37 students from the College of International Relations and 8 students from the Graduate School of International Relations were awarded Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
At the University-wide graduation ceremony, Ms. MEHARI Kebrallem (UK) gave a speech as the student representative. Ms. Jun Sakakibara (Japan) and Ms. BOGAN Camreon Catllyn (U.S.A.) also gave speeches as student representatives at the departmental ceremony. Many family members and friends of graduates, faculty and staff members were there to celebrate. Graduates will soon start their new careers here in Japan and around the world.