This Talk was held in the Kinugasa Campus, on Thursday, May 8, 2014, co-hosted by the Graduate School of International Relations (GSIR) and the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) research program namely "Research Core for Peace with Ritsumeikan Interdisciplinary Studies”. This Talk invited special speaker Professor Claire Turenne-Sjolander from University of Ottawa, Canada.

　Approximately 70 participants attended and listened attentively to Professor Turenne-Sjolander’s resourceful insight and detail material. Attendance asked questions one after another and enjoyed the lively discussions.

Graduate School of International Relations.

https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/gsir/eng

Link R-GIRO research program "Towards New PeaceStudies."

https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/r-giro/eng/projects/peace/peace_studies.html/

For more information, please read

https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/ir/db/student/pdf/Sumarry_of_Public_Talk.pdf

The Graduate School of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, program was recently selected as one of “The International Priority Graduate Programs （PGP）Advanced Graduate Courses for International Students” by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

The Graduate School of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, program “Global Cooperation Program for Japan and ASEAN linkage “ was recently selected as one of “The International Priority Graduate Programs （PGP）Advanced Graduate Courses for International Students” by MEXT.

PGP started in FY 2006 as one of the initiatives by MEXT to support “the globalization of Japanese universities.” The program aims for Japanese universities to implement the following policies or to have a system enabling the implementation of the following policies in the global higher education market:

Understand the exact needs of partner countries/regions and international students, make efforts to actively and effectively receive outstanding international students and offer the unique educational research services and follow-up support of Japanese universities.

 A total of 72 Japanese national, public and private universities applied for PGP. Following the screening, the programs of 37 universities out of 41 universities (including the programs of all three private universities) were selected.

On Friday, March 21, the Ritsumeikan University Undergraduate and Graduate School Fall Graduation Ceremony 2013 was held at Kinugasa Campus. There, 292 students from the College of International Relations and 23 students from the Graduate School of International Relations were awarded Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. At the University-wide graduation ceremony, Ms. SOH, HUI TING (Singapore) gave a speech as the undergraduate student representative. Mr. Tomihito Morimoto (Japan) and Mr. DERRY APLIANTA (Indonesia) also gave speeches as graduate/undergraduate 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.

This seminar was held on the Kinugasa Campus, co-hosted by the Graduate School of International Relations (GSIR) and the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) research program namely "Research Core for Peace with Ritsumeikan Interdisciplinary Studies." This seminar titled “Xi Jinping and His Years Ahead: Is China changing the world or is it a status-quo power?" invited special speaker Professor David Arase from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Professor Arase highlighted China rules establishing Chinese power and norms in East Asia. Professor Arase also unfolded how the rise of China has been the most spectacular process in contemporary international relations. More importantly, how has China’s Foreign Policy developed and how the continuity and change from Deng Xiaoping era, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and the most current one under Xi Jinping’s administration was discussed intensively in this forum. Regarding China’s foreign policy development, not only has regional and international setting influenced China’s perception towards the world, the present domestic dynamics of China are also identified affecting significantly to the extent of China assertiveness and behavior in regional and international arena. The most interesting aspect of Professor Arase's argument is the extent of China has utilized its history to project their current foreign policy: the dream of the past has guided China’s contemporary foreign policy. The conclusion of the seminar includes some policy recommendations to handle China's growing capabilities and power, which has been elevated to a core political issue throughout East Asia and the world. More than 45 participants coming from various Universities in Kansai filled the room. Listening attentively to his resourceful insight and detail material, participants asked questions one after another and enjoyed the lively discussions.

Graduate School of International Relations https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/gsir/eng/

From Tuesday, January 21 to Saturday, January 25 for five days, Yukio Takasu, current Under-Secretary-General, United Nations and also a Visiting Professor of International Relations on Kinugasa Campus, gave a series of lectures titled “Peace-Building and Preventive Diplomacy” to international and Japanese students.

In the lectures, students learned how the role international community should be played towards major threads of international security using keywords such as “Peace Building” and “Preventive Diplomacy” from the perspective of having worked at the United Nations. Rather than passive interest, students actively exchanged their opinions and held discussions. The final lecture ended with massive applause.            

 * Professor TAKASU serves as Under-Secretary-General, United Nations.　He has been teaching at the Graduate School of International Relations,Ritsumeikan University since 2011.

“---The Future of Africa, 今、アフリカを考え直す。---“ was held on Fri,January 24 in the Koshinkan building at Ritsumeikan Kinugasa Campus.
This lecture was arranged by the International Studies Association.
Mr. Naoki Ishihara facilitated this lecture where Dr. Papa Saliou SARR Assistant Professor at the Center for African Area Studies (Kyoto University) discussed “Agricultural Research and Improvement of Local Livelihood in Sub-Saharan Africa: Case study of the SATREPS-FOSAS Project, Cameroon”.

Students from Africa (Madagascar, Uganda, Djibouti) study at our graduate school. It was a good chance for other students to learn about Africa.

This lecture aimed to increase awareness of what is happening in Africa today among Japanese students. Many undergraduate and graduate students attended this lecture and actively participated in discussions.

On Tuesday, November 19, the International Organizations Open Seminar was held titled “Introduction to JICA and Japan’s ODA －toward Inclusive and Dynamic Development－” featuring a lecture by Kyoko Kuwajima, Visiting Professor of the Graduate School of International Relations on Kinugasa Campus.  
Professor Kuwajima discussed on JICA based on her vast hands-on experiences in the international organization. Around 40 students participating actively asked questions one after another. Many students expressed their wish to have these seminars more often in the future.

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013, a special seminar titled “Changing Dynamics of Indonesia's Foreign Policy” with special speaker Dr. Rizal Sukma was held on Kinugasa Campus, co-hosted by the Graduate School of International Relations and the R-GIRO research program, "Towards New Peace Studies."

Dr. Rizal Sukma is Executive Director at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta. He has worked extensively on Southeast Asia, Security Issues, ASEAN, Indonesia Defence and Foreign Policy, Military Reform, Islam and Politics, and Domestic Political Changes in Indonesia. He was named one of 100 Global Thinkers 2009 by Foreign Policy magazine (US). He is also the first Indonesian to receive the Nakasone Award, which he did in July 2005.

Dr Sukma highlights how has Indonesian Foreign Policy has developed, its continuity and changes. Most importantly, Dr. Sukma elaborated why Jakarta places ASEAN as a corner stone of its foreign policy and how Indonesia emphasizes the importance of its strategic partnership with major powers such as Japan, South Korea, and the US.

More than 30 participants from various universities in Kyoto filled the room. Participants listened attentively to Dr.Sakuma’s first-hand information, asked questions one after another, and enjoyed the lively discussions.

On Wednesday, November 6, School of International Relations held a lunch session with College and Graduate School of International Relations students and faculty/staff members to exchange ideas for establishing better support for students from different cultural backgrounds.

For this time, the discussion focused on the Meditation Space located in the Koshinkan building.  School of International Relations set the Meditation Space in 2011 when College of International Relations started Japan’s first English based undergraduate program, “Global Studies Major” and expects to improve its international learning environment for future students.

In the session, participants shared various beneficial ideas on making the most of the space. Furthermore, the discussion extended to general topics such as Haral food, Ritsumeikan Co-op Cafeteria just started to provide it. 

School of International Relations hopes to improve the study environment for not only Muslim students but also other students from different cultural backgrounds. This kind of session is not only good opportunity to consider the learning environment but also the great learning opportunity for students to develop multicultural competence.


Global Studies Major: https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/eng/ir/
College of International Relations: https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/ir/
Graduate School of International Relations:  https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/gsir/

DMDP(Dual Master's Degree Program)is a program organized by Graduate School of International Relations in which students can obtain Master's Degree from two academic institutions in as short as two years by spending one year at each institution.
An International Officer from the University of York(U.K.), one of the DMDP partnership universities visited our school and gave a presentation on her university. A former DMDP student also talked about his experiences at Lancaster University, which helped participants envision a typical DMDP student's life in the U.K.

Please visit GSIR's website
https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/gsir/eng/

Please refer to the following link on DMDP
https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/gr/gsir/features/eng/dmdp/index.html