TOPICS
TOPICS
2024.07.24
・The Saionji Memorial Scholarship (Academically Outstanding Students Category)
・+R Undergraduate College Scholarship
At the award ceremony, a congratulatory speech was given by Dean Nishimura after which the certificates were presented one by one.
I congratulate all the recipients of the scholarships and wish them all the best in their studies.
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Scholarship Award Ceremony was held
On July 23, we held an award ceremony for two scholarships operated by College of IR.
・The Saionji Memorial Scholarship (Academically Outstanding Students Category)
・+R Undergraduate College Scholarship
At the award ceremony, a congratulatory speech was given by Dean Nishimura after which the certificates were presented one by one.
Ms.YOSHIDA Kana and Ms.DIVA Fristika Lordya gave a speech on behalf of the recipients.
2024.07.05
GSG is a course in which students take on the role of real-world actors in the international community, such as states, international organizations, civil society organizations, corporations, and the news media, and engage in simulated international negotiations to address current international issues.
The theme for 2024 is “security.”
Students had been learning in advance from April to June for the live GSG on this day, in a combination of class-by-class and joint classes.
Each actor has 5 to 8 members, and roles (e.g., president, foreign minister, etc.) are assigned within the actor to prepare for international negotiations with other actors.
The GSG is conducted in English by all second-year students of both the Japanese-standard International Relations (IR) major and the English-standard Global Studies (GS) major; thus, another significant benefit of the GSG is that it increases interactions among students beyond their majors.
The live GSG day consists of two to three sessions, representing each session as a year in the real world.Students held diverse international conferences, including the UN General Assembly, and actively participated in international negotiations to resolve real-world issues.
In addition, each actor engaged in activities that took advantage of their distinct characteristics; for example, media actors reported on what was happening in the GSG on the news.
Through their preparation for the GSG and the live GSG, the students were able to experience the difficulties and realities of "international negotiations" that they could not have learned simply by watching television or reading the news.The GSG course helps the students acquire the ability to think from multiple perspectives about why international relations events occur in the real world, as well as provides an opportunity to consider the direction of their studies in the following years and careers.
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AY2024 Global Simulation Gaming was held on June 29
On Saturday, June 29, we held a live Global Simulation Gaming (GSG) class, one of the main events for second-year students in the College of International Relations.
The theme for 2024 is “security.”
On the live GSG day, 338 students were divided into 57 actors.
Each actor has 5 to 8 members, and roles (e.g., president, foreign minister, etc.) are assigned within the actor to prepare for international negotiations with other actors.
In addition, each actor engaged in activities that took advantage of their distinct characteristics; for example, media actors reported on what was happening in the GSG on the news.
Thank you to all the second-year students for your hard work!
2024.06.24
The Ritsumeikan Food Bank were introduced on the university's website (article in Japanese).
2024.06.18
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Report on the guest lecture (Mr. Hiroto MITSUGI, assistant director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nationsin the headquarters)
Mr. Hiroto MITSUGI, who served as an assistant director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in the headquarters of Rome for four and a half years until December 2020, delivered a special lecture on the FAO’s missions and activities on June 18, 2024, in Professor Sachiko ISHIKAWA’s Kokuren-Nyuumon (Introduction to the United Nations) course.
At the beginning of the lecture, students watched a YouTube video about deforestation in the last 50 years, learning the reality that environmental destruction has progressed faster than anticipated. While forests cover one-third of the land on the globe, the statistics show that deforestation is particularly prevalent in Africa and South America.
Mr. Mitsugi stated that Asia’s forests are growing as a result of China’s reforestation efforts.
He also demonstrated the current situation in which deforestation occurs as a consequence of increased production of cacao, coffee beans, rubber, palm oil, and other commodities in order to secure more land for planting them.
Mr. Mitsugi then explained the FAO’s missions and activities. The FAO analyzes the data on global food and agriculture, develops guidelines based on global standards, and conducts monitoring.
The FAO additionally undertakes technical cooperation and capacity development projects.
In terms of the current global food crises becoming acute, Mr. Mitsugi discussed the research that shows that conflicts, poverty, and climate change are key drivers of the problem. Mr. Mitsugi stated that the food crises caused by the Ukraine-Russia war has passed its peak; however, farmlands in Ukraine have been destroyed due to land mines strewn throughout the country.
The FAO is in responsible for monitoring approximately 10 percent of the SDG's 231 indicators.
Mr. Mitsugi noted, whilst the food supply is sufficient for the entire world, the major problem is uneven distribution.
2024.06.07
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ProfessorYoichiro SATO, Professor (and ex-Dean) of College of Asia Pacific Studies at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Dr.Yoichiro SATO, Professor (and ex-Dean) of the College of Asia Pacific Studies at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, was invited as a guest speaker on June 7, 2024, in the Professional Workshop course held by Dr. Astha Chadha. Dr. Sato has previously worked at Kansai Gaidai Hawaii College, University of Auckland, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (US DoD, 2001-2009), and was a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Yusof Ishak Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (2023).
Dr. Sato talked to the students about his academic career at prestigious universities in the US, New Zealand and Japan. His lecture focused on several security issues in the Indo-Pacific including:
1.Japan-US relations
2.Malacca Strait security
3.Japan’s policy towards South Pacific
4.Maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific
The students engaged with the guest speaker, Dr. Sato, regarding career choices after graduation, and the possibility of continuing research in the graduate school. Dr. Sato also talked to students about how it is important to keep oneself updated with skills to maintain competitiveness in the job market.
2024.5.31
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Report on the guest lecture (Professor Hideshi TOKUCHI, President of the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS))
Professor Hideshi TOKUCHI, President of the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS) and former Vice-Minister of Defense for International Affairs (2014-2015), was invited as a guest speaker on May 31, 2024, in the Professional Workshop course held by Dr. Astha Chadha.
Professor Tokuchi graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, completed a master's program at the Fletcher School (M.A.L.D.), and served as the Ministry of Defense's Director-General for Operations Planning, Director-General for Human Resources and Education, Director-General for Accounting and Equipment, Director-General for Defense Policy, and Deputy Director-General for Defense Policy, before his current leadership position at RIPS since 2017.
Professor Tokuchi’s guest lecture explored security as a concept from academic as well as practitioner’s perspective. He emphasized on three main themes:
1. Unique characteristics of security studies in the US, Japan and other states
2. Work of gathering intelligence
3. Importance of holistic approach in international relations
The students engaged with the guest speaker, Professor Tokuchi, and asked him several questions related to his work in the government as well as his research. Prof. Tokuchi also advised students regarding job opportunities after graduation, the required skills to work for the government in security, and how to decide a career in international relations.
2024.05.27
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Report on the guest lecture (Dr.Ksenia Golovina, Lecturer Toyo University)
Dr. Ksenia Golovina conducted the guest lecture on the “Racism and Human Rights” topic. She specializes in Russian migrants in Japan and aspects of their lives, encompassing ethnic and racial issues. In her lecture, Dr. Golovina discussed historical roots of the research on race and ethnicity in the Western and Japanese contexts, provided a variety of case studies on racism, and introduced a scenario-based activity requiring students to apply knowledge learned in the lecture to understand the application of the social concepts learned in class.
At the beginning of the class, students were asked to formulate their own questions for the lecture, which would guide them through the lecture contents. Their questions address the conceptual understanding, social impacts, and personal experiences associated with racism and ethnocentrism. As such, students questioned processes allowing racism to persist and affect societies, in particular the influence of media, education, and historical policies on racial and ethnic identities; the place of mixed-race individuals within racial and ethnic contexts; the evolution of ideas about race and ethnicity in a globalized world; Japan’s position on minority inclusion; the ways race and ethnicity are used to promote political agendas and so on.
By the end of the lecture, students were asked to discuss what they learnt in class and what impacted them the most. Overall, many students mentioned gaining an insight into the historical construction of race by European scholars to justify enslavement and subjugation of African and other non-European peoples. This included the use of pseudoscientific methods and theories to claim the superiority of white people. Through the documentary “A Class Divided,” students observed the immediate and long-term psychological effects of racism, and how quickly and profoundly discriminatory practices can affect individuals, leading to resentment and division based on arbitrary characteristics like eye color. A significant takeaway was the understanding that race is not a biological reality but a social construct.
Many students acknowledged the importance of teaching children about the harmful aspects of discrimination, and led to discussions on how such education could be implemented in different cultural contexts, including Japan. Some students also reflected on their personal experiences with discrimination, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. They discussed the relevance of historical lessons to modern society and considered how to adapt educational methods to address racism effectively. Overall, the lecture and discussions provided students with a deeper understanding of how race and ethnicity have been constructed and perpetuated, the severe impacts of racism, and the crucial role of education in combating discriminatory attitudes and behaviors.