Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 13:30–14:30 JST

This presentation will describe environmental interventions to prevent obesity and non-communicable diseases in urban food environments. Dr. Gittelsohn will highlight strategies, impacts and lessons learned from the Baltimore Healthy Food initiatives, as well as the work of other researchers. Evidence shows that combining educational, environmental, and policy approaches improves access to and consumption of healthier foods, though impacts on obesity remain modest. His current work explores digital tools, restaurant and systems science approaches. Findings underscore the need for sustainable, community-engaged strategies to strengthen food environments and reduce chronic disease risk.

Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 15:30-16:30 JST

Wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense, even in historically less affected regions. This talk examines the drivers, consequences, and management of changing wildfire dynamics. A more flammable landscape—shaped by climate change, land abandonment, and afforestation—is intensifying fire regimes globally. While most of the 780 million hectares that burn annually are low-intensity savanna fires, high-intensity, destructive wildfires are increasing. Fire is an ancient ecological process with both benefits and harms, shaping ecosystems yet threatening lives and property. As suppression alone is insufficient, I advocate proactive adaptation through prevention, restoration, land-use planning, coordination, and improved fire literacy.

Tuesday, 11th October 2022, 3:00-6:00 pm

Thursday, 6 October 2022 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm JST

Ancient Jewish and Indian ritual texts may serve as models for environmental dilemmas, bridging ancient and modern worlds. Sacrificial rituals create waste and sanctuaries become filled with residues of materia sacra. Three distinct attitudes towards such leftovers are indicative of three ritual-environmental conceptions: reuse, exclusion, and neutralization.

Saturday 1 & Sunday 2, October 2022

“Who are we on social media” – Tokyo College partnered with The German culture center Goethe Institut Tokyo to explore this question in a hybrid festival that will take place on October 1&2 at the art space BUoY in Tokyo’s Kitasenju district. It will bring together academic and artistic positions.

Friday, 30 September 2022, 10:00 am-12:00 pm

The talk will look at key themes to understand our daily relationship with technology and more broadly the role of technology in society, emphasizing both changes and historical continuity. The following topics will be addressed, challenging widespread stereotypes in contemporary public discourse about technology: "How technology changes us," "Why technology is not neutral," "The reason not only digital technology matters," and "Why society and politics are often displaced by technology."

Tuesday, 13 September 2022, 5:00-6:30pm

How relevant are theoretical frameworks developed in the U.S. and Europe for understanding patterns of family change and socioeconomic inequality in Japan? I begin to address this question by synthesizing the results of several recent papers on socioeconomic differences in family demographic behavior and children’s well-being in Japan.

Wednesday, 24 August 2022 3:00pm-4:30pm JST

In this webinar, Prof. Kiyotaki discusses how production and income distribution interact with accumulation of intangible capital over time and across individuals. He constructs an economic model in which the younger generation acquires and accumulates intangible capital through the on-the-job training. He shows that, although the development of mid-career labor markets improves the match between firms and workers, such development may increase inequality and lead to long-term stagnation. In response, he will examine the effects of policies that promote basic education and the acquisition of skills outside of firms.

Friday, 29 July 2022, 3:00-5:00 pm (Doors open: 2:30 pm)

The Russo-Ukrainian War is changing the structure of international order and security in Western Europe. Did it mend the EU's diplomatic and security divisions in Western Europe, or did it reaffirm them?
How is Japan's response to the war in Russia and Ukraine perceived in the West, and how will it affect Japan's future relations with Western nations?

Tuesday, 19 July 2022 5:00−6:40pm JST / 9:00am-10:40am BST

We invite you to discuss an international bestseller Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? with its author Katrine Marçal and a group of Tokyo College researchers.

Tuesday, 12 July 2022, 1:00-2:45 pm (Doors open: 12:30 pm)

The war in Ukraine has shaken our confidence in peace and prosperity within Europe and beyond. What is needed to overcome such a crisis in international relations? H.E. Herman Van Rompuy, President Emeritus of the European Council, leads the discussion by sharing his insights on the future of Europe and Japan which will be followed by Q&A sessions with students and others.

Available Friday, 24 June 2022 after 5PM

In this event, disability advocates Judy Heumann and Mark Bookman discuss the past, present, and future of accessibility and inclusion in the United States and Japan. Touching on barriers in built environments, education, employment, and entertainment systems, as well as activist movements and anti-discrimination policies, the two help to highlight a path towards creating a more diverse society in which nobody is excluded.

Thursday, 23 June 2022, 4:00-5:30 pm (Doors open: 3:30 pm)

In 2022, we are commemorating the centennial of Marcel Proust's death with an extraordinary salvo of publications, exhibitions, and acclamations. “Proust is the man of the year,” advertised the Italian magazine La Repubblica on New Year’s Day. It gives us an occasion to evaluate the magnitude of his novel, Remembrance of Things Past or In Search of Lost Time, and also to compare this anniversary with the previous one, 1971, a century after Proust’s birth. His star hasn’t stopped rising.

Available Early June 2022 (on Tokyo College YouTube Channel)

It has been said that by executing algorithms in the same way, there is no difference between the human brain and AI (artificial intelligence). Is this really the case? What does it mean to be “human”? To be an “AI”? What can current AI do and not do?
In anticipation of a future in which humans and AI coexist, we discuss what we should keep in mind and what we can do to prepare.