Previous Events - 東京カレッジ

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Economic Policies under Japan’s New Cabinet: Wish List and Prospects

イベント予定パネルディスカッション/Panel discussion共催/Joint Event

Friday, 8 November 2024 8:00 - 9:15 JST

Japan had two elections—LDP President (September 27) and House of Representatives (October 27)—that elected a new prime minister. During the two elections, many economic policy proposals were presented and debated. The webinar will discuss economic policies that are likely to be adopted and those that are unlikely to be adopted but desirable for the Japanese economy.

50 Ways to Kill a Robot (Lecture by Prof. Jennifer ROBERTSON)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Tuesday, 5 November 2024 10:30-12:00 JST

The idiom “50 Ways” in my title should not be taken as a literal metric. “Fifty” is a simply a metaphor for a number larger than a few. In his hit song, “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover” (1975), Paul Simon provides six ways to leave. In this paper, I will review a number of ways to “kill” a robot together with some of the ways that robots “die.” Death here is broadly defined as the permanent ending of vital processes. I will also review how “deceased” robots are handled. My cultural area focus is primarily Japan and the United States. Both humans and robots are, in several respects, electrical entities, and so in my concluding remarks, I address the question of what happens to each after the electricity is out.

Exploring Queer Fantasy Work in Idol Fandom Culture Across East and Southeast Asia (Lecture by Dr. Thomas BAUDINETTE)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Friday, 1 November 2024 14:00-15:30 JST

Within this presentation, Prof. Baudinette argues that the fundamentally transformative nature of fan subjectivity encourages the production of queer fantasies tied to idols that marginalized social subjects can utilize to critique the social structures which disadvantage them. He unpacks how LGBTQ+ fans across Asia transform idol fandom into a queer space where their fantasy work creates transnational solidarities grounded in the political project of queer emancipation. Through this discussion, he theorizes “queer fantasy work” as it is tied to idol fandom as an explicitly political force in contemporary Asian culture designed to actively produce a more egalitarian and hopeful world.

Queer Demography in Japan: Decentering Universalized Knowledge of Gender and Sexuality in the West (Lecture by Prof. HIRAMORI Daiki)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Thursday, 24 October 2024 15:00-16:30 JST

In this talk, Prof. Hiramori will present findings from his methodological studies to develop questions to measure sexual orientation and gender identity on population-based surveys in the Japanese context. He will also examine the issue of heterosexual respondents being misclassified as non-heterosexual and the difficulty of fully separating heterosexual and non-heterosexual people in survey data. He will conclude the talk by discussing the findings from his latest study that half of those who select “other” as their gender on surveys may be cisgender women, even though this category was meant to capture non-binary respondents.

Transnational Think Tanks: Shaping Futures (Lecture by Prof. Christina GARSTEN)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Wednesday, 23 October 2024, 10:30-12:00 JST

This talk addresses the creation of future narratives in US-based, transnational think tanks, with a view to the combinatorial use of metrics, imagination, and speculation. What kinds of knowledge is brought into play and created? What are the tools and technologies used in future foresight exercises? How are the outcomes of future foresight exercises made credible and authoritative? The talk also discusses how seemingly playful exercises are rendered powerful as significant resources for future leadership, and thus potentially performative.

[Rescheduled] Feminisms Beyond the Nation-State in East Asia (Lecture by Prof. Vera MACKIE)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Wednesday, 16 October 2024 15:00-16:30 JST

There are some feminist issues which are appropriately addressed to the government of one nation-state, while others necessarily cross borders: such as issues to do with migration, imperialism, multinational capitalism. Wherever feminists have attempted to deal with such issues with their sisters in other countries they have been engaged in ‘transnational feminism’, or ‘feminism beyond the nation-state’. This talk will survey some examples of ‘feminism(s) beyond the nation-state’ from the late twentieth century to the present.

Transtopia: A Keyword for Our Century (Lecture by Prof. Howard CHIANG)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Friday, 6 September 2024, 9:00-10:30 JST

In this lecture, Howard CHIANG proposes a new paradigm for doing transgender history in which geopolitics assumes central importance. Defined as the antidote to transphobia, transtopia challenges a minoritarian view of transgender experience and makes room for the variability of transness on a historical continuum.

”Does AI make people happy?” ”Is it dangerous?” – Global AI Dialogue Call for Participants in Interactive workshop on Artificial Intelligence

対話/Dialogue

Saturday, 24 August, 2024, 10:00 - 13:30 (Doors open: 9:45)

This workshop will deal with three case studies: (1) AI for generating text and images, (2) facial recognition technology, and (3) child abuse response systems, providing participants with an opportunity to gain more in-depth knowledge and information about the use and impact of AI. At the same time, participants will share their perspectives on their expectations and concerns about AI.

Panel discussion “The Economy of Japan Viewed from the Outside” (Speakers: Prof. Takatoshi ITO, Prof. Nobuhiro KIYOTAKI)

イベント予定パネルディスカッション/Panel discussion

Friday, 23 August 2024, 16:00-17:30 JST

This panel discussion will feature two distinguished Japanese economists from overseas. They will discuss the current situation of the Japanese economy and the challenges it faces. This discussion will provide new insights into the Japanese economy from an international perspective.

UTokyo’s Unbalanced Gender Ratio: An Interactive Roundtable

座談会/Roundtable

Thursday, 25 July 2024 15:00-16:30 (Doors open: 14:30)

Why is the gender ratio at UTokyo so unbalanced? What can we do to solve this problem? This event will explore these questions through an interactive roundtable that will feature UTokyo professors, researchers, and students. The panelists will share their different perspectives on this pressing disparity, followed by open discussion with the audience. We welcome students and community members with diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

Peace, security and Artificial Intelligence

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Friday, 12 July 2024, 14:00-15:00

This lecture will delve into the inherent risks that AI systems pose across the broader security domain, which are mentioned above, and will conclude with some insights on proposed governance models to prevent and mitigate the risks associated with these technologies. The afore include the need to elaborate binding norms, standards, and guidelines, as well as oversight, monitoring, validation and verification functions through a centralised authority with the appropriate mechanisms to enforce these regulations and ensure compliance through accountability, remedies for harm and emergency responses.

Book Launch “The Faraway Sky of Kyiv. Ukrainians in the War” (Lecture by Dr. Olga KHOMENKO)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Friday, 28 June 2024, 15:30-16:30

On July 25, 2023, Chuo Koron Shinsha published Dr. Komenko's book, 'The Faraway Sky of Kyiv. Ukrainians in the War', offering a unique perspective on the war in Ukraine.
This book originated from her experience of the war in Ukraine and stories from family members, friends, and former students. Her motivation to write this book came from being interviewed by Japanese media in early 2022. The questions she was asked lacked general knowledge of Ukrainian history and culture; therefore, she decided not to give any further interviews and to focus on writing in Japanese to provide a voice for Ukrainians instead.

A Cultural History of Hacking (Lecture by Prof. Federico MAZZINI)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Monday, 24 June 2024, 15:00-15:45

The traditional historical narrative locates the birth of hacker culture in US universities in the 1960s. This talk will look at hackers as part of a longer chronology, beginning with science fiction novels at the end of the 19th century, continuing with radio hams in the 1910s and "phone phreaks" in the 1970s, and ending with computer hackers in the late 20th century. It will examine both what hackers and proto-hackers wrote about themselves and how they were perceived by the print media. It will show not only that hacker culture existed before computers, but also that it is an integral part of modern Western technoculture, influencing its ideas about innovation and positive human-machine relationships, as well as media coverage of technology and online communication strategies.

The Salon ー Conversations with Prominent Professors at the University of Tokyo (Season 2)

イベント予定対話/Dialogue

Every Friday from June 7, 2024 (Available from 17:00 JST)

“The Salon” is a dialogue series featuring distinguished scholars in the humanities at the University of Tokyo that aims to transcend disciplinary boundaries. It is hosted by Professor Naoko Shimazu of Tokyo College.The conversations occur over a cup of coffee. We invite you to listen to an informal discussion between experts in different fields, as if you are sitting next to them.This is a chance to see a new side of our guests that you have never seen before.

The Future of Globalization: A History (Lecture by Bill EMMOTT)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Tuesday, 4 June 2024, 16:00-17:30 JST

We are in an era in which globalization -- the connection of countries through trade, finance and ideas -- appears to be in retreat, as geopolitical tensions force governments to prioritize economic security and to try to "de-risk". Yet this is not the first time when globalization has been said to be reversing. By looking into history, we can understand what factors will truly determine the future course of globalization.

Family-run Medical Institutions in Japan (Lecture by Prof. Roger GOODMAN)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Thursday, 30 May 2024, 14:00-15:30 JST

Around 80% of all hospitals and around 90% of clinics in Japan are private. Of these private institutions in total, up to 75% are family-run. This lecture sets out to fill a puzzling gap in the literature by describing the development and significance of dōzoku keiei iryō hōjin in the context of how the health system as a whole operates in Japan.

Central Banks in the 21st Century (Lecture by Prof. Luiz Awazu PEREIRA DA SILVA)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Wednesday, May 29th, 2024, 15:00-16:30 JST

Central banks, and central bankers, stand at a crossroads. They face five major forks in the 21st century requiring careful reflection: (1) the re-emergence of inflation and uncertainties; (2) climate change; (3) inequality; (4) digital financial innovation; and (5) artificial intelligence. Modern central banks have always strengthened their analytical thinking when facing challenges in the past, balancing risks properly and choosing the best path. Now, these new issues imply that central banks will have to carefully identify and analyze their challenging implications.

The Putative Unity of the West: On Anthropological Difference (Lecture by Prof. SAKAI Naoki)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Friday, 17 May 2024, 14:00-15:30 pm JST

The modern world's international landscape is shaped by an investment in anthropological difference since the emergence of "Europe" in the early modern era. This difference, distinguishing humanitas from anthropos, is anticipatory, guiding humanity's path as a regulative idea rather than a factual norm. It consolidates dichotomies such as Europe/Asia, West/Rest, and white/colored, fostering intricate affiliations. This lecture delves into the identity politics of whiteness, where individuals invest in European culture, Western civilization, and a race devoid of color. However, true belonging remains putative, only realized through contrast with the non-European, non-Western, and non-white.

Thinking through Permafrost (Lecture by Prof. Sabine DULLIN)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Tuesday, 14 May, 2024, 16:30-18:00 JST

In this lecture, Prof. Dullin will discuss how Permafrost was invented as a scientific issue, while also being a natural and meaningful ground for the native communities living on it. Then, she will show how Permafrost took, at the turn of the 21st century, a political meaning in the search for sovereignty in different Arctic substates, such as Yakutia.

What is a Global Historian’s Archive? (Lecture by Prof. Martin DUSINBERRE)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Friday, 10 May 2024, 10:30-12:00 JST

This lecture follows the Yamashiro-maru steamship across Asian and Pacific waters, innovatively reconstructing the lives of migrants who left Japan for work in Hawai'i, Southeast Asia and Australia in the late-nineteenth century. These stories bring together transpacific historiographies of settler colonialism, labour history and resource extraction in new ways. Drawing on an unconventional and deeply material archive, the lecture addresses key questions of method and authorial positionality in the writing of global history.

The Origin and Rise of Homo sapiens (Lecture by Prof. Jean-Jacques HUBLIN)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Thursday, 9 May 2024, 2:00-3:30 pm

The landscape of human evolution is marked by the diversification of archaic lineages, with various African populations having shaped the emergence of "modern" forms of Homo sapiens. Though "Green Sahara" climatic phases facilitated the migration of African populations, the expansion of Homo sapiens had little connection to environmental factors. This expansion saw the replacement of local populations and profound cultural transformations, ultimately resulting in the spread of a singular human species that continues to shape our environment today.

Conscience and Complexity (Lecture by Prof. Alexander R. GALLOWAY)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Tuesday, 7 May 2024, 10:00-11:00 am JST

Complexity questions the duality of existence, favoring multiplicity over singularity. In philosophy, Leibniz and Deleuze explored this intricacy. Mathematicians like Cantor, Gödel, and Turing delineated the boundaries of rationality. Freud and Lacan proposed the psyche's autonomy and symbolic realm. This ongoing discourse reaffirms metaphysics' relevance in contemporary thought, highlighting a preference for complexity.

Bringing Dark Heritage to Light: Monuments to Wartime Foreign Laborers in Japan (Lecture by Prof. Andrew GORDON)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Friday, 26 April 2024, 14:00-15:30 JST

Monuments mourning the deaths of wartime foreign laborers bring to mind two meanings of the term “dark” in relation to heritage: the commemoration of tragic episodes in history and the importance of little known, nearly hidden monuments to this history. What messages are conveyed at these doubly dark locations?


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