Jun 6, 2024

The Power of Words

This course examines how words retain power amidst crises, focusing on Japanese and English literature. It explores how words aid in resilience and self-renewal. Emphasis is placed on understanding the role of form in texts and socia interactions to deepen comprehension of expression mechanisms. Students of this course can learn the history of English and Japanese literature, particularly in terms of form as well as how the forms work in written texts and human relationships.

Jan 4, 2021

Four Facets of Contemporary Japanese Architecture: City

This is the third course in the “Four Facets of Contemporary Japanese Architecture” series, which focuses on the third facet: city. After the 1970s, Japanese architects are said to have stopped conceptualizing cities and instead focused on designing the individual buildings that make up the cities. However, as cities continue to undergo significant transformations in response to globalization, the advent of information technologies, and so on, Japanese architects are once again engaging the city, and doing so in unique ways. This course on “City” will review the works of those architects who have attempted to conceptualize cities through their architecture and examine the changes over the last half century as well as the issues for the future. Fumihiko Maki, Itsuko Hasegawa, Riken Yamamoto, Kengo Kuma, Jun Aoki, and Atelier Bow-Wow (Yoshiharu Tsukamoto & Momoyo Kaijima) visit their buildings to discuss the ideas behind their respective works.

KUMA Kengo (University Professor, Office of University Professor, The University of Tokyo) OBUCHI Yusuke (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo)

Mar 4, 2019

Contemporary Japanese Society: What Has Been Happening Behind Demographic Change?

The main aim of this course is to give an overview of how contemporary Japanese society has been stratified, from the perspective of changing demographic, familial, and socio-economic structure. Basic statistics will be presented to provide a concrete idea of the changes that have taken place in Japan. By the end of the course, students should have an awareness of similarities and differences across nations regarding social issues including ageing population, gender gaps in work and family, and socio-economic inequalities.

SHIRAHASE Sawako (Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo)

May 11, 2026

Biomedical Ethics and Public Health Ethics

This course examines the ethical challenges of contemporary healthcare through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on medicine, health sciences, political philosophy, law, philosophy, and ethics. Participants will explore the ethical dilemmas encountered not only by healthcare professionals but also by related practitioners, such as medical interpreters, and learn practical approaches to ethical reasoning and decision-making in professional settings. Using real-world case studies spanning the entire course of human life—from reproductive and genetic medicine to end-of-life care and euthanasia—the course cultivates the ability to analyze complex ethical issues from multiple perspectives and make thoughtful, well-informed judgments.