On June 20, 2025 (Friday), EAA held the 10th session of 2025 Academic frontier Lecture Series, titled “Toward the World 30 Years from Now: The Changing Kyoyo, the Changeable Kyoyo” at the Komaba Campus. The featured speaker, Professor Shinji Kajitani from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, delivered a lecture titled “The Openness and Transversality of Scholarship.”

Drawing on experience in his own field, Prof. Kajitani examined the evolving role of liberal arts education in universities and explored the potential and challenges of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. He argued that liberal arts should not be reduced to the mere accumulation of knowledge. Rather, they should be understood as a form of praxis—emerging through the crossing of disciplinary boundaries and active engagement with society beyond academia. Kajitani critically observed that much of today’s so-called interdisciplinary research remains confined within traditional disciplinary frameworks, often exhibiting institutional, interpersonal, and psychological closure. He advocated for a model of scholarship that can maintain disciplinary rigor while actively cultivating meaningful collaborations with local communities and industry partners. On the other hand, he emphasized that socially-engaged research must be grounded in mutual trust and reciprocal benefit, highlighting the ethical responsibility of researchers to contribute positively to the communities with which they engage.

Referring to his experiences at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto and in fieldwork conducted in Futaba-cho, Fukushima, Kajitani illustrated how stepping out of the “expert” role and participating as an “ordinary person” can enable scholars to build more authentic, reciprocal relationships with communities. His lecture resonated strongly with students and inspired critical discussions about the future of university education and the need to reimagine the openness of academic practice, which served as a perfect conclusion to the 10th session of 2025 Academic frontier Lecture Series.

Photograph and Report by Lau Sze Ho (EAA Research Assistant)