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2021.06.14

【Call for Applications】2021 EAA Summer Institute with Peking University

2021 EAA Summer Institute with Peking University

Program Description:
The East Asian Academy of New Liberal Arts (EAA) annually holds a joint Summer Institute with Peking University. Two features characterize the Institute: (1) faculty members from the University of Tokyo and Peking University alternate each year to provide intensive lectures on classic texts from East to West, with lively discussions with the participants, and (2) participants are required to discuss the questions raised during the lectures and reading of the texts through group work and share the discussion results as a group. This year, the third of its kind, will be given by Professor Naoko Ishii (Director) and Project Associate Professor Maki Sato (EAA) from the University of Tokyo. The theme is “Value and Value-ing: Visiblizing (the) Invisible.”
In the modern era, also known as the Anthropocene, human beings are causing severe damage to the global environment through their production and economic activities, as exemplified by climate change. Amid such a paradox brought about by modernity, we are forced to think about the concept of “value” from a different angle. Value is not something that initially exists. With the transformation of various concepts attached to things, things that were initially considered not to have value gradually shifts to be regarded as if they have value. Especially after the modern era, with the development of the capitalist economy, the exchange value that converts the value into money has been overly emphasized, providing an opportunity for further profit creation through commodity transactions in the market. In other words, the problem embedded in the modern concept of valuing lies in such a capitalist economic model, which assigns value through price. Therefore, there are some things such as atmosphere, freshwater, and tropical rain forests that are marginalized from the capitalist system without being priced. As we continue to adopt the capitalist system, we eventually will have to ask ourselves whether such common property for earthly life can be regarded as something to be valued (or priced). In this line of logic, the following question arises: even if we are to grasp common natural capital as valuable objects, is it really possible to avoid the crisis of the Anthropocene by understanding and treating the concept of “value” only in terms of pricing, as we have done so far as pricing the carbons? Ideas such as the global commons and social common capital (Hirofumi Uzawa) have been actively discussed since the 1970s and are not new concepts. However, in the 21st century, we are still unable to find an essential solution to these problems. To reconsider value, valorization, and the global commons means concretely imagining a new world that continues to coexist and change.
In this Summer Institute, students are expected to discuss issues of the near future intensively. The main aim and purpose of the Institute is to foster a long-lasting friendship between the students of Japan and China, who are to lead to the world in Asia in the future society to create a better livable world together.
The Institute will be connected to Peking University through an online connection, and participants from the University of Tokyo will gather at Komaba. However, we are planning a hybrid format. Therefore, participants who have difficulty in coming to the campus are also welcomed.

The requirements are as follows.

Overview of the Program:  
The theme of this program is “Value and Value-ing: Visiblizing (the) Invisible”
Participating students shall take part in the following programs.

1. Lectures by faculty members of UTokyo (in English)
2. 10 participating students from each university will be divided into groups for discussions, and will make a presentation of their achievements.

Eligibility:
1. Candidates must be enrolled as full-time undergraduate students and graduate school students
2. Proficiency in English is required to follow courses and conduct research in an English-speaking environment.
3. Some proficiency in Japanese is required for preparation activities prior to the program.

Duration:
Sunday, 5th September to Tuesday, 7th September, 2021

Place:
Zoom and classrooms Hybrid
EAA Seminar room, Building 101, Komaba Campus, UTokyo

Maximum Number of UTokyo students: 10

How to Apply:
Please apply from the entry form below.
2021 EAA Summer InstituteEntry Form

Deadline:
9:00 am on Monday, July 5th, 2021

 All applications will be screened, and selected candidates will be invited for an online interview. Details for interviews are to be announced.

 

Important Notes
* Students will be required to submit a report upon completion of the program regardless of their intention to earn credits.
* The submission of recording consent form: the student participants are asked to consent to the use of any recordings (video, audio, or photos) to EAA’s purpose.
* In addition to full-day participation and report submission, one credit can be earned by taking the “Praxis in East Asian Liberal Arts (4)” in the Senior Division of Faculty of Liberal Arts in the A semester.
* A preliminary information session for all accepted students will be held in August.

 

[For inquiries:]
East Asian Academy for New Liberal Arts, The University of TokyoEAA
E-mail: info$eaa.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp  Please replace ($) with (@) 
https://www.eaa.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/

 

Program (tentative)
Day 0 (Sep. 5th) 15:00~16:30 (JST, 14:00~15:30 CST)Ice-breaking Session
Day 1 (Sep. 6th)
13:00~17:40 (JST, 12:00~16:40 CST) Lecture1 and Lecture 2

Lecture 1
Prof. Sato Maki (佐藤麻貴, EAA, UTokyo), and Ms. Meng Tianyu (蒙天宇,SDG Finance and Inclusive Growth Programme Analyst at UNDP) as Guest Speaker
Reading Material: Immanuel Kant, “Perpetual Peace”: A Philosophical Sketch
In 2021 the humanities are facing various seeds of Nation-state based conflicts, which had been hidden from our view before the pandemic. In this lecture, we would like to consider the following points through the process of reexamining the value and dignity of what we enjoy in our daily lives. In order to reforge the basis for giving a value, we would like to look into three key questions: 1) What are the essential human values that must be cherished that grounds peace, right to travel, and freedom of thought (speech)? 2) How can humanities redefine and present the basis for valuing such humanistic values? Furthermore, 3) How do we value and pass on to future generations the values of nature that we take for granted, as represented by Eco-system Services?
Ms. Meng, who works at UNDP, and Ms. Sato, who has worked in the UNESCAP, will discuss the above three questions from a cosmopolitan perspective, intertwining the reading of the texts and capturing the divergence from the perspective of the field. We would like to invite students to think and discuss how we can interpret values in the 21st century and explore the basis of value in humanities to flourish.

Lecture 2
Prof. Ishii Naoko (Executive Vice President of UTokyo, Director of Institute for Future Initiatives, UTokyo)
Reading Material:
Elinor Ostrom, “Governing the Commons”
Day 2 (Sep.7th) 14:00~17:00 (JST, 13:00~16:00 CST)Group Presentation

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