EVENT

Tuesday, 21 January 2025, 14:00-15:30 JST

As survivors raise their voices, the realities of sexual violence are gradually coming to light. Despite this increased attention, why does sexual violence continue to occur? This lecture examines the experiences of sexual violence survivors based on data collected from 38,383 responses to a 2022 NHK survey on the prevalence of sexual violence. It highlights the existence of rape myths in Japanese society, which perpetuate a pattern in which victims are blamed and suffer even further. Underlying these issues are societal norms of masculinity that sustain gender inequality. To eliminate sexual violence, it is essential to critically reexamine these societal norms.

Wednesday, 29 January 2025, 15:00-16:30 JST

Around 60,000 years ago, at the time when humans successfully migrated out of Africa, something transformational happened. Homo sapiens must have experienced significant DNA changes that profoundly altered our capacity to compete for natural resources. Critical for this change in our behaviors was a new capacity for abstract thinking. Today with AI, we are on the brink of taking the final step away from Darwin’s principle of Survival of the fittest by rapidly evolving to escape our DNA dependence altogether and thereby our mortality as well.

Thursday, 13 February 2025, 10:00-11:30 JST

In her new book Everyday Ambassadors, Annelise Riles argues that we are on the cusp of an exciting new world order, where leadership is not just in the hands of few but of all. She argues that what the world needs now is many more diplomats--connectors, translators, interpretors, across political and cultural differences, between science and religion, between the arts and the technology world. In this talk, Prof. Riles will discuss her book, which synthesizes decades of legal and ethnographic research into seven "moves" that empower anyone to be a great diplomat right from where you are.

Wednesday, 15 January 2025, 16:00-17:00 JST

At the University of Tokyo, a webinar was held on December 11, 2024, to explain the EU AI Act and the first draft of the CoP. In this webinar, we will provide an overview of the second draft released at the end of December and highlight important points that Japanese companies should particularly pay attention to.

Wednesday, 18 December 2024, 14:00-17:30 JST

Every Monday from December 2, 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 and Professor John Lie of UC Berkeley, who is currently staying at Tokyo College.
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.

Available from Friday, 13 December 2024 17:00 JST

H.E. Mr. Teimuraz LEZHAVA, Ambassador of Georgia to Japan, who has deep knowledge and insight into Japanese culture and business practices, and Professor SHIMAZU Naoko, a global historian who has studied Japan from an external perspective, will explore one of Tokyo College’s key research themes, “Japan viewed from the inside and outside.”
We invite you to join us for this insightful and engaging discussion.

Wednesday, 11 December 2024, 12:00-13:00 JST

This webinar will outline the overview of the EU-AI Act, the activities of four working groups involved in the formulation of the Code of Practice, and important points that Japanese companies and organizations should particularly pay attention to. 
We look forward to the participation of companies, research institutions, and development communities involved in the development, provision, and distribution of AI-related technologies as an opportunity to deepen understanding of the “Brussels Effect” brought about by EU regulatory trends and its impact on Japan. 

Wednesday, 11 December 2024 10:30-12:00 JST

Many low income countries face severe environmental problems. They also face an urgent need for tax revenue to finance social needs and economic development. Can environmental taxes provide a way to meet both objectives? Drawing on a recent book, this lecture will take stock of the most pressing of the many environmental challenges faced by low income countries—including in air quality, waste management, soil quality, deforestation, congestion, adaptation to climate change—and consider to what extent improved tax policy can simultaneously help address them and raise a significant amount of tax revenue.

Friday, 6 December 2024, 15:00-16:30

This lecture will cover ethnographic research on Filipino trans women or transpinay before, during, and after migration in Japan from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Drawing from an intersectional invisibility (Purdie-Vaughns & Eibach, 2008) framework, it will relate the Filipino trans women’s migration experiences to the cases of current issues transgender migrants are facing. This talk will also explore how social media and films create spaces to show and negotiate the (in)visibility of genders.

Tuesday, 26 November 2024, 13:00-14:30 JST

We have been repeatedly told that Japan is a "collectivist" or "group-oriented" society, in contradistinction to the United States and other Western countries, which are said to be "individualist." The argument strikes me as wrong, at best. After briefly rebutting the received view, I trace the genealogy of the mistaken idea and explain its cogency.

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

Prof. Manju Puri has hypothesized and found evidence that banks use venture investments in fintech startups as a strategic approach to navigate fintech competition. She first documented that banks’ venture investments have increasingly focused on fintech firms. She found that banks facing greater fintech competition are more likely to make venture investments in fintech startups. Banks target fintech firms that exhibit higher levels of asset complementarities with their own business. Finally, instrumental variable analyses showed that venture investments increase the likelihoods of operational collaborations and knowledge transfer between the investing bank and the fintech investee.

Monday, 11 November 2024, 10:00-11:00 JST

As generative AI becomes more widely used, it is crucial for AI models to accurately reflect cultural and linguistic risks in different regions. Identifying harmful content specific to each culture must be continuously updated. This requires collaboration between AI researchers, social scientists, policymakers, and practitioners to form a global community for ongoing discussions. This event will discuss frameworks to sustain such communities, welcoming those interested in AI safety and governance.

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.

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.