[KineJapan] abolition of humanities and social sciences at National Universities in Japan

Mon Aug 31 09:47:29 EDT 2015

Dear Paul Berry,
Thank you for bringing up this serious matter that will have consequences beyond film studies.  I wonder, how this move away from humanities and social sciences fit with the plan of the Ministry of Education concerning the Entrance Exam reform, discussed in an Asahi Shinbun editorial on 31 Aug, given how the intentions of those reforms are said to be to stimulate creative, critical thinking.  Does anyone have information as to how far private universities are prepared to follow the commands?  I work at one but have not noted any discussion on this matter yet.

©`£ª©`£ª¡¡©`©`¡¡£ª£ª£ª£ªChristian M. HermansenKyoto

> Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2015 19:50:10 +0900
> From: hakutaku at kansaigaidai.ac.jp
> To: kinejapan at lists.osu.edu
> Subject: Re: [KineJapan] abolition of humanities and social sciences at National Universities in Japan
> 
> Dear Stephen and other readers,
> 
> So far as I know Yomiuri has not yet published a full list of the national universities that stated they are abolishing their programs in the humanities and social sciences. Various articles give somewhat conflicting accounts of which programs are disappearing and in what manner. It would be helpful if anyone has more detailed information about which specific institutions are involved to post them online. As many institutions have yet to decide their courses of action, it may still be possible to influence their actions if international publicity is brought to bear. Many in Japan are unaware that major "tech" schools like MIT and Caltech have high level departments in the humanities and social sciences that are an integral part of their institutions. The Ministry of Education is pushing for these "reforms" as way of raising the level and reputation of Japanese universities yet there are visible political angles that lie slightly below the surface. Namely, many of the best informed opponents to the direction of the Abe administration are university faculty members. Abe's decree that centralized all power in the university presidents sidelined their efforts within their institutions. Additionally, much of the sophisticated opposition to the Abe administration policies comes from various faculty members in the humanities and social sciences and abolishing those programs is a way of directly reducing their impact on students.
> 
> I hope that more voices can be heard from various perspectives on these critical issues.
> 
> Paul Berry
> Kyoto
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stephen Cremin" <stephen at asianfilm.info>
> To: "Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum" <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu>
> Cc: "Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum" <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu>
> Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2015 1:09:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [KineJapan] abolition of humanities and social sciences at National Universities in Japan
> 
> Thanks, Paul
> 
> 
> To clarify this may affect filmmaking studies as well as film theory classes? And do we know the position of Waseda University, Nagoya University, Nihon University, Rikkyo University and Meiji Gakuin University? And have Japanese filmmakers or film professors made public statements as they did at the time the state secrecy laws were proposed/enacted?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Perhaps the Japanese government's actions is the most direct, but the pressure to push students away from the humanities is an international phenomenon. The dependence on student loans for example is a major stick in the West. When we look back, the shift to using words like "content" and "I.P." by bureacrats (and film festivals) will be seen as forebears to these policies/trends that devalue the humanities.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was very shocked when Abe was permitted to hijack the Tokyo International Film Festival's opening ceremony to shake hands with Tom Hanks. In Taiwan, the Golden Horse festival/awards has been strict on not letting politicians give speeches, including the president, even at the risk of having their budget cut. But perhaps that's something unique to Taiwan. And for sure, the separate Taipei festival was more politicised.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know if in South Korea there's been any moves against the humanities in universities, but for sure when the right-wing government came in they did launch investigations of left-leaning organisations, including the country's film festivals that had their accouting books (and the personal bank accounts of senior staff) scrutinised for corruption/irregularities. And the "humanities" seems to equal "left-leaning".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Of course, if Abe wants more engineers, he could always relax immigration policies...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stephen
> 
> On Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 10:43 AM, BERRY Paul <hakutaku at kansaigaidai.ac.jp>
> wrote:
> 
> > The following information relates to the future of film studies in Japanese education:
> > The Abe administration is directing the abolition of humanities and social sciences at National Universities in Japan.
> > Although the new Japanese secrecy laws, encouragement of international arms sales, promotion of international roles for Japanese military, the ianfu problems, and history issues have been getting most of the attention from the international press, equally important moves against aspects of Japanese universities have been little noted. Earlier this year Abe issued a directive that stripped faculty and faculty committees of any decision making powers. By this directive the Presidents of all universities, both public and private, have been given absolute decision making powers with any faculty input being strictly advisory. This was followed on June 8th of 2015 by the minister of education appointed by Abe directing the national university to abolish their undergraduate departments and graduate school programs in the humanities and the social sciences. (see article by Shiga University President, note 1 below). Universities will be reviewed and those that do not comply have been threatened with unspecified cuts to their budgets and other punitive measures. On August 25th the Yomiuri Shinbun published the results of their own survey of Japanese national universities in this regard (see their article in note 2 below). Of the 60 national universities that have humanities and social science programs, 26 responded that they will abolish their programs commencing with not taking any new students in them  in the coming year as part of a gradual phase out of the programs. Only 6 universities (including Tokyo Daigaku and Kyoto Daigaku) have openly refused to abolish their programs, while the others are still considering the situation. Film studies, will of course, be one of the disciplines being abolished by the universities adopting the government position.
> > These changes are a part of the Abe administrations efforts to "improve" the state of Japanese education and make it more internationally competitive. These Orwellian measures are chillingly parallel to the relations of the State to the University in the 1930s. Given the massive changes that are being attempted it is almost quibbling to complain about the impact on film studies yet this will affect all of us in the field, including our Japanese colleagues. It behooves us as individuals and perhaps in terms of organizations to formulate a response to these draconian changes. (see the editorial from Social Science Space, note 3 below)
> > I would hope that these events might serve as basis for discussion in KineJapan and elsewhere.
> > Paul Berry
> > Kyoto 
> > Notes
> > 1
> > Humanities under attack  AUG 23, 2015 Japan Times
> > HIKONE, SHIGA PREFECTURE ¨C On June 8, all presidents of national universities received a notice from the education minister telling them to either abolish their undergraduate departments and graduate schools devoted to the humanities and social sciences or shift their curricula to fields with greater utilitarian values. The bad tradition of evaluating academic learning and sciences in terms of their utility, with private-sector enterprises meddling in higher education, is still alive in Japan.  Indeed, policies related to higher education are under the control of the Council on Industrial Competitiveness, which is made up of nine Cabinet ministers, seven corporate managers and two scholars. One of the scholars is from the field of engineering while the other comes from economics.  A member of the education ministry¡¯s panel of learned persons even said that the humanities and social sciences departments should be allowed to remain as they are only at the seven former Imperial universities and Keio University, and that those at other universities should be transformed into vocational training schools.  This person even went so far as to assert that students majoring in the humanities and social sciences at schools other than those eight institutions should be taught the Building Lots and Building Transaction Business Law instead of the Constitution, software programming for bookkeeping and accounting in place of Paul Samuelson¡¯s ¡°Economics,¡± and the skills of orally translating between Japanese and English rather than reading Shakespeare¡¯s works.  These are outrageous proposals and I cannot tolerate anti-intellectuals distorting the government¡¯s policies related to higher education.  During World War II, students of the natural sciences and engineering at high schools and universities were exempt from conscription and only those who were studying the humanities and social sciences were drafted into military service.   In March 1960, the education minister in Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi¡¯s Cabinet said that all departments of the humanities and social sciences at national universities should be abolished so that those schools would concentrate on the natural sciences and engineering. He also said that education in the humanities and social sciences should be placed in the hands of private universities.   A certain well-known entrepreneur predicted, meanwhile, that before long a majority of high posts in politics, the bureaucracy and business would be occupied by those with natural science and engineering backgrounds.   One of the principal features of the ¡°income doubling plan,¡± which Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda announced in December 1960 as his major platform, was to promote education in the natural sciences and engineering at universities.  All of these events still remain clearly in my memory as they came while I was preparing for my university entrance examinations.  Fortunately, the prediction made by the famous entrepreneur proved to be off the mark. A majority of Japanese political, bureaucratic and business leaders today are still those who studied the humanities and social sciences. This is because those who studied these subjects have superior faculties of thinking, judgment and expression, which are required of political, bureaucratic and business leaders. And the foundation for these faculties is a robust critical spirit.
> > The countries in which the famous entrepreneur¡¯s prediction was on target were socialist. In the Soviet Union, many of those who climbed to the position of general-secretary of the Communist Party had engineering backgrounds. Mikhail Gorbachev did not. Successive Chinese presidents also had engineering backgrounds.  The foundation of democratic and liberal societies is a critical spirit, which is nurtured by knowledge of the humanities. Without exception, totalitarian states invariably reject knowledge in the humanities, and states that reject such knowledge always become totalitarian.   The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has set an ambitious target of making 10 of the nation¡¯s universities rank among the world¡¯s top 100 within the next decade.   This target appears utterly impossible to achieve because at present only two universities in Japan are among the global top 100 ¡ª the University of Tokyo at 23rd and Kyoto University at 59th. Moreover, only three others ¡ª the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Osaka University and Tohoku University ¡ª are among those ranking between 101st and 200th.  The Abe administration¡¯s target is tantamount to demanding the impossible. Why is it then that Japanese universities rank so low? One big reason is the low levels of education and research in the humanities and social sciences. Schools like the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Stanford University and Harvard University, all of which are among the world¡¯s top 10, are highly reputed in these fields.  The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which ranks sixth in the world, is often thought to be an institution devoted exclusively to engineering. But the fact is that it offers a wide variety of curricula in the humanities and social sciences, and the standards of its research in these fields are reputed to be among the highest in the world.   The University of Tokyo is the only Japanese university that is among at the global top 100 in the humanities and social sciences. Although it ranks 87th in social sciences, no Japanese universities, including the University of Tokyo, rank among the top 100 in the humanities.  Stanford University ranks first in both the humanities and social sciences, while MIT places second in social sciences. The London School of Economics and Political Science, which specializes in social sciences, ranks 34th overall, which is below the 23rd spot held by the University of Tokyo but far above Kyoto University¡¯s rank of 59th.  I believe that I am not alone in thinking that if Japan is serious about getting 10 of its universities into the world¡¯s top 100, it will be far more cost-effective and advantageous to promote, rather than abolish or curtail, education and research in the humanities and social sciences.      Takamitsu Sawa is the president of Shiga University.
> > 2
> > August 25, 2015
> > 26 natl universities to abolish humanities, social sciences
> > The Yomiuri Shimbun
> > Nearly half of the 60 national universities with humanities and social science faculties plan to abolish those departments in the 2016 academic year or later, according to a survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun.  Conducted among presidents of national universities across the country, the survey found that 26 intended to eliminate these departments. The universities will stop recruiting students for a combined total of at least 1,300 places, mainly in their teacher training faculties. Some of these slots will be allocated to newly established faculties. The survey highlighted the wave of reform sweeping over humanities and social science faculties.  The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry issued a notice to national universities this June calling for their humanities and social science faculties to be abolished or converted to other fields.  The faculties it sought to have eliminated or converted included law and economics departments and teacher training faculties, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.  The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted a survey among the presidents of all 86 national universities across the nation to ask about their faculty reform and abolition plans as of the end of July, and how they reacted to the education ministry¡¯s notice. The Yomiuri received responses from 81 universities. Of the 60 universities with humanities and social science faculties, 58 responded to the survey and 26 said they had plans to abolish such faculties or convert them to other fields. Of the 26 universities, 17 plan to stop recruiting students for these departments, which contain at least 1,300 students. Many universities plan to abolish ¡°no-certificate¡± courses that do not require students to obtain a teaching certificate in their teacher training faculty and allocate their existing quota to newly established faculties.  The University of Fukui has decided not to recruit students for the 2016 academic year for its regional science course, which is a no-certificate course in its faculty of education and regional studies. The course¡¯s quota of 60 students will be allotted to a new faculty for international and regional studies.  Shinshu University plans to stop recruiting students for two courses in its faculty of education, and convert its existing faculty of economics to a new one of law and economic studies.  Japanese universities are being forced to review their organizations from the ground up, due to the declining birthrate and severe international competition among universities.  Compared with the creation of new industries and technological innovations that stem from science and technology studies, it is difficult for humanities and social science studies to demonstrate tangible accomplishments.  Some in industrial circles criticize universities for not fostering personnel who enter the workplace with practical skills after graduation.  Opinions divided   These are the circumstances amid which the education ministry¡¯s notice was issued, a move that drew praise and criticism in the survey.  Niigata University said, ¡°The study of humanities and social sciences is important in a university education, but it must be reviewed to ensure the quality of education.¡±  However, Shiga University said, ¡°Democracy cannot be preserved if the ¡®intellectual knowledge¡¯ of humanities and social science studies is cast aside.¡±  Universities that said they have no plans to abolish or change organizations included the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University and some single-department colleges such as Otaru University of Commerce.  Twenty-six universities have already stopped recruiting students for no-certificate courses, and six universities said they had not decided or were considering the matter.  The education ministry¡¯s notice also called for each university to choose one of three future targets ¡ª regional contribution, specializing in a certain field, and reaching a global standard of education ¡ª for the financial support they receive from the ministry from the 2016 academic year on.  The survey put this question to all 86 national universities, including those without humanities and social science faculties. ¡°Regional contribution¡± was chosen by 54 universities, ¡°specialization ¡± by 12 and ¡°reaching a global standard¡± by 15.
> > 3
> > Japan¡¯s Education Ministry Says to Axe Social Science and Humanities
> > By Social Science Space | Published: August 25, 2015
> > The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second from left, has called for ending university-level support for studying and training teachers in social science and humanities.
> > At least 26 of Japan¡¯s 60 national universities that have departments of the humanities or the social sciences plan to close those faculties after a ministerial request from the Japanese government, according to a new survey of university presidents by The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
> > A June 8 letter from Hakubun Shimomura, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, to all of Japan¡¯s 86 national universities and all of the nation¡¯s higher education organizations asks them to take ¡°active steps to abolish [social science and humanities] organizations or to convert them to serve areas that better meet society¡¯s needs.¡± The call focuses on undergraduate departments and graduate programs that train teachers, and includes the areas of law and economics.  To back up the request ¨C which was made ¡°in the light of the decrease of the university-age population, the demand for human resources and the quality control of research and teaching institutions and the function of national universities¡± ¨C the ministry pointed to the financial support it provides the schools in the coming fiscal year.      This focus on bending universities to serve ¡°areas which have strong needs¡± (and the implication that social science and humanities can¡¯t help in that regard) are of a piece with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s economic ideas, or ¡®Abenomics,¡¯ that focus resolutely on direct and immediate industrial and employment benefits, argues an editorial in The Japan Times. The newspaper recalled Abe¡¯s remarks in 2014 before the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in which he said, ¡°Rather than deepening academic research that is highly theoretical, we will conduct more practical vocational education that better anticipates the needs of society.¡± (With Abenomics now stalling, Abe has also portrayed Japanese science and technology as in peril, telling the nation¡¯s Council for Science, Technology and Innovation in June that ¡°the frontlines of Japan¡¯s research fields have weakened, causing our research capabilities to lag behind others).¡±    The Times criticized Abe for shortsightedness:   Pursuing studies of humanities and social sciences may not produce quick economic results. But shunning them risks producing people who are only interested in the narrow fields of their majors. Studies of literature, history, philosophy and social sciences are indispensable in creating people who can view developments in society and politics with a critical eye. In this sense, Shimomura¡¯s move may be interpreted as an attempt by the government to produce people who accept what it does without criticism. Abe, Shimomura and education ministry officials should realize that a decline in the study of humanities and social sciences will likely hamper the growth of creative work even in the fields of technology.    According to The Yomiuri Shimbun, of the 26 universities cutting their humanities and social science offerings, 17 intend to stop recruiting students in the areas and all of the 26 plan to stop offering so-called ¡°no certificate¡± courses that don¡¯t require latent prospective teaches to obtain a teaching certificate in those areas.     While some organizations, such as the executive board of the Science Council of Japan, made quick and strident objections to the ministry¡¯s request, even some ostensible supports of the disciplines couched their support deferentially. For example, Shojiro Nishio, the new president of Osaka University (the largest national university in Japan), both backed the idea of the value but also encouraged them to ¡°think proactively about what you can do,¡± reported Kiyomi Arai of The Yomiuri Shimbum.   According to Arai:  Nishio says achievements are not easily seen in the fields of humanities and social sciences, but these studies are indispensable as they bring diversity to society. Specializing in data engineering, Nishio is a world leader in information technology, particularly in analyzing big data. As a researcher, he believes studies in the humanities field do not tend to have a ¡°strong focus on responding to the demands of society.¡±   Not every university was so circumspect, and some notable institutions, such as the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, said they had no current intention of complying. The president¡¯s office of Shiga University told Nomiura that, ¡°Democracy cannot be preserved if the ¡®intellectual knowledge¡¯ of humanities and social science studies is cast aside.¡±    The Science Council of Japan put out a statement late last month expressing its ¡°profound concern over the potentially grave impact that such an administrative directive implies for the future of the HSS {humanities and social sciences] in Japan and the very idea of the university itself, irrespective of whether it is privately or publicly funded.¡± That statement acknowledges that HSS could do a better job of clarifying its value, even as it stresses how integral HSS is to a ¡°balanced¡± university and to the larger Japanese society.  The International Social Science Council (to which the Science Council of Japan belongs) applauded the council¡¯s statement and for addressing how HSS is ¡°integral to advancing knowledge on the challenges facing society today, both in Japan and internationally. They play a unique and vital role in critically thinking about and assessing the human condition, and for the understanding, foresight, governance and continued development of contemporary societies.¡±
> > _______________________________________________
> > KineJapan mailing list
> > KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
> > https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan
> _______________________________________________
> KineJapan mailing list
> KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
> https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan
> _______________________________________________
> KineJapan mailing list
> KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
> https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20150831/42119028/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
KineJapan mailing list
KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan