From the Dean
The Significance of the "Medley" in Media and Governance
The Graduate School of Media and Governance will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2024.
The Graduate School of Media and Governance was established based on two undergraduate faculties, the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, providing access to programs that transcend traditional boundaries. The issues we face today are both diverse and complex, making it difficult to address them when we confine ourselves to conventional academic disciplines. To tackle these challenges, we, as researchers, must hone our abilities, open our minds to discuss issues using cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches, build human networks, lay the groundwork to seek out proactive solutions, implement findings in society, and disseminate information accurately and effectively to the world while also maintaining expertise in core research areas. These are the founding principles behind the Graduate School of Media and Governance. The Graduate School of Media and Governance is a medley of people, a space where anyone can practice these principles and where trial and error are embraced in the pursuit of academic excellence.
However, looking at it another way, the true depth of the "medley" found in media and governance has not been fully realized over the last thirty years. This includes the school's research methodologies. It may be too early to call it "academia." Through experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and recognizing the potential of online communication, our "space" has expanded at unprecedented levels, stretching from the Endo area of Kanagawa Prefecture where we currently have developments underway, to Keio's Tsuruoka Town Campus and other satellite offices such as our home-built research lab and virtual campus. It is a rare thing to find such an incredible collection of faculty and students who are not confined to a single location. One of the appeals of the Graduate School of Media and Governance and, by extension, SFC, is that we emphasize first-hand experiences in both the real world and virtual spaces. Our orientation toward "jitsugaku (science)" transcends space. Our mission at the Graduate School of Media and Governance is to be organized and arranged in the best possible way for a research institute, to link people with resources throughout the country, and to advance new methodologies of academic research through our everyday activities.
The last few years have been unprecedented for us. The pandemic was full of days spent fighting to find and bring back a sense of normalcy. However, it also provided the opportunity for us to ponder the future of academia, the significance of the graduate school as a research organization, and the vision we have for our physical campus moving forward. We hope to share this journey with you. I look forward to seeing the ideas we discover and implement together over the next thirty years at the Graduate School of Media and Governance.
October, 2023
TAKASHIO, Kazunori, Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance