秋葉 丈志
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| 私のゼミでは「ダイバーシティ」をキーワードに、自分が一番興味の持てるテーマを見つけて論文を書いていくことを大事にしています。多くのゼミ生に、国籍やジェンダー、セクシュアリティ、アイデンティティなどで、自身の経験から来る切実な問題意識があります。私自身、学部の卒論で日本の国籍法と日本人のアイデンティティについて書きました。当時自分はアメリカと日本の狭間で悩んでいて、それを考え抜くことが居場所になっていた気がします。今も私は国籍を含むマイノリティと法の問題が教育や研究のフォーカスとなっています。学部生だったころに書いた卒論がその後の自分の道を切り開いたのです。ゼミ生にも、こだわりのテーマについて自分なりに試行錯誤しながら考察を重ねることで、新たな世界が開けていく感覚を味わってほしいと思っています。多様性に富みお互いの存在が刺激になるような、すばらしい仲間とこのゼミで出会ってほしいと思います。 | ||||
– Enlighten our school life with wonderful memories which will last forever –
Akiba zemi is a place where students can deepen their knowledge of studies on minorities, diversity, social injustices, and human rights both inside and outside Japan, and also foster critical thinking skills through weekly active discussions. I met Professor Akiba for the first time when I joined his intermediate seminar as a sophomore, and I highly got inspired by his great passion for his field of expertise, intelligence, and kindness. His class was active, inclusive, and student-driven which include both discussions among students and informative lectures from the Professor himself. It significantly allowed me to learn and ruminate over Japanese minorities, such as the Ainu, ‘mixed-blood’ Japanese, and Burakumin, and this valuable experience of enjoying the atmosphere which Professor Akiba creates, and my increasing interest towards minority and human rights issues made me develop my desire to become a part of Akiba zemi.
In this zemi, there is a huge variety in each student’s graduation thesis topics—gender, race, immigrants, diversity, inclusion, disability, and many others—and we develop our own research over a year and a half. To give some detailed topics as examples, the 2023 senior theses explore the Oppression of Nikkei Women in US History, Portrayals of Blacks in Japan, and the Future of Sexual Minorities through Same-Sex Partnership Policies in Japan. Our weekly seminar includes approximately four presentations, Q&A, and discussion sessions, in which students get to learn new sets of ideas from each other and exchange feedback. The greatest charm of Akiba zemi is how each student is very passionate about sharing their ideas on each topic creating lively discussions, yet they all respect each other’s opinions. Not only the Professor but also all students are very diligent, kind, inclusive, respectful, and highly academic. This weekly seminar has become one of my sources of power, where I get energized and motivated to pursue my interests by gaining new knowledge of minority studies from informative presentations.
I have been composing my thesis on the topic of Child Poverty in Japan for over a year, in which I incorporated numerous academic research, documents, and also suggestions and inputs from the Professor and the students. My curiosity about national child poverty developed through my school-life interaction with students in financial difficulties and a firsthand experience of facing high educational expenses in Japan. I felt great helplessness over many Japanese children’s future options unreasonably get determined by a parent’s living situation, especially economic circumstances, and thus aimed to thoroughly analyze the causes, effects, and current measures of child poverty to discover what is truly needed for impoverished children today to pursue a physically, mentally, and socially healthy life.
As for the annual zemi excursion, senior students went on a two-day trip to Akita, a place where Professor Akiba has a huge connection, in October 2022. Since the Professor used to instruct at Akita International University (AIU), we were able to visit there holding a joint seminar with AIU students where we spent precious time exchanging our stories of academic interests, backgrounds, and cultures. Furthermore, we learned about the connection and differences between local regions including Akita and Waseda University from the president of Sano Pharmacy, Mr. Motohiko Sano, and also enjoyed having Inaniwa Udon, a traditional dish in Akita, for dinner. Getting fascinated by the beauty of Dakigaeri Valley and Kakunodate was one of our greatest memories as well, in which we tried out another local cuisine, Kiritanpo, with the Professor and bought multiple souvenirs for our families. Since this Akita excursion had been canceled due to the high restrictions of COVID-19 for the past two years, we were extremely glad to be able to make this trip happen and spend a fulfilling time with our amazing Professor and zemi members. Akiba zemi will allow us to not only develop our interest to the deepest level but also enlighten our school life with wonderful memories which will last forever.
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This article is written by…
松森 華音
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※この記事は2023年3月時点のものです。
※この科目は毎学期開講されない場合があります。
