"Kyoto de Natsu-no Daigaku Talk", a lecture and discussion event on the topic of "Looking at modern society from animals' perspectives", took place at Shishukan Hall in Higashi-ichijokan on 29 July 2016.
Aimed at sharing Kyoto University's educational and academic achievements with a wider off-campus audience, the event was co-hosted by the university, Kyoto University Press, and the Book Culture Promotion Conference, attracting around 80 participants.
In the first part, Dr Rima Higa of Okinawa International University and Dr Kayoko Kameda, Managing Curator of Lake Biwa Museum, delivered lectures. Dr Higa's lecture, entitled "Pigs and humans in Okinawa: Fluctuation between disgust and affection, mirroring contradictions in industrial society", discussed a great disparity between animals as "living things" and those as "images" in modern society, and people's views on animals that easily change according to the social environment. In a lecture entitled "Harmful or beneficial? History of the relationship between Japanese cormorants, forests, and humans", Dr Kameda discussed issues about coexistence with wild animals, giving the example of Japanese cormorants, which can be harmful as well as beneficial for humans.
In the latter part, Professor Emeritus Kazuyoshi Sugawara delivered a lecture on "Hunting, while being hunted: Disturbances on the border between humans and animals". Based on his research on the relationship between bushmen and wild animals, Professor Sugawara argued that in a life-or-death situations where humans and animals are deeply interconnected, the border between them blurs.
Following the lectures, President Yamagiwa joined the discussion, asking questions including, "Can you visit the world of wildlife?" The speakers also discussed the importance of reading books in order to understand and get closer to the authors' worlds. President Yamagiwa concluded the event by stating that Kyoto University plans to continue such events so that participants can learn things in addition to what authors have written in books.
From left: Dr Higa, Dr Kameda, and Professor Sugawara
Discussion (from left: President Yamagiwa, Dr Higa, Dr Kameda, and Professor Sugawara)
