Kyoto University has held "Shunju Kougi" (Spring-Autumn Public Lectures) since 1988, in order to share intellectual resources accumulated through academic research activities with a wider audience both on and beyond the campus.
The Spring 2015 program featured an "African Discourse" theme, consisting of three lectures on separate days. The first lecture was delivered on 8 April, entitled "African names: Naming conventions in non-written societies", by Professor Shigeki Kaji at the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies. The second, "The art of weaving relationships: 'Sorcery' in Africa and 'karma' in Japan", by Associate Professor Miho Ishii at the Institute for Research in Humanities, and the third, "The transformation of Africanists: From explorers to diplomats of science and technology", by Professor Juichi Yamagiwa, President of Kyoto University, were delivered on 15 and 22 April respectively. The three lectures attracted 1120 participants in total, who actively engaged in the question-and-answer sessions.
After these events, participants gave feedback such as: "It was very interesting to hear of the achievements of steady research activities and fieldwork in far off Africa", "The most interesting point I learned today was that seemingly pre-modern traditions of magic are actually a way to cope with irrational events in the real world", and "The parallel between humans and gorillas was quite interesting, renewing my determination to work harder to study human nature".
From left, Professor Kaji, Associate Professor Ishii, and President Yamagiwa
A scene from the event
