Centre for Contemporary African Area Studies Opens
May 12, 2017
On 1
st
April 2017, TUFS established the Centre for Contemporary African Area Studies, for which an opening ceremony was held on Thursday 11
th
May 2017.
Aside from the centre's staff members and students of African studies, the event was attended by ambassadors for 19 African countries visiting from their Embassies in Japan; representatives from domestic relations organisations; and researchers.
Following greetings from President Tateishi and Centre Director Takeuchi,
Mr. Okada, Deputy Director-General for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau; Mr. Koyama, Management Advisor to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Higher Education Bureau National University Corporation Support Division (Deputy Manager Koyama); His Excellency Mr. Joao Miguel Vahekeni, Ambassador for the Republic of Angola; and Shigeta Masayoshi, Director of Kyoto University Centre for African Area Studies each gave a congratulatory address at the ceremony.
To close the ceremony, following greetings from Mr. Shimada Shuhei, TUFS professor (now at Nagoya University), who assisted with the establishment of the centre, a plaque was presented to Centre Director Takeuchi by President Tateishi.
The centre will assemble the researchers of African studies at TUFS and will be the first in Japan to bear the name of 'Contemporary African Studies'. It was established in order to fulfil the strong need for a base for contemporary African studies.
As we enter the 21
st
century, the importance of the politics and economics in Africa has at last come to be recognised. However, the framework for contemporary African studies in Japan is still weak, and there is a demand for its expansion from many various parts of society. It can be said that there is an urgent need for research into the increasing complexity of the contemporary African continent in the wake of globalisation and condensing the results in education and in civil society. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies is an institution with the credentials and human resources suitable for constructing such a research centre.
|
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |