2020/05/02 (SAT)
【英語版】4月30日からのオンライン授業の開始にあたり、西原廉太 文学部長からのメッセージを掲載します。ぜひご覧ください。
（リニューアル前のホームページから再掲）
OBJECTIVE.
To all students of the College of Arts - Regarding the start of online classes -
The Revd. Prof. Dr Renta Nishihara
Dean of the College of Arts
From April 30, Rikkyo University’s spring term classes have begun online. I’m sure all of you have already received guidance and communications from the university or their individual departments or specialized subjects about taking classes and have been preparing. Each student has a designated academic advisor, so if you have any problems regarding your studies, please do not hesitate to talk to your advisor or the faculty members of your department or specialized subject, rather than worry by yourself.
As a measure to help you all set up a learning environment for online classes and allow you to take those classes confidently, it has been decided to uniformly provide a ¥50,000 Study Environment Support Scholarship to each student of Rikkyo University. Details on how to obtain the scholarship will be notified later. Also, we are currently looking at providing additional support for those whose finances have been heavily affected due to the impact of the coronavirus.
So begins our challenge of this new way of learning. The online classes begin as an unavoidable emergency measure against this irregular situation of the extraordinary spread of coronavirus infections, which up until several months ago no one in the world could have predicted. As such, I’m sure many of you are experiencing confusion and anxiety. For us staff as well, as naturally we’re experiencing these circumstances for the first time, we share the same concerns as you all. Over the past several weeks, we have been preparing day and night for beginning of classes. Even so, there will still likely be some problems that occur once classes actually begin. We’d like students to not hesitate to give us their opinions, pointing out for example if a different method would make things better or if we need to go over certain parts more clearly. Our hope is that this way will allow students and us staff to work together to shape a more qualitative online learning experience.
At Rikkyo University, College of Arts, we have a first-rate team of professors that represent each of our disciplines: Christian Studies, English and American Literature, German Literature, French Literature, Japanese Literature, Philosophy and Creative Writing, World History, Japanese History,Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, and Education. In other words, Rikkyo University’s College of Arts represents a ‘place’ where the study of truths beyond any era or physical space is possible. What’s important to note here is the fact that knowledge has always been handled ‘remotely’, irrespective of time period or location. It’s actually an extremely rare occurrence to be able to handle materials such as historical documents at the same time and place. The knowledge of mankind has been handed down through the tools of oral tradition, words and pictures, printed mediums, sound and video mediums, and digital media, surpassing time through the past, present and future, as well as surpassing physical space on a global scale, and it will continue to be handed down. As such, the learning we begin from April 30 comes with the great challenge of discovering how we can use this tool called “online” to best share the knowledge of mankind – how to understand it, interpret it and hand it down.
One other challenge for us starting is to realize our responsibility to learn while faced with this globally historic pandemic of the novel coronavirus. The original meaning of “liberal arts”, the field of study of which we hold so dear, can be summed up by the following elements: (1) the wisdom that’s necessary for humans to live, (2) the sensibility that allows us to empathize with another person’s pain and suffer with them, (3) a world view informed by world history and the history of humanity, and (4) internationality that allows us to live in a multicultural world.
Most international borders are currently closed in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
However, this is the right time for us all to reflect on the world that is currently in great suffering.
Think forward to the future ahead.
Wish that those suffering from illness will get the necessary treatment.
Wish that the health of all the medical staff who are fighting for an end to infections and of those close to patients is protected.
Wish that the souls of those who’ve died will be at peace and that their families left behind will find consolation.
Wish that the hand of support will reach all those who are facing uncertainty and confusion.
From April 30, let’s strive to study the “liberal arts” that can embody these wishes and even shoulder their burden.
As a measure to help you all set up a learning environment for online classes and allow you to take those classes confidently, it has been decided to uniformly provide a ¥50,000 Study Environment Support Scholarship to each student of Rikkyo University. Details on how to obtain the scholarship will be notified later. Also, we are currently looking at providing additional support for those whose finances have been heavily affected due to the impact of the coronavirus.
So begins our challenge of this new way of learning. The online classes begin as an unavoidable emergency measure against this irregular situation of the extraordinary spread of coronavirus infections, which up until several months ago no one in the world could have predicted. As such, I’m sure many of you are experiencing confusion and anxiety. For us staff as well, as naturally we’re experiencing these circumstances for the first time, we share the same concerns as you all. Over the past several weeks, we have been preparing day and night for beginning of classes. Even so, there will still likely be some problems that occur once classes actually begin. We’d like students to not hesitate to give us their opinions, pointing out for example if a different method would make things better or if we need to go over certain parts more clearly. Our hope is that this way will allow students and us staff to work together to shape a more qualitative online learning experience.
At Rikkyo University, College of Arts, we have a first-rate team of professors that represent each of our disciplines: Christian Studies, English and American Literature, German Literature, French Literature, Japanese Literature, Philosophy and Creative Writing, World History, Japanese History,Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, and Education. In other words, Rikkyo University’s College of Arts represents a ‘place’ where the study of truths beyond any era or physical space is possible. What’s important to note here is the fact that knowledge has always been handled ‘remotely’, irrespective of time period or location. It’s actually an extremely rare occurrence to be able to handle materials such as historical documents at the same time and place. The knowledge of mankind has been handed down through the tools of oral tradition, words and pictures, printed mediums, sound and video mediums, and digital media, surpassing time through the past, present and future, as well as surpassing physical space on a global scale, and it will continue to be handed down. As such, the learning we begin from April 30 comes with the great challenge of discovering how we can use this tool called “online” to best share the knowledge of mankind – how to understand it, interpret it and hand it down.
One other challenge for us starting is to realize our responsibility to learn while faced with this globally historic pandemic of the novel coronavirus. The original meaning of “liberal arts”, the field of study of which we hold so dear, can be summed up by the following elements: (1) the wisdom that’s necessary for humans to live, (2) the sensibility that allows us to empathize with another person’s pain and suffer with them, (3) a world view informed by world history and the history of humanity, and (4) internationality that allows us to live in a multicultural world.
Most international borders are currently closed in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
However, this is the right time for us all to reflect on the world that is currently in great suffering.
Think forward to the future ahead.
Wish that those suffering from illness will get the necessary treatment.
Wish that the health of all the medical staff who are fighting for an end to infections and of those close to patients is protected.
Wish that the souls of those who’ve died will be at peace and that their families left behind will find consolation.
Wish that the hand of support will reach all those who are facing uncertainty and confusion.
From April 30, let’s strive to study the “liberal arts” that can embody these wishes and even shoulder their burden.
