Research result

With the globalization of higher education, universities around the world are promoting the acquisition of excellent foreign students, student exchanges among universities, and cross-border educational projects. In Asia, university collaboration networks such as UMAP, AUN, and AIMS are promoting student exchange, but they have not expanded significantly compared to the ERASMUS program in Europe.

This study will analyze the issues and future vision of inter-university collaboration in the UMAP target regions (Asia, Oceania, Latin America, etc.) from the perspective of student mobility and human resource development. Specifically, we will: (1) present a governance model through a comparative analysis of the study abroad exchange policies of national governments and the international strategies of major universities; (2) conduct a survey and propose and verify a common platform for improving the international compatibility and transparency of learning outcomes, grading, credit transfer, etc.; and  (3) Proposals for the activation of inter-university collaborative networks to promote inter-regional student exchange.

Research result

In this study, we tried to understand the actual situation of the Baan Mankong Program (BMP), a community development program in Thailand, in its preparation, implementation, and review phases. We collected detailed data on the BMP pilot project that started in 2003, and the full-scale deployment of BMP in 2004. In 2004, BMP was fully rolled out, and community networks were formed in many areas, and the participating communities were able to share their experiences and knowledge. Field surveys were also expanded to local cities (Chonburi, Rayong, Chaiyaphum, and other provinces). As a result, we found differences in the way BMPs are perceived and implemented by community residents in urban, rural and fishing areas. The above-mentioned BMPs have been introduced to other Asian countries as the Asian Coalition for Community Actions (ACCA) program by the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), an international NGO based in Bangkok.

This year, we conducted field surveys in Mongolia and South Korea, the countries where this program was introduced, to understand the actual situation. In Mongolia, we conducted a survey in the capital Ulaanbaatar and the ger* communities in the surrounding areas. In 2002, the country implemented a land ownership system, but the land was not sufficiently zoned. As a result, In the central city, road maintenance and land use by use are guaranteed, but in the peripheral areas, infrastructure is not well maintained and there is a strong tendency for housing lots to expand in an uncontrolled manner. In Korea, surveys were conducted in Seoul and Busan. In Seoul, we conducted a survey on the actual conditions of the plastic house community, and in Busan, we conducted a survey on the redevelopment of the Choppang area. In both countries, the residents’ strong interest in land ownership prevailed, and there was a difference with the main purpose of the self-help development program.

*Mobile homes of Mongolian nomads

Research result

This research is a practical study to develop an effective method of teaching sociology using video, and a theoretical study to examine the effectiveness and development of the use of video in sociological research through the research process, and to construct a theoretical system of video sociology. Specifically, the purpose of this project is to find knowledge on the practice of video utilization and the construction of theory by producing the material software for the undergraduate course “Asian Sociology” using Power Point as the platform. The images used were mainly shot in Southeast Asia. We chose the Kingdom of Thailand, which has a long history of exchange with Japan and where many international organizations have established their branch offices. The Kingdom of Thailand has a large population of people who visit Japan for business and tourism, and we judged that it would be easier to understand than other Southeast Asian countries. In the composition of the video, I tried to introduce the film with general images that can be usually seen in sightseeing. The film focuses on the development activities of local communities, including the slums in Bangkok and Ayutthaya, where settlement environments are being developed, and on the establishment and activities of community networks that are being organized for this purpose, to understand Thai society through its current issues and initiatives. The research results were published in Japanese and English in the Bulletin of the School of International and Area Studies, a joint seminar with Toyo University and AIT (Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand), the annual meeting of IVSA (International Visual sociology Association), and a monograph. In this research period, we mainly used still images for video utilization. This was done in consideration of the use of PowerPoint, which was used as a platform, but in future research, by using video images in a variety of media, we hope to gain further knowledge of the use of video images and deepen the construction of video sociology.

Research result

As a practical research, we produced a multimedia teaching material “Rice in Asia; Lives of seven farmers” as a material software for “Asian Sociology”. In preparing the syllabus, I focused on “rice farming” as a basis for comparison of Asian societies and collected life histories of rice farmers. Through his way of life, I examined Japanese rice farmers, and developed the overall structure to enable comparative study of rice farmers in Asia. We selected videos that corresponded to the contents of the text from existing materials. Once the structure of the text and video materials was completed, we produced a CD-ROM as a multimedia teaching material that mixed text and video. Based on the evaluation by the experts, we were able to refine the plan for the composition of the text and video materials in the production process of multimedia materials. As a theoretical study, I began by organizing previous research in anthropology, where the use of video in research has a longer history than in sociology. In anthropology, the use of photographs and ethnographic images, i.e., moving images such as documentary films and movies, have also been used for a long time as research objects and tools. In contrast, sociology, which emerged at about the same time as the invention of photography, made extensive use of images in its early years. In the 1930s and 1940s, Lind and his colleagues, who wrote the book “Middletown,” conducted systematic research using photographs to study local communities. However, other than that, it was not emphasized and disappeared again until the 1960s. After 150 years, we have entered the multimedia era, and by systematically organizing the sociology of video use, it has become clear that it is expected to be developed into research theory, research, and education. In addition, it is expected that the sociology of video communication, a new field of study, will be expected to grow in the future, and many new findings were obtained through this research.