NEWS
Symposium "Revisit the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: On 70th Anniversary, from ICU"
Update: January 21, 2019
From left: Hajime Akiyama (ICU), Prof. Misako Takizawa (J. F. Oberlin University) and Mr. Daisuke Nojima (teacher, Senri International School of Kwansei Gakuin)
On Saturday, December 8, the symposium "Revisit the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: On 70th Anniversary, from ICU" hosted by the International Christian University (ICU) Peace Research Institute (PRI) was held at the International Conference Room of Kiyoshi Togasaki Memorial Dialogue House. It was held as part of the United Nations Academic Impact public events.
ICU has a deep connection with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with all matriculating students signing the pledge to uphold the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in their student lives, and this background was explained by Prof. Toshiaki Sasao, Director of PRI (major: Education, Peace Studies) and Prof. Osamu Arakaki (major: Law, Peace Studies, Gender Sexuality Studies, Public Policy) at the beginning of the event. Subsequently, the symposium continued with the revisiting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the three perspectives of peace studies, international law and educational practice.
In the revisit from the perspective of peace studies, Hajime Akiyama, Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and studying in the Doctoral Course of ICU Graduate School, explained peace studies, revisited Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights based on the explanation of peace studies and finally stated the role to be played by ICU. In the revisit from the perspective of international law, Prof. Misako Takizawa (J. F. Oberlin University), who is an alumna of ICU Graduate School, discussed her own encounter with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and then reflected on the declaration from the perspective of international laws. In the revisit from the perspective of educational practice, Mr. Daisuke Nojima, a teacher at Senri International School of Kwansei Gakuin, who is an alumnus of ICU and its graduate school, introduced the initiatives related to Universal Declaration of Human Rights in secondary education practice, revisiting the declaration as a teacher in the classroom.
Following a 10-minute break, ICU's Prof. Takashi Nishio (major: Public Policy, Law, Japan Studies) commented on the revisits, after which a panel discussion was held with Prof. Arakaki as the facilitator, a commentator and the three speakers exchanged opinions on current human rights issues and discussed the concept of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the future. In the final stage, the participants including ICU students engaged in questions and answers and exchanged opinions.
The symposium was mainly conducted in Japanese with Japanese-to-English simultaneous interpretation also provided. The two interpreters were also ICU graduates, making it a revisit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights unique to ICU.
(Text by Yuki Moritani, 4th year student)