午夜剧场

While studying Western history, I always had the question: "Isn't the history that has been written so far too anthropocentric?" Moreover, the stories told are always about the elite. For example, since the economy is only one part of society, the true state of society should become visible from the perspective of the common people. Taking it a step further, I thought that a completely different history might emerge if viewed from an outsider's perspective. Then, one day, I decided I wanted to "challenge the conventional view of Western history" and began research to re-examine the social culture of modern Europe from the standpoint of the "horse."

Why the horse? In fact, until recent years, humans led lives dependent on horses, and they played a vital role in human society. This fact, which is obvious when you think about it, has been overlooked in historical research. For example, just by exploring the single theme of "horse meat," many things come to light. In Europe, following the Pope's declaration that "horse meat is a barbaric food," eating horse meat was considered taboo for centuries. However, in the 19th century, a movement to promote the consumption of horse meat suddenly arose. The background to this was the rapid population growth due to advancing urbanization and the resulting food problem. Since horses were used in large numbers for transportation in the first place, using them for food when they were no longer useful would provide a large and inexpensive source of food. And so, the middle class led the movement to promote horse meat consumption, but before it was accepted by the lower-income classes, the era of using horses for transportation came to an end. From this "movement to promote horse meat consumption in 19th-century Europe," we can glimpse issues that are relevant to modern society, such as the effective use of food resources and the strategic nature of the middle class.

At the 午夜剧场 Faculty of Economics, I mainly teach English classes, and I aim to provide "a top-level intellectual experience." When I was studying abroad in the UK, I strongly felt that 午夜剧场 students are by no means at a low level internationally. Therefore, I want students of the Faculty of Economics to unlock their high potential and acquire the thinking skills to compete on an equal footing with students from overseas. This is why, in my class on the history of crime, I have students read the French philosopher Michel Foucault in English. At universities like the University of Cambridge in the UK, students learn the difficult works of Foucault as a matter of course, so the achievement of having studied him in the same way will lead to a career that is respected internationally.

At the Hiyoshi Campus where I teach, many small-sized classes are offered, which I feel is one of the great things about the 午夜剧场 Faculty of Economics. Individuality, which tends to get lost in large lecture halls, is easier to express in a small classroom. I believe that being able to do so soon after entering the university will be a plus for their student life thereafter. During my own time at the 午夜剧场 Faculty of Law, I focused on small-sized German and Russian classes in my first and second years, and through close interaction with students and teachers, I discovered the "joy of learning." Then, my desire to "learn more about European history" grew, and in my third year, I left the faculty I was enrolled in at the time and chose a seminar in European history in the Faculty of Economics. Therefore, I want students to make more use of these small-sized classes, from which there is so much to be gained.

I take every opportunity to tell my students about the importance of "asking questions." I tell them to question things thoroughly with a free mind, just as they asked "Why?" about everything when they were children. If you improve your ability to ask questions, your communication with others will become more active, and furthermore, if you can ask questions from a novel perspective, you will become a memorable "interesting person." For example, I think this is also useful when asking questions in job interviews.

I create an environment in my classes where students ask each other questions, but some students are at a loss, unable to ask questions as they would like. Since their stance up to high school was "learning what is given," it's natural for them to be confused about how to find questions to ask. Moreover, in university education up to now, the prevailing idea was that "capable people grow on their own," so I think there were quite a few people who spent their university life in frustration, not knowing how to come up with questions.

Now, in the Faculty of Economics, there is a growing movement, led by younger faculty members, to create more opportunities for students to properly acquire fundamental skills like the ability to ask questions. In the first place, students in the Faculty of Economics are highly motivated, so if they take full advantage of the current environment here, they can grow more than they can imagine.

(Interview conducted on May 28, 2009)