Keio SKC Project: A Turning Point in Learning and Research

2019/04/08

Keio SKC Project! Are you familiar with it? It has received grants from the Juku three times as an open-call program of the 150th Anniversary Commemorative Future Leader Fund. SKC (Super Knowledge Campus) refers to a campus where "knowledge beyond knowledge" is developed—cultivated through one's own body and emotions, communication such as negotiation and requests, and by imagining others while working alongside them, distinct from the knowledge and information typically circulated on university campuses.

Specifically, there are various projects (regional cooperation, social contribution, international experience, artistic expression) based on the free ideas of Keio students. Let me introduce a few.

《Komoro Film Festival》 In cooperation with the administration, shopping associations, residents, and the Mita-kai of Komoro City, Nagano Prefecture, Keio students have been operating a film festival since the year before last. They invite universities in the Kanto region to produce films set in Komoro City featuring its citizens, and the submitted films are awarded based on citizen votes. There is also the 《Komoro Study Abroad》 program, which allows international students at Keio to experience the lives of the people in Komoro.

《A-Brut》 This project manufactures T-shirts printed with art by people with disabilities, sells them online, and donates the profits. Keio students handle the entire process, from negotiations with the individuals with disabilities to manufacturing, sales, and advertising.

《Inheritance and Expression of Memory》 By visiting war sites and disaster-stricken areas (such as Germany, South Korea, Fukushima, Okinawa, and Nagasaki) and archiving the scenes and testimonies found there, Keio students convey their own thoughts and emotions through expressions such as video, performance, and theater.

Self-Education, Self-Empowerment, Self-Respect: "Learning for oneself, improving oneself, and knowing one's own value." This connects to the Juku's principles of independence and self-respect, "learning while teaching, teaching while learning," and jiga-sakko (being a pioneer). By realizing their own ideas while learning alongside others, they ultimately increase their self-confidence and deepen their respect for the others they acted with.

Witnessing the proactive actions of Keio students, I recognized a Copernican revolution in learning that goes beyond even recent active learning. It is also a revolution in research. In fact, I am witnessing the birth of a new style (Art-Based Research) where the purpose and mission of scholarship and research lie in dialogue and imagination rather than truth, and in reality and empathy rather than facts, as the participating Keio students not only report at relevant academic conferences but also embody this approach.