Hiyoshi Campus University Outreach Lecture Series "Nature and Artifice" Concludes: Keio University

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Hiyoshi Campus University Outreach Lecture Series "Nature and Artifice" Concludes

February 3, 2025

The "Hiyoshi Campus University Outreach Lecture Series" for AY 2025 has officially concluded. This initiative traces its origins to the former Yokohama Citizens’ University lecture series, which began in 1980, and is now organized by the Keio Research Center for the Liberal Arts. These lectures are so popular among those in the know that the venue becomes packed to the brim every time.

For the 2025 academic year, a total of ten lectures on the theme of "nature and artifice" were held on five different days (two per day) over the course of October and November. Although the “natural” and the “artificial” are often viewed as a dichotomy, they are sometimes inseparable as in the case of artificial joints implanted in the human body. In this series, experts in their fields, from motivated researchers to film directors, spoke about academic insights and issues surrounding “nature and artifice,” touching on the facts behind historical and cultural accounts. Around 300 participants listened attentively during each session.

On November 29, the final day of the series, participants who attended at least three of the five days were presented with certificates of completion. At the end of the day, the course drew to a close amid rapturous applause. The Keio Research Center for the Liberal Arts plans to offer another University Outreach Lecture Series in the coming academic year, conducted by a diverse group of lecturers, with themes that reflect the times.

Hiyoshi Campus University Outreach Lecture Series AY 2025 Schedule

October 4	Hokusai and Science: A Case Study of Ukiyo-e Artists in the Late Edo Period 　Masato Naito, Professor, Keio University Faculty of Letters / Director, Keio University Art Center (KUAC) Physical Activity, Exercise, Sports, and Health from the Perspective of the "Natural and Artificial" 　Yuko Oguma, Professor, Keio University Sports Medicine Research Center
October 25	Considering the Artificial Beauty of Women from Fictional Stories Featuring Female Artificial Humans 　Niijima Susumu, Professor, Keio University Faculty of Economics Maps that Depict the Earth and its Surface―The Power and Rhetoric of Maps 　Hiroshi Ota, Councilor, Japan Cartographers Association / Former teacher at Keio Futsubu School (Boys Junior High School), Doctor of Philosophy
November 8	Raising Aoumiushi Sea Slugs―Feeling and Observing Nature 　Makiko Hayashi, Assistant Professor, Keio University Faculty of Economics Substances & Materials and Nature & Artifice 　Koji Ioku, Professor, Keio University Faculty of Economics / Research and Education Center for Natural Sciences
November 15	The Story of Children with Missing Teeth Who Saved the Americas from Radiation Contamination (film screening and lecture) 　Hideaki Ito, Documentary film director
November 29	Realizing a Future Where Rubber is Sustainable―Synergy of Plant Resources, Science, and Technology 　Emiko Kurihara, Assistant Professor, Keio University Faculty of Business and Commerce Regenerative Medicine: Current Status and Future―The Challenge of Treating Intractable Neurological Diseases Using iPS Cells 　Hideyuki Okano, Director and Distinguished Professor, Keio University Regenerative Medicine Research Center