A University with Life | Fumitoshi Kato, Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance
2021.08.10
President Ito and the Vice-Presidents were coming to campus. A few days after the end of the rainy season, it was a clear, hot day. After our meeting, the plan was to guide them on a tour of the campus, along with the deans of both faculties and other related personnel. Time was limited, and with the scorching sun, we had to proceed with the "tour" carefully. We followed the course that Administrative Director Hirota had planned for us.
First, we headed to the east side of the Miraisozojuku (Institute for Designing the Future) , to the β Village . I plan to properly detail the history of this project on another occasion, but this area is lined with unique buildings, including four "Residence Wings," as well as an "Educational Experiment Wing (β Studio)" and an "Educational and Research Presentation Wing (β Dome)." "Residence Wing 1" was completed in April 2016, and after nearly five years, all the planned buildings were completed last fall. We decided to group this cluster of buildings under the name "β Village." Unfortunately, it cannot be used now due to COVID-19, so it feels completely devoid of life. Weeds are growing unchecked.
Here, students and faculty can stay overnight and engage in lively discussions throughout the night. By eating and sleeping together, time flows in a completely different way than in a classroom. I envision a scene where lights are on in each "Residence Wing," and the village comes alive at night. Walking along the periphery, you can also see the Shonan Fujisawa International Dormitory , which was completed this spring.
The area to the west, adjacent to the β Village, is called the Η Village. There are plans to build a student dormitory here. Land preparation has already begun, and construction will start once the groundbreaking ceremony is over. Even while the "stay-at-home" period has kept us away from campus, the construction has been progressing little by little. After introducing the buildings of the β Village, we took a break. We ate our bento boxes while maintaining social distance, and in the latter half, we walked around the campus. Seeing the graduate school building, laboratory buildings, and the seminar guesthouse, I was once again struck by the vastness of the campus. Indeed, what we should be proud of is this campus, rich in nature.
I have been coming to this campus for quite a long time now. I know that it has changed little by little, and now I am involved in that change as part of my job. However, shortly after becoming a university faculty member, I also began to notice the restrictive nature of the campus. This is because our "campus life" is actually meticulously structured by the academic calendar and timetables. Classes break up our time into 90-minute blocks. Wednesdays are "meeting days," so the weekly schedule is determined based on that. Of course, the basis of communication is making time for each other, so it is precisely because of these arrangements that we are able to gather. The important point is that this way of using time is artificially created for various reasons. In other words, we are using a free and expansive campus in a very unnatural way.
Even when a class is buzzing with lively discussion, once the predetermined time arrives, students hurry out of the room for reasons like having another class or club practice. Faculty members, too, are forced to cut off communication for their next class or meeting. Meeting schedules are set at the beginning of the academic year, with "appointments" filling the calendar a year or even several years in advance. Numerous deadlines line the calendar. I want to be freer. With that thought, I have long been thinking of ways to escape the campus. I would use weekends and holidays to head "outside" the campus with students. Even for just a two-night, three-day trip, being freed from the timetable and spending time eating and sleeping together allows us to connect with each other's humanity. For the past ten-plus years, I have accumulated experiences that cannot be had on campus by going "outside" four or five times a year. Despite having an attractive campus right in front of me, I was preoccupied with heading "outside."
I will probably continue to be interested in "outside" activities in the future, but amid the constraints imposed by COVID-19, I have started to think anew about the campus. There is no doubt that changing the academic calendar and timetables themselves is quite a hassle. But I wonder if I wasn't trying to engage with that fundamental change. After all, to make the campus a vibrant place, real points of contact between people are necessary. From now on, we will have to consider the nature of the academic calendar and timetables on the premise of combining online and in-person formats. Couldn't we create a system that allows for a little more leeway and a more natural engagement with the campus? I want to be involved in organizing time and space with new ideas.
The workplace vaccinations that began at the end of June seem to be progressing smoothly. This is to enable students to return to campus again. I want to respond to the voices eagerly awaiting that day. The administrative staff have adopted remote work and continue to commute, albeit on a somewhat irregular basis. The surrounding construction work is steadily progressing. The overgrown weeds should also be neatly trimmed eventually. Even with few people around, the campus is being carefully maintained, waiting for us to return.
By the way, will the faculty be able to return to campus? We have realized the benefits of online formats, not just for classes but also for meetings and administrative procedures. Naturally, we have also accumulated a variety of know-how. As we embrace this convenience, I wonder if our attachment to the campus might weaken. Over the past year and a half, it may actually be the faculty who have been the most distant from the campus. Bathed in the summer sun, this thought suddenly crossed my mind. The Aigamo ducks , which had just arrived from Aso the day before, were swimming tightly packed in the Gulliver Pond (Kamoike). Drenched in sweat, my "attending" duties were successfully completed.