A Promise of March | Kazunori Takashio, Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance
2025.04.15
"To all of you who received your degrees this spring, my message in English, promised at the commencement ceremony, is in the middle of this diary."
The time allotted to me was three minutes.
The date was March 24. This was the third graduate school commencement since I was appointed Dean of the Graduate School in the fall of 2023. As you know, since the ceremony last September, the commencement has been held on the same day as the undergraduate graduation ceremony. In the fall, it was a joint ceremony for undergraduate and graduate schools at Mita, but this spring, the events were held separately, with the graduate school in the morning and the undergraduate school in the afternoon. With the undergraduate ceremony following, the degree conferral ceremony for the Graduate School of Media and Governance, held after the main ceremony at Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall, was also on a very tight schedule. And so, I was told, "Please keep the Dean's address to three minutes."
Putting aside the urban legend (or is it?) that university professors will talk for 30 minutes if you tell them "you have three minutes," since the fall ceremony, which is mainly for international students, was basically in English, I had intended to give my address in both Japanese and English this spring. Three minutes... Hmm, impossible.
So, at the beginning of my speech, I said the following.
"I am given only three minutes for this speech. Please allow me to give my speech in English at another chance, such as in Okashira Diary."
I would like to fulfill that promise. Since I am transcribing this from my notes, it may have turned out a bit like written language. Please forgive my poor English as well.
Congratulations to the 105 of you who received your master's degrees today and to the 13 of you who received your Ph.D. degrees this fall semester. And especially, to the Ph.D., welcome to our side!
You have been active and have achieved results in your research fields, and today you have received your master's and Ph.D. degrees. And now, what were Media and Governance and Academia on your degree certificate? Maybe you have not been very aware of them. So, this is a good opportunity to consider it again.
What did you imagine when you first heard the words Media and Governance? In my opening address upon becoming dean of the graduate school, I wrote "Media and Governance has not yet been established as an academic discipline. It will be organized as an academic domain, someday, by accumulating your achievements and your degrees."
I believe that the Graduate School of Media and Governance is a place to explore and pursue the Science of Engagement. It is an academic domain that discusses, proposes, implements, and demonstrates Media and Policies which connect people, things, the environment, and drive the society, as well as Methodologies and Technologies to realize them. Of course, it is important to understand the targets, people, objects, and the environment involved as a prerequisite for this. There may be students who have achieved results in that domain, basic research. There may be those who have made efforts to make innovations through social implementation of methodologies and technologies. You are all sitting here today because you have mastered your respective fields.
As you all know, the world is still in a very unstable situation. Nevertheless, the master's and Ph.D. degrees you have earned will be a great weapon to open up and move forward in such a world.
If you get tired, please stop occasionally and look back on your days at SFC. And please watch over and sometimes guide the younger students who will follow you, in any way you can.
Finally, I would like to say one more time. Congratulations on getting your degrees today. Good for you!
And now it is April. The new semester has already begun, and life has returned to campus. The Graduate School of Media and Governance has also welcomed 116 new master's program students and 29 new Ph.D. program students. I believe I spoke about something similar in my address at the graduate school orientation. In his address at the graduate school entrance ceremony, President Ito passionately told the new students, "I want everyone here to aim for a Ph.D. degree." All of the deans on the stage must have felt the same way. I am thinking about what SFC's three faculties and two graduate schools can do to make that a reality.
To all new students, welcome to SFC. The faculty, staff, and current students all welcome you wholeheartedly.