Mission
MISSION
"Global Studies" is the name given to the scholarship on Globalization, providing common ground for collaborative interactions among the disciplines of International Relations, International Politics, International Economics, International Law, International Sociology, Anthropology, Area Studies, and Cultural Studies. This academic sphere has been established (1) to modify or restructure the existing frameworks of the studies on International Social Science and (2) to critically conceptualize the new wave of Globalization that has impacted the globe.
Recognizing the limitations of the existing perspective predicated on the concept of "nation-states," all scholarship on "International Relations" has to exceed the current scope and scheme of research on "nations." In fact, academic communities have reached a standstill with regard to the provision of an effective framework for Globalization; as a result, it appears that the scholarship on Globalization necessarily entails the ramifications and restructuring of the framework. Also, the "Area Studies" has already gone beyond the framework of "nation-states," as it has directed its attention to wider federations among nation-states such as Southeast Asia or Europe. Yet, it continues to face difficulties to grasp the overall picture of Globalization, since the phenomenon continues to remain elusive to the discipline of Area Studies. Thus, "Global Studies" has emerged as a new academic field as the fruit of polyphonic pursuits that have gone back and forth between the boundaries of the traditional studies of International Relations by cutting edge scholarship from different fields.
The Department of International Relations at the University of Shizuoka is one of the first departments of its kind in Japan. Celebrating the dawn of twenty-first century, the CEGLOS is now reviewing and evaluating its research and educational frameworks through which to re-locate a common ground for collaborative interactions between macro-focused disciplines such as International Relations, International Politics, International Law, and micro-focused disciplines such as International Sociology, Anthropology, and Cultural Studies. A traditional International Relations department would have failed to re-locate this "common ground"; however, the CEGLOS, in its capacity, has succeeded in doing so. To this extent, the CEGLOS is assumed to play a distinctive role because it adopts the "Scalability Approach," which relates both macro- and micro-focused disciplines, when dealing with the phenomena called Globalization.
The foundation of the CEGLOS rests on this Scalability Approach that overcomes the defects that characterize the traditional study of "International Relations." The direction pursued by the CEGLOS, is neither confined to a mere collection of fragmentary academic discourses nor to a nostalgic re-introduction of Liberal Arts education in the name of International Relations. On the contrary, the CEGLOS advocates synthesizing different disciplines with Area Studies so that it can tackle the various problems posed by Globalization.
Today, amid the call for global solutions to problems such as poverty, famine, the North-South gap, the controversy with regard to development and international aid, global environmental problems, the information divide caused by the global network, and the flood of immigrants crossing borders and the accompanying hate crimes, it is crucial for global citizens to acquire a means to approach, critically analyze, and find solutions to these problems.
Shizuoka prefecture, where the CEGLOS is located, has these problems related to Globalization. The CEGLOS with its willingness to serve the local community can contribute to the realization of a truly multicultural society in which, for example, foreign residents can comfortably mix with the local residents without necessarily having to suppressing their differences.
We would like to take this opportunity to inaugurate the CEGLOS as part of the Graduate Program of International Relations at the University of Shizuoka. The CEGLOS undertakes the unprecedented challenge of building this center for international scholarship and pedagogy, so that we can reorient ourselves as the leading research institute in the field of International Relations.
