2. Research Plans for the Academic Year 2001-2002
Project Management Unit
Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo
Unit Leader: SATO Tsugitaka
Islamic Area Studies Project Management Office
The University of Tokyo, Bungakubu Annexe
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Tel: +81-3-5841-2687 Fax: +81-3-5841-2686
E-mail: i-office@l.u-tokyo.ac.jp
URL: http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/IAS/
Project Management Unit Research Themes and Activities
For the final year of the project the Project Management Unit will conduct the following activities:
The Islamic Area Studies Series, in twelve English volumes and eight Japanese volumes, contains the core of the projectﾕs efforts. We hope in the final year to continue editing the volumes by trying to give each theme truly comprehensive treatment: the existing material will be supplemented with further reports and in-depth discussions. Methodology will be given special importance, especially by emphasizing ﾒcomparative methodologyﾓ and the ﾒhistorical approach.ﾓ Thus we aim to cover a wide-range of topics in research to keep up with contemporary changes in the Islamic world.
Our past activities have demonstrated the importance and effectiveness of international collaborative research such as international workshops and field research. We will continue to initiate such activities, mainly through surveys in the Middle East and the US relating to the ﾒRethinking Arab-Japanese Relationsﾓ Project initiated last year, and through presentations at the Conference on Arab-Asian Relations to be held in Jordan in September.
Our work in applying the latest technology and developing new approaches to area studies, whether it be the application of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) or constructing an online catalog of Arabic-script publications available in Japan, has gained momentum in the past four years. This year the Project Management Unit will consolidate the results of the individual projects it has supported. Our activities in this direction will include documenting the socio-economic changes in the Nile Delta over the course of the 20th century using GIS, comparing the changes in the urban societies of China and Egypt after the introduction of market economy and free economy, and studying the development and environmental changes in the Yunnan Province.
This year from October 5th to 8th, we will host the international symposium ﾒThe Dynamism of Muslim Societies: Toward New Horizons in Islamic Area Studiesﾓ with support from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Japan Foundation. It is an opportunity to present our research of five years and to explore new directions in our research. The proceedings of the symposium will be published afterwards. (See also p. 21)
The achievements of the past four years will be presented to the general public through open lectures and handed down to students through research workshops. For the most up-to-date information, please take a look at our website:
http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/IAS/
Project Management Unit: International Exchange
Scholars to be sent abroad
- SATO Tsugitaka will discuss the work of the IAS Project in lectures at research institutions in Iran and China. July 27 - August 10, 2001. Tehran and Beijing.
- KATO Hiroshi, SATO Hiroshi (Hitotsubashi University), and GOTO Yutaka (Hirosaki University) will conduct collaborative research using GIS to analyze socio-economic changes in the Nile Delta in the 20th century. August 15-25, 2001. Cairo.
- TAKEISHI Reiji (Fujitsu Research Institute) will collect resources on Japan and the Arabian Oil Company, Ltd. January 18-30, 2002. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
- TOMIZUKA Toshio (International Buddhist University) will collect resources on Japan and the Arabian Oil Company, Ltd. January 18-30, 2002. New York and Washington, D.C.
- NAGASAWA Eiji, USUKI Akira, FUKUDA Sadashi (Institute of Developing Economies), Massoud DAHER (Universit� Libanaise), and ﾔISAM Hamza (Cairo University) will participate in and speak at the Conference on Arab-Asian Relations. July 16-19, 2001. Amman.
- KATO Hiroshi, SATO Hiroshi, GOTO Yutaka, and Ali EL-SHAZLY (Cairo University, Egypt) will research the progression towards a market economy/free economy and its effect on urban society, comparing China and Egypt. November 1-6, 2001. Shanghai.
Scholars invited from abroad
- HE YaoHua (Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences)
FAN ZuQi (Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences)
WANG ZongLi (Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Science)
ZHANG Ping (Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Science)
The above four scholars will conduct research using GIS to analyze the development of mountainous regions in the Yunnan Province, with a focus on ethnic groups and the environment. October 20-27, 2001.
- Ibrahim ARAFAT (Center for Asian Studies, Cairo University)
SONG KyongSook (Korean Association of Middle East Studies)
ZHAO Guozhong (Chinese Association of Middle East Studies)
Six scholars including the above will participate in the international workshop ﾒArab and Asia in the 21st Centuryﾓ and discuss Japanese-Arab relations. November 12-13, 2001.