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Congratulations to the Stevenson Seminar members on completing your graduation theses. Sustainability was the common theme of this year’s papers. Oka Eiko and Endo Yuta looked specifically at sustainability within education, with Eiko focusing on the efforts of Japanese universities to create sustainable campuses and Yuta looking at Japanese secondary education and the connection between education for sustainable development and the formation of UNESCO schools. Rather than focus specifically on education, Kotaki Shiori and Yasui Rena wrote about environmental attitudes and behavior. Shiori targeted university students, exploring how COVID-19 restrictions have impacted Japanese attitudes towards the natural world. Rena chose to focus on food culture, investigating food loss/waste and the various ways in which bakeries have attempted to address the issue. Mori Shota continued the food theme with a study of the moral implications and environmental potential for lab-produced cultured meat, arguing that educated consumers would likely embrace the technology. Although not food related, Harada Koya also wrote about animals, introducing the historical and cultural context of animal protection in Japan, and contrasting it with overseas developments. Imazu Mana approached sustainability from a social perspective, looking at the policies and challenges of accepting foreign care workers in Japan. Finally, Mori Nonoko examined the way in which Doshisha University alumni supported and sustained students through the early months of the current pandemic.
All eight students conducted original research, using combinations of text-based and interview-based methods. Rena’s study is of note for having succeeded in getting several large and widely known bakeries to cooperate with her survey. Meanwhile Mana, Yuta and Eiko all interviewed working professionals, Shiori and Shota surveyed their peers, and Koya spoke with animal protection activists. Nonoko’s thesis grew out of numerous interviews with key persons involved in Doshisha’s response to COVID-19. Her study is the first of its kind and will remain a valuable source for future scholars.
In addition to the normal challenges of researching and writing a lengthy paper, the students wrote in English, evidencing their language ability and tremendous effort. The result is a collection of papers that have contributed to the growth of the students in terms of both technical skill and intellectual development. In sum, the eight theses make a worthy contribution to the field of “education and culture” of which the seminar should be proud. Well done.
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