TEXT BY ルセフ キリル
研究科：人間科学研究科
専攻：人間科学専攻
専門分野：比較文明学
Trip to Europe
My pre-internship trip to Europe was closely connected to my research on history of Japanese economic ideas and particularly the work of the Social Policy Association (1897-1924).
After our initial visit to Geneva in the Switzerland and participating in a lecture-workshop in the Graduate School, one of Europe’s most prestigious institutions, I proceeded with my plan to learn more about social policy in Europe and also visit some famous institutes renowned for research on Japan.
First, I visited Turkey and France. In Turkey, I was particularly interesting how a growing economy is dealing with the related social issues, such as working conditions, labor problems, rising gap between rich and poor. I managed to visit the Faculty of Economics in Istanbul University and also a think-tank organization – the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation. There I could discuss with my counterparts about the history of labor relations in the country, the social security system and also on issues such as Islam and democracy, combating corruption, state reforms, transparency and accountability.
I found out that Turkey in fact has many common points with Japan, as being a country that adopted a lot of economic and social ideas from Western Europe.
In France, the main purpose of my visit was to talk and discuss ideas about social policy in a developed economy and analyze the sustainability of the current system. There I visited the famous institutes HEC and Ecole Polytechnique. A friend of mine studying in HEC introduced me to some of his professors and other students, and I could visit some lectures and to some really useful discussions. It was my first visit to a business school and I found it really a great place where people from different backgrounds and experiences could discuss important issues and study.
In the UK, I visited London and after that joined the rest of the group in Scotland. I was particularly interested from before the visit some of the famous English universities, such as LSE or Oxford and this pre-internship was a great opportunity for me to do this.
In LSE I managed to arrange a short meeting with a specialist on Japan, the historian Janet Hunter. It was really interesting to speak with a world famous professor of my own field and we managed to exchange a few ideas about my research project.
The trip to Europe and the various activities I got engaged into helped me a lot to broaden further my academic connections beyond the borders of Japan. I think it was really useful for my future career in the field and I am very glad in opened my eye for different opportunities around the world.
