Queer Cinema Forum 2024

The Transcultural Studies Division holds lecture series “Queer Cinema Forum 2024” conducted by Prof. Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano.

The 2024 Transcultural Cinema Forum will focus on queer cinema and examine the boundaries that create many of the dichotomies depicted in cinema, such as heterosexual/homosexual, gay/lesbian, male/female, normal/abnormal, common sense/uncommon sense, Japan/other regions. The word “queer” is generally regarded as a pejorative term that has the potential to hurt others, but at the same time it is a powerful keyword that can shake up our own notions of normality. By situating “queer” and/or “queerness” at the center of our discussion, this course will examine the possibilities and limitations in our societies.

Through Queer Cinema Forum 2024, we will not only learn about the blurring of “boundaries,” the narrative of imagination and its instability, but also consider the universal questions and doubts that abound in our everyday lives. Why do we discriminate against each other? What is the purpose of our lives when we know we will eventually die? What does it mean to be happy? What must we do to improve society? Through the discussion of queer cinema, we will expand our thinking toward fundamental questions of identity formation.

Date & Time: April 16, 23, May 7, 14, 21, 28, June 4, 15:00-18:15
Location: Lecture Room 9(講義室9), Basement Floor,
Research Building No.2 (総合研究2号館)
Language: English
Free to All

Please find posters here: PDF

Philosophical Expressions: Indian Philosophy in Japan and China at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Tetsugakudo Park(Philosophy Hall Park)

This presentation examines the development of philosophy as a global discipline, focusing on the early 20th-century integration of Indian philosophy into Japan and China.
Date & Time: 2024/03/29 (Fri), 16:00-17:30
Location: Faculty of Letters, Lecture Room 2

Continue reading “Philosophical Expressions: Indian Philosophy in Japan and China at the Turn of the Twentieth Century”

Kyoto-Heidelberg-Strasbourg Workshop 2024

Transcultural Flows of Diversity

Every year in February or March, the Graduate School of Letters sends a student delegation to its European partners in Strasbourg and Heidelberg to learn about exchange possibilities, participate in joint workshops, and get to know fellow students. This program is organised by the Division of the Joint Degree Master of Arts in Transcultural Studies, a collaborative degree program of Kyoto University and the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (HCTS). Graduate students in this program also join the workshops.

Continue reading “Kyoto-Heidelberg-Strasbourg Workshop 2024”

Intensive Lecture Course : Learning the Power of Observation (2023/7/31-2023/8/4)

The Transcultural Studies Division holds an intensive lecture course entitled “Learning the Power of Observation” (Foundation I – Seminar (VMC)), taught by Filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda on July 31 and August 1-4.

In this intensive course, he will explain how and why he takes his particular approach to documentary filmmaking, covering all phases of filmmaking from filming to editing to marketing. It will give students an opportunity to learn how a documentary filmmaker thinks and works. Examining actual day to day problems he faces, students will also learn and study various issues around documentary, such as ethics, economics, reality vs fiction, subjectivity vs objectivity, etc. At the end of the course, each student must write and submit a final paper which discusses such issues analyzing my films and methods.

Date & Time: July 31, August 1-4 10:30-12:00, 13:15-14:45, 15:00-16:30
LocationLecture Room 9, Basement Floor, Research Building No.2 (Map㉞)
Language: English and Japanese

Poster

Welcome all students who are interested in cinema and media studies.

Prior registration is required.
Click here to register.

If you have questions about it, you may contact Prof. Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano at wadamarciano.mitsuyo.6w[a]kyoto-u.ac.jp.

The Memory of the Second World War in Asia and Europe (2023/3/6~2023/3/10)

The Transcultural Studies Division will hold a special seminar entitled “The Memory of the Second World War in Asia and Europe” offered by Dr. Takuma Melber from Heidelberg University.

Date & Time: From March 6, Monday to March 10, Friday 10:00-16:30
Location: Lecture room 5 (第5講義室), Faculty of Letters Main Bldg. (MAP⑧)
Language: English

Registration on KULASIS for academic credits is already closed. Please contact JDTS coordination if you want to register for this seminar or you have questions about it, you may contact at info[a]cats.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp.

Please find the seminar poster and syllabus.