Welcome to UT OpenCourseWare a free and open publication of UT Course Materials.
We invite you to view all the courses available at this time.

Introduction to Global Focus on Knowledge

In the forefront of today’s world of science, there are many new interdisciplinary fields developing by the merging of conventional fields of study. At the same time, the subdivision of academic fields is becoming evident. As a result of the dynamic progress in science, it has become more and more difficult for all concerned to grasp the relationships between their own field of study and other fields of study. It has also become difficult to obtain a sense of where each particular new field of forefront technology belongs in the broader framework of academic endeavor.

Proposed by H. Komiyama, President of The University of Tokyo, Global Focus on Knowledge is the newly-established lecture series aimed at first and second year students. The lectures began from the Winter Session 2005, and were designed to meet the growing need to answer questions surrounding the emergence of new interdisciplinary fields and the merging of conventional fields of study. For new students, armed with only their elementary and secondary educational background, intended for the most part to prepare them for little more than tackling formidable college entrance examinations, we can expect only a narrow understanding of the purposes and scope of their upcoming studies. There are even some students who do not truly understand the purpose of their education during the first-half term of the program of the College of Arts and Sciences, but continue their studies having only a vague understanding of their overall scope and purpose.
The University Lecture directs such first/second year students to a broad systematic “structure of the intellect” to make them aware of the purpose and position of each subject they are learning. Encouraged by the prospect of genuine learning and accomplishment, students are expected to come away from the lectures with a higher motivation regarding their own academic achievement. Internationally-acclaimed professors from The University of Tokyo are regularly invited to address the topics that are the subjects of Global Focus on Knowledge.
Global Focus on Knowledge is expected to add an additional one or two lectures per-session after 2006.