【Date and time】
Wednesday, November 9, 2022/ 13:30-15:00
【Venue】
EAA Seminar Room (Room11, Bldg 101, Komaba Campus)
& Zoom
https://u-tokyo-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/87397287869?pwd=dy9yZTA4VEptSFZ5T1JlV1BSWHBhZz09
【Language】 English
【Speaker】
KATAOKA Mai (EAA Project Research Fellow)
【Moderator】
Yoojin Koo (EAA Project Lecturer)
EAA is a rare find place where students mainly from East Asian countries get together and grow/deepen intellectual exchanges at Komaba. In this process, the language students share is pivotal (what we mean by “language” in this context is a verbal practice). But why on earth do students from East Asian countries use “English” for intellectual exchange or to hang out? One might assert that either language (i.e. Chinese or Japanese) can be used, but what if students from three or more countries get together? If using English is inevitable for now, then what meanings can we put and carry on? If we have used English as an inertia, why don’t we stand here and now to revisit the role and the meaning of “English” in academia, and at EAA in particular? As some of you are fully aware, English in academia has been explored in various perspectives ranging from the importance of translation to power relations English incurs. KATAOKA Mai, EAA project research fellow, whose specialty is in Japanese literature and translation, will provide previous contentions on this issue and thought-provoking topics to revisit and untangle the relationship between English and academia. Through the discussion, we aim to seek the meaning of and our approach to it at EAA as one of the “fields” or “platforms”, where students who are rooted in East Asian culture, trilingual, but using English for most of intellectual exchange, get together to create new liberal arts. We welcome everyone who is interested in this topic.