Unit name: Studies of International Public Policy

Key words: globalization, international migration, crisis management, social security, regional development

      Policies developed and implemented at the global, area, national, local, and other levels are closely related to each other. The research unit: “Studies of International Public Policy”, led by Professor Igarashi, a specialist in urban sociology and international migration, aims to establish a discipline of “international public policies” and promote practical education in graduate schools by discussing appropriate publicness in modern society from multiple perspectives.

Cross-sectional collaboration among existing academic disciplines

       The research unit, consisting of researchers from three fields: international studies, sociology, and politics, aims to establish “international public policies” as a new discipline by organically associating conventional disciplines with each other, rather than simply combining them, and focusing on the awareness shared by these practical and actual academic disciplines as well as their identities. In regular workshops, public issues, such as international migration, crisis management, regional development, and social security, were discussed, including how the research findings obtained by the members and their social practices can be positioned in the new discipline. The unit consists of researchers with different scopes who conduct analyses at varying levels, from local to global ones. Members of the unit were able to discuss these, while focusing on associations among different layers to which attention is usually not paid, and the sessions were inspiring.

Programs to help develop transferable skills

       We have developed curriculums with new perspectives for training students, which are distinguished from those in the fields of sociology, international relations, and other existing academic disciplines. Our activities are also related to Faculty Development, which aims to improve the quality of education. The unit holds discussions with researchers in Japan and those from other countries to develop practical methods for problem solution, and values the development of research in graduate education, as its notable characteristics. The research unit aims to train researchers to help them develop practical skills for problem solution, and develop education programs designed to educate people in various positions who participate in public activities for problem solution, based on feedback obtained from the experiences of its members collaborating with companies, local governments, NGOs, and mass media.

Figure 1: Conceptual diagram of the research unit: “International Public Policy Research”

Interviewed on July 7th, 2015