[Feature: 30 Years of SFC] SFC Until Now, SFC From Now On

Image: Photographed by drone in 2019 (Provided by Keiji Takeda Laboratory)

Last autumn, immediately after being elected as the Chairperson of the Graduate School of Media and Governance, I first created a simple chronology of Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC). I tried adding various pieces of information onto the timeline. When did what happen? Who decided what? Gradually, the outline of SFC "until now" began to emerge. SFC is composed of three faculties—the Faculty of Policy Management, the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, and the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care—and two graduate schools—the Graduate School of Media and Governance and the Graduate School of Health Management. All of these have a shorter history compared to other faculties and graduate schools of Keio University. Nevertheless, the two original faculties have reached 30 years since their founding. Born alongside the Heisei era, they are now facing a turning point in time. It can be said that enough time has passed to look back.

What will we inherit from our predecessors who have built SFC since its inception, and what will we change? Here, I would like to discuss the "past" and "future," focusing primarily on the two faculties celebrating their 30th anniversary.

SFC can be characterized from various perspectives, but what I personally find attractive is the "spirit of experimentation." This is expressed in the attitude of "creating what does not exist," just as SFC itself did. You could call it the ethos of SFC. This should be evident if you look at the evolution of the curriculum. While creating the chronology, I realized once again that the undergraduate curriculum has undergone repeated revisions.

The current undergraduate curriculum is the seventh generation since the founding. Since students typically take four years to graduate, a pace of seven times in 30 years might seem a bit hectic. Simply put, it means we start preparing the next curriculum even before seeing students graduate under the current one. Although there are some irregular periods, curriculum revisions have been carried out in tandem with the timing of Dean changes.

Student behavior is evaluated every semester in the short term, and the curriculum is evaluated based on those results. The approach of thinking about the future while maintaining the current system is somewhat tedious, but it means that if there is any room for improvement, we will not hesitate to devise changes and try them out immediately. That sense of speed is important. It is also true that each faculty member is passionate about realizing a more desirable learning environment while maintaining their own teaching methods.

On the other hand, if we consider that the curriculum is directly linked to what is cultivated through university life and what kind of people students grow into, it is also important to look back at the value of the curriculum from a medium- to long-term perspective. In that sense, after 30 years, we have finally reached the stage where we can evaluate the SFC curriculum. Combining the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, there are approximately 25,000 graduates. The first generation of students is now approaching the age of 50. I have heard that when the first graduates were sent out, stress was created in the gap between the new values acquired at SFC and the traditional organizational culture. Gradually and steadily, the value of SFC has come to be understood and spread throughout society, and we now hear about the successes of our graduates in various settings. Not a few graduates have joined Keio University after their student life at SFC and are supporting the campus as staff members. They work at several campuses through transfers and play a role in spreading the individuality of SFC to the entire Juku. Furthermore, as mentioned later, many graduates have become faculty members at SFC and are in positions deeply involved in curriculum development.

Although the pace has slowed down slightly due to the spread of COVID-19, we are currently preparing for the next curriculum revision. Even when forced into a constrained daily life, the "spirit of experimentation" never disappears. Rather, we are positively taking what we have noticed under these circumstances as an opportunity to reconsider not only the curriculum but SFC itself.

For the past 30 years, the keyword that has supported the curriculum is "problem discovery and problem solving." Rather than relying on existing academic systems, understanding our own questions and the situations before us is precisely what activates our intellectual inquiry. If you start with a "problem," you will inevitably aim for an interdisciplinary and complex approach. Of course, there is knowledge that should be acquired step-by-step and systematically, but it is desirable for the way of learning to be actively organized according to interest in the "problem." We face the difficult task of designing a learning environment that is as flexible as possible while emphasizing the systematization of knowledge. There are many instances where opinions differ. This is because the frequent curriculum revisions are repeated attempts to achieve this.

The orientation toward "problem discovery and problem solving" naturally connects researchers from different fields. This can be seen in the fact that the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies have always maintained a complementary relationship as "twin faculties" while respecting each other's individuality. By facing "problems" related to various aspects of our lives, connections with society are strengthened, and awareness of entrepreneurship and social activities is heightened. In this way, SFC is designed "as a whole," from social trends and academic methods to the way of learning.

And now, we have reached a time to rethink this orientation toward "problem discovery and problem solving." we are in a situation where "problems" themselves are becoming more diverse and complex, and the methods for approaching these "problems" continue to change rapidly. The external environment continues to transform in unexpected ways, such as natural disasters and the failure of large-scale systems. With the arrival of a full-fledged aging society, we are being forced to review various systems and mechanisms. Most recently, due to the spread of COVID-19, we have spent the last few months in a social life we have never experienced before, where our movement is significantly restricted while only goods and information circulate freely.

Needless to say, global interdependence has been strengthened over these 30 years. Events in distant countries, which may have seemed small at first, eventually affect our immediate surroundings in unpredictable ways. Even if it seems we have addressed a certain "problem," a new "problem" appears immediately. Rather, we have come to realize that change is the "normal state," and what we have called "problem solving" is nothing more than a temporary state of equilibrium.

In other words, we "live with (are living with) problems." From "now on," we must not only aim for "problem solving" but also understand the constantly changing situation and think about how relationships between people and people, people and things, and things and things will be reorganized. This is a challenge that should be called "relationship transformation." We must use various methods to grasp the situation and make judgments that seem "appropriate" each time. We are required to further develop our sensibilities related to communication and expression.

SFC was created 30 years ago by clearing land. Comparing the current state with photos from that time, you can see that it has changed significantly. However, both in the image many people have and in reality, it remains as "far away" as ever. When choosing a university or a campus, practical conditions such as good transportation access or proximity to entertainment districts might be considered important. However, when attending SFC, such conditions seem to no longer have meaning. We gather at this "distant" campus because we feel its charm as a place. While some universities decided on a "return to the city center" while building suburban campuses, SFC still attracts us with a mysterious power.

At the time of its founding, it was the dawn of the internet spreading into the world, and SFC was the very node connecting to the world. By visiting the campus, we were able to feel that connection. I hear that since the buildings themselves were being developed, people spent their time filled with a sense of excitement while watching the campus change day by day. Nowadays, it has become natural to interact freely with smartphones, but the way of living based on information networks was something that could be experienced early on at SFC.

Naturally, the character of a place transforms with the times. Nevertheless, SFC remains a place that embodies ideas born from the "spirit of experimentation" in a visible form. Recently, the campus has been utilized as a "laboratory (testing ground)" to think about how technologies such as drones and automated driving can affect our lives. It is thanks to SFC's location that we can continue trial and error freely without being limited to theoretical thought experiments.

In the spring semester of 2020, all classes were held online due to the spread of COVID-19. In the end, students reached summer vacation without being able to enter the campus. During that time, students set up their environments so they could use their rooms at home as classrooms or laboratories. Although circumstances varied depending on the course content and academic field, they spent the spring semester devising ways to exchange data and communicate despite the restrictions. Events such as the Tanabata Festival and Open Campus were also held online, recording many "visitors." Through the experience of trial and error in the spring semester, both students and faculty/staff came to rethink SFC remotely. The online environment did not exist as a substitute for the campus or as a temporary measure in an emergency; rather, another form of the campus began to emerge.

Based on this background, it is important to think about the future of the campus. This suggests that the methods of coordinating time and space, such as timetables and academic calendars, will themselves be reviewed. Through digitalization, SFC will break into many small fragments and enter each person's home. Even if we are physically separated by distance, we can act while being aware that we are members of the SFC community. On the other hand, there is the campus as a real "laboratory" that takes advantage of its location. Offline and online campuses will coexist cooperatively and should change our way of learning into something more diverse.

We often talk about "SFC-ness." We have spent 30 years being conscious of (and taking pride in) our uniqueness regarding our attitudes and methods toward scholarship. What kind of existence is SFC within Keio University? Furthermore, in a broader context, what kind of individuality can we promote among the many campuses around the world? How we understand this "SFC-ness" is the key to thinking about our "future."

There are many clues to understanding "SFC-ness." For example, the entrance examination system and curriculum structure are often cited as features of SFC. The results of academic surveys and research are published through papers, books, and various social practices and proposals. In addition, the achievements of graduates as professionals are beginning to permeate our daily lives in the form of diverse products and services. All of these can be characterized by an attitude of always trying to integrate thought and action while being directly involved with the field based on one's own awareness of problems.

So, what should be done to inherit this "SFC-ness"? What is necessary to connect the ethos rooted in the campus to the future while continuing to change? First, it is symbolic that the two Deans elected at the timing of the 30-year milestone are graduates of SFC. For the predecessors who have been involved in SFC since its founding, this means that the time has come to present the "results" of SFC to the world.

SFC was born as a faculty dealing with interdisciplinary and complex fields, but many of the faculty members who have been responsible for education "until now" gained experience within existing academic fields. From "now on," faculty members who studied at SFC will take on the role of campus building while questioning what "SFC-ness" is. Now, after 30 years, the true value of SFC is being tested.

Not only the two Deans, but many graduates are returning to the campus as faculty members. Currently, about 120 faculty members across the two faculties are in charge of "Seminars (Kenkyukai)," and about 20% of them are from SFC. Precisely because they have the experience of actually learning and growing at SFC, their feelings for the campus are strong. In terms of inheriting the "past," this can be said to be a welcome development.

However, how might that fact itself affect the SFC of the "future"? Naturally, if one knows the circumstances of SFC, a sense of unity is born. "SFC-ness" spoken from one's own experience carries weight. However, caution is needed: the goal is not to make the one. Seeking a single "SFC-ness" would instead damage our individuality. New "experiments" are realized by respecting . While being grateful for the 30-year history, it is better to avoid referring to the "past" more than necessary.

The source of SFC's "SFC-ness" is self-reorganization. It is important to sincerely critique even the keyword "problem discovery and problem solving" that has cultivated the "past" and reorganize it for the "future." We always critique ourselves and challenge experiments without fear of failure. It is none other than SFC that can creatively destroy SFC.