Peoples' life is marked by various forms of bodily differences and changes that they experience throughout their existence. It is an important moment of solidarity and gift of people and the same time is made the reason of antagonism. And it is difficulty of individual and is said risk and crisis of society. So it is an essential part that makes and changes people and society. The purpose of our proposed COE is to create a new study that we propose to name "Ars Vivendi: Forms of Human Life and Survival".
Disciplines such as medicine and social welfare study these differences and changes, however they only see what they want to see. In fact there happen much more things in a person's relation to his or her body than what these studies can cover. These phenomena which are in excess of what is studied by classical disciplines, we strongly believe, should be begun studying afresh. Under our proposed COE program, we will inquire into 4 domains: "disability", "aging", "disease" and "difference", accumulate information on these 4 domains, pursue research in each one, reorganize studies. What we mean by "reorganize studies" is that we will reorganize existing knowledge in the light of new studies. We are confident that through doing this we will succeed in producing researches that have depth and broad scope. We will then distribute our results as broadly as possible.
Our proposed COE will focus on continuous research activities carried out on a daily basis and aims at effectively producing researches by graduate students, research fellow and post doctoral fellow. Our goal is not only to collect researches in Japanese but also in English. We propose to target the following 3 research activities.
Ⅰ We will collect information on "body", "disability", "aging", "disease" and "difference". Especially, we will turn our attention to what (has) happened during the modern era and what is now taking place in relation to these topics, as well as what has been said or thought in relation to these key issues. In a second moment, we will disclose in full the collected information and examine its meaning and impact.
Ⅱ We will also give an important place to people who have experienced "differences" and to those who live with them or give them support; they will be included as full participants in research activities and we aim at creating between them a network that makes use of up to date scientific information.
Ⅲ We will examine people who experience difficulties in living in this world and make recommendation concerning how they can best live in public surrounding.
Regarding activity Ⅰ, we will collect and organize research material and make it available to the scientific community and the public at large through our website. The most important information will be posted in both Japanese and English so that it can be made available to a wider public. In addition, we will establish an information network with international organizations to grasp the current situation of these organizations' policies, activities and goals. In this case also we will translate the most important information from Japanese into English, so more people can have the access to it. Once this groundwork has been done, we will organize the various contributions and examine the main theoretical issues involved. As an example of the kind of questions and issues we have in mind we can think of: the extent to which the human body can be changed?
Regarding activity Ⅱ, the point is that the subjects of researches of this type have not been sufficiently developed so far in spite of claims to the contrary. Therefore, we will set up an organization that facilitates communication between subjects and researchers in the field. One of the purposes of this is to improve the educational research environment of people who have disabilities, especially their accessibility to information. The first step will be to reexamine and reestablish the educational research environment of our proposed COE and suggest ways of creating an educational research environment with a greater versatility. We will also examine the mechanisms of the possession, disclosure and distribution of information, such as copyrights for example, and present counterproposals. We think there are two ways to do this. One is to establish a network/organization that enables us to grasp the needs of users and provide the feedback of their evaluations using the contributions of natural scientific research and technological development. The other way is to examine social and natural science studies whose investigation, experiments and research target this kind of population. In addition, we will do research both on the priorities of research/development, the distribution of cost and benefits and propose an outline of how they may evolve in the future.
Regarding activity Ⅲ, we will conduct research in the area of political philosophy and economics in reference to the value of those studies, make our results known to the public and propose concrete plans. We will focus on three objectives. One is to do research which strengthens related activities in the private sector. We will discuss with various persons and organizations including some of our graduate students who are actively engaged in activities of this type, plan and carry out research in collaboration with members of non-profit organizations. We will simultaneously conduct research to improve the management of such organizations and we will widely disseminate our results. Our second objective is to analyze the history and current situation of this domain, including fieldwork, and to make plans for the distribution of resources, elaborate a framework for the reorganization of social services that rests on basic theoretical principles. Our last objective is to focus on attempts that aim to switch to, or promote policies in collaboration with organizations that are involved in direct aid. We will do inquire into the possibility of setting up transnational organizations and a framework for international medical insurance, and propose a system to supply social services at the international level as well a theory of the funding of such a system.
As noted in the previous section our proposal is to create a new area of study. In consequence, it is to some extent difficult for us to clarify exactly which disciplines this proposed COE will cover. Yet, we believe proposed COE will cover following disciplines because all of them relate in some way with our proposed COE and with this program members' specialized fields : philosophy, ethics, bioethics, literature, science & technology studies, history of science, anthropology, psychology, economics, political philosophy, sociology, the study of social welfare, social policy, human services, international aid, gerontology and disability studies,. Let us instead briefly explain why we have emphasized certain discipline and what the central characteristic of our proposed COE is.
We have emphasized two of the disciplines so far- disability studies and the study of human services. Regarding the "disability studies", the word "disability studies" first appeared in Japan in the late 1990s. There are academic societies on study of disabilities in the U.S. and U.K. An academic society on study of disabilities was established in Japan in 2003 and Tateiwa, our program leader, who is actively engaged in this society is one of its directors. Regarding "study of human services", Nakamura, Mochizuki, Sato, and others have developed the concept and incorporated it into the curriculum of the graduate school of science for human services at Ritsumeikan University. They are also in the process of establishing an academic society on "the study of human services". These developments indicate that the members of our proposed COE possess the appropriate competence to create and cultivate this new area of study.
Our proposed COE will not directly do research or development in the field of natural sciences but aims to be a "bridge" between research/development in that field and its users. In order to be a bridge, we need members who are researchers in natural sciences and know the "languages" and "concepts" both of natural sciences and social sciences. In our proposed COE, members such as Endo (biologist/ecologist), Matsubara (history of science/science and technology studies), Matsuda (doctor of medicine) and Hayashi (expert of international aid/doctor) perfectly fit that description. Therefore, we are quite confident that we have the resources necessary to be a "bridge" between research/development in natural sciences and users.
2) Describe the concepts and objectives of your plan and the need for establishing the COE.
(How you will build a research base for conducting creative, pioneering research activities of the world's highest standard. What form your COE will take.)
The fundamental idea of our proposed COE is to understand the ways and techniques that are available to people with different bodily conditions (different abilities/disabilities) for them to live, and to develop an image of how they could live from now on. Finally it is to propose actions that can bring about a state of affairs or society that allows them a better life.
The object of our proposed COE is, as noted in 1, to create a new study called "Ars Vivendi: Forms of Human Life and Survival". Under our proposed COE program, we will see people who are characterized by the facts that they have "disability", "aging", "disease", "difference". and accumulate information on these different forms of life and survival, do research on these different conditions, reorganize studies, encourage cooperation and establish collaboration with people actively involved with persons marked by these conditions.
Many people live with various differences of these types. However, previous studies have mainly focused on "normal" people. Of course, studies such as medical science and studies on social welfare deal with people who are sick or live with disabilities. Yet, all these approaches have limitations. In reality, much more things happen in this world, which are beyond the scope of what these disciplines study or can observe. There are people who help and study people who are helped, and they attempt to establish systems of help. But there are also frictions, conflicts and sometimes antagonism between them. However, such phenomena are usually not examined or studied. Thus, our proposal is to examine these types of phenomena and to develop a concept of how their life could be and of how help could and should/should not be provided. Our proposed COE will pursue the 3 following concrete aims.
Ⅰ The first is to know both the history and the current situation in relation to our 4 domains: "disability", "aging", "disease" and "difference". (Disability, aging and disease are difference, but at the same time have other phases, and of course there are other differences within us.)There are a lot of facts and materials that needs to be gathered. Yet those facts and materials have never been assembled so far because most inquiries have been mainly interested in information pertaining to the jobs that cure and care these people.
Also, the implications of this information have not been thoroughly examined. Many academic theses only include some statements of facts and very little discussion. Thus, we strongly believe we will need to collect as much information as possible through collaborative works and collaborative research. Further serious and in depth discussions should be held on the basis of this information.
Ⅱ Our second objective is to create a space and network where people who have experienced such differences and changes or people who have lived with these people can participate in our studies, can use them for their own purposes and produce studies themselves. Although everybody agrees that these persons should participate in the studies, to this date framework and concrete system have not ever been established that allows them to do this actually. Experts many times do not do what is desired and do what is not desired by their 'clients'. In order to solve this problem, we will create a network/organization that includes both experts and the persons they study and that relates them to one another.
Ⅲ Our third objective is to examine people who suffer from these forms of difficulties within the present social arrangement and make normative proposals as to how we change these given living conditions. There are parts of Japan where people with difficulties can live better than similar persons do in other countries. On the other hand, there also are people who live in much harder conditions. Yet everyone has the same right to live and we believe it is possible for us to establish a framework in which all live a decent life.
As for the reasons why we wish to set up this COE we wish to emphasize the following points. It is necessary to examine and show how people struck with such difficulties live, how they should live, how they have lived so far and how they can live in the future. These are obvious requirements, but there has to this date not been any research done on these issues. Since we propose this is precisely the research we propose to do we are convinced of the significance of this research and of our proposed COE. It is necessary and more efficient to have many different studies, but this does not mean that we should simply add and jumble them all together. The important thing is for us to examine the extent to which a person can do, cannot do, should do, and should not do. Therefore, it is necessary and significant that people do not remain confined into their own fields of research but assemble in one center and do research together. This type of research should be done by people with various expertise and by various kinds of people, and we should help these people becoming world-class researchers.
The purpose of our proposed COE is to create a new field of study called "Ars Vivendi: Forms of Human Life and Survival". This purpose itself is the most important reason for establishing our COE in our country. Under our proposed COE program, we will see people characterized by "disability", "aging", "disease", "difference", and accumulate information on these 4 types of agents, do research on each type, reorganize existing studies, and encourage collaboration with persons actively helping members of those populations. By doing so, we are confident that we will be able to contribute research that is both in depth and sufficiently broad. Finally, we intend to disseminate our results both in English and Japanese.
In view of the future expansion of our proposed COE we envision the following two steps. As a first step, we will collect facts and information about what has happened in Japan in relation to these issues, what has been thought in Japan concerning the 4 above themes of research. The institutional structure of the humanities and social science in Japan tends to prevent domestic information from going outside. We already have records of facts, research contributions and the contents which we judge important to transmit outside of Japan. Yet lack of resource has prevented us from communicating the information outside of Japan. In order to break free from this situation we need to establish a network and a research center, produce research contributions, efficiently pool them together and quickly translate them from Japanese into English.
Our next step will be to focus on thoughts, actions, goals and techniques that exist outside of Japan but that have not been taken into account in this country. "What kind of transnational dialogue can be produced on the common ground of illness?" is an example. We will concretely determine the circumstances of such a dialogue/discussion and reflect about it together with foreign researchers as well as patients and participants. Then we will communicate these results as widely as possible to make it a shared possession.
Regarding international relations our proposed COE will focus on four dimensions.
First, concerning bioethics, there are research centers such as the Institute of Society, Ethics and the Life Sciences, the Hasting Center in the U.S. It is thought that since illness is not good we try to cure it. Yet what if illness is cannot be cured? Central to bioethics is the idea of autonomy. But is it the problem of him/herself? Is self-determination only the answer? Bioethics does not cover all aspects of the discussion concerning illness and disability.
Second, concerning study of disabilities, a different approach has been made. There is a center at the University of Leeds in U.K. Researchers in that domain recognize and accept the fact that disabilities cannot be cured. So they require complementation of disabilities by society. But if disabilities can be cured, is it good? These are the type of questions that still remain unsolved.
Thirdly, studies of social policies have been carried out all over the world. This involves such disciplines as economics and politics. Overcoming the immense gap between the rich and the poor is important issue. But, for example, is reduction and management of 'risk' of life an enough answer? It is an issue we need to consider. And how can we change the present situation? We believe that a lot needs to be done.
Finally, philosophy and religion that aim at going beyond life and death are of interest. However, we live in 'this' world while living, so we should understand troubles and conflicts in this world and find ways to live a realistic and concrete life with its passing pleasures and pains.
These reflections are entertained and these questions are asked all over the world. The problem rather is that they are approached separately and that there is no center that addresses all of them together. Our proposed COE aims to establish such a center and become a pioneer in the field. In another word, our proposed COE is unique and has superior attributes from the international perspective.
Our proposed COE will perform the following 3 types of activities (Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ).They are coordinated and linked with each other and together lead to the creation of "Ars Vivendi: Forms of Human Life and Survival".
Ⅰ: Accumulation and Thinking1. Dissemination of collected data (Part1) : We will collect, pool, order, make accessible materials concerning our 4 themes of research. We will also translate selected materials from Japanese to English.Ⅱ: Reorganization of Studies
2. Dissemination of collected data (Part2) : We will establish a database of organizations focusing on the sick people and persons with disabilities, their activities, goals and the policies that address such issues and their current situations.
3. Thinking : We will organize various research contributions and conduct research on our 4 themes focusing on issues that have not been investigated or unsolved problems.
1. Educational Research Organizations : People with disabilities will examine and propose organizations to be examined.Ⅲ: Cooperation and Construction
2. Assistance of Technology Development : We aim to contribute both to research in natural science and technology development. We will create a network/organization that can convey the intentions of users of scientific advances; that facilitates communication with them, and provide developers with their feedback and evaluations.
3. Ethics of Study and Technology : We will examine the ways in which social science and natural science which investigates experiment and do research on various people, should interact with the people who are targeted by these research activities. Moreover, we will conduct research on the priorities of research/development, the distribution of costs and benefits and reflect the desiderata of targeted people relative to these ends.
1. Cooperation : We will discuss with various private organizations, create plans and implement them. Especially, we will focus on research concerning how to run/manage NPO and disseminate this information using our website.
2. Presentation of Visions on Society : We will offer outlines of 1) the distribution of resources, 2) frameworks for social services and 3) supply systems/organizations and propose different conceptions of such systems. At first, we will examine their history and analyze their current situation. We will conduct some fieldwork in order to collect information on these issues. Then we will initiate basic discussions and theoretical discussions and analysis. An example of this type of issues is how we should deal with budget constraints. We will propose concrete suggestions concerning this problem.
3. International Cooperation and Transmission of Information : We will focus on organizations that aim to change or to advance policies of organizations that are directly involved in aid. We will do research on the possibility of setting up transnational organizations and a framework of an international medical insurance and propose a supply system for international social services.
The area of research of our proposed COE has not benefited from the pooling of information since it exists in a interval between natural science and human and social science. Researchers associated with our proposed COE have already collected an important amount of data concerning several of our research themes here in Japan. We intend to build up this database and translate what we think necessary and important from Japanese into English, which should allow us to play our role as a kind of research hub. We will chronologically organize a research bibliography of related books and articles and at the same time, increase to 20,00 book items ()our database that presently contains 5,000. We will also make files on themes, people, and academic works which we will post on our website. We will also cooperate with researchers of the Social Studies of Medicine program of McGill University in Canada and conduct joint research.
2. Dissemination of collected data (Part2)We will examine materials and publications that exist in Japan and will translate important ones into English. We will establish a permanent route to the publication of our research in English. We will establish and manage an information base which will allow people to learn about those who are sick, the activities and goals of people with disabilities all over the world and inform them about their current situation throughout the world. We will also do fieldworks on the policies adopted in foreign countries and on various international organizations and report the results of our fieldworks in English. Concerning the collection, ordering and communication of information on these research, graduate students and researchers who have had some experience will take the initiative. We will also cooperate with the Disability Studies Center at University of Leeds and exchange students.
3. ResearchesWe will organize various research results and conduct research (including collaborative research) on themes that have not been investigated so far and on unresolved problems. We will then publish our result in the forms of books and articles. An example for this issue is that "to what extent should we recognize a condition as sickness/disabilities and to what extent should we endeavor to change people's bodies?".
We will establish an organization/system that will help and encourage people with difficulties such as disabilities to conduct research. Especially, we will improve the accessibility of information. As a first step, we will examine what can be done based on our past experiences and do repeated research trials. Our goal is to establish such an organization.
Moreover, we will investigate normative problems such as copyrights and patent rights and propose our own conception of how to deal with these questions. This will probably be carried through the initiative of 3 graduate students who have visual disability
2. Assistance of Technology DevelopmentOur research hub itself will not take part in technology development as such. We will observe and convey to those who do such research what users want and what they do not want and also facilitate the exchange between the ones and the others. We will establish a network/organization that can provide developers with feedback about the users' evaluations. An example for this is how should we respond to the claims of genetic medicine?
3. Ethics of Study and TechnologyWe will examine the question how social science and natural science, which investigate, experiment and carry out researches should treat the people who are the target of its research. Moreover, we will do research on the priorities of research/development and on the distribution of costs and benefits and reflect the points of view of research-targeted agents on these issues.
Ⅲ: Cooperation and ConstructionWe will discuss with various non-profit organizations such as Japan Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS) Association, Japan National Assembly of DPI (Disables Peoples' International), make and implement investigative research plans. Researchers and graduate students will actively participate in this project and present their research results. We will not only form and keep contacts with researchers, experts, companies, government and citizens but will also conduct research on how the relationships should exist between these different social agents. Especially, we will focus on research concerning how to run/manage NPO such as patient advocacy groups and make this information available to the public through our website.
2. Presentation of Visions on SocietyFirst, we will analyze the current situation, while studying its history and doing fieldwork. Especially, there has not been much research on illness and disabilities. It remains small not only relatively to other domains of inquiry but also in absolute numbers. We will initiate basic and theoretical discussions on e.g. how we should respond to budget constraints. After that we will propose concrete alternative concerning the distribution of resources, and supply systems of social services.
3. International Cooperation and Transmission of InformationWe will pursue the possibility of universalizing home care in Japan that some of severely disabled persons and persons with intractable disease can live longer than they do in other countries. We will focus on organizations that are involved in direct medical aids and organizations that aim to change or promote policies on a global level. We will invite a representative of NGO involved with the issue of AIDS in Africa as a Special Visiting Professor beginning in April 2007. Also, we will cooperate with research organizations, researchers and NGO in Asia and Africa. We will pursue the possibility of transnational organizations such as international medical insurance and propose an international social service system.
3) Indicate the achievements of the proposed COE's research activities that show its potential to become a world-class COE.Regarding the achievements of our proposed COE's research activities that show its potential to become a world-class COE, we would like to emphasize the following eight points.
First, many members of our proposed COE have presented our research results in form of books. For the last 10 years we have published about 40 books as authors or editors of books and as writers of parts or chapters of books we have participated in 100 books. The presentation of research is a normal activity for a research center and the number of books published by members of this demand shows that we have regularly presented research results and that we have the potential to continue to do so in the future.
Second, the core members of our proposed COE have received 43 scientific research funds of which they are research representatives for last 7 years. We have been conducting research on themes that closely relate to our proposed research themes for the last few years. In addition, we have cooperated with research projects from public and private sector. This is an area of research that has been planned by graduate students who have taken the initiative of its development. We have received research grant under the form of collaborative research activities. This indicates that we have experience in the type of collaborative research activities that our proposed COE requires.
Third, several of our members have participated in many of those scientific researches. This indicates that we have experienced collaborative research activities with researchers whose research fields are different from ours. We have held numerous workshops, lectures, meetings and symposiums in collaboration with specialist of domains of research different from our own. Collaboration among members or researchers outside is a must for our proposed COE and we are strongly confident that we have the necessary experiences.
Fourth, we have established and organized an important database. The website of our research hub (http://www.arsvi.com) has about 10,000 data files and receives about 9 million accesses per year (about 200,000 accesses for our top page per year) that is unique in Japan. If we continue organizing the data and adding more information to it our website, it has the potential of becoming of major academic importance. Moreover, we strongly believe that if we make the English version of our website, given its unique character it will attract researchers from all over the world, especially since our proposed COE will make a new field of study. Much of our research contribution can be consulted at the website of our research hub and at the Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences (http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/gr/gsce/index.htm). In order for the proposed COE to be internationally superior, we believe that rapid availability of correct data is required. We are strongly confident that we can succeed in doing this.
Fifth, in the domain of philosophy, history and normative theories, we have invited internationally famous scholars, Jean-Luc Nancy, Alain Corbin, Amartya Sen, Philippe Van Parijs et al., and have held several international symposiums and lectures at our university. We have discussed and established contact with them.
Sixth, members of our research team have established relations with various types of non-profit organizations, relations which over the years have been kept and strengthened. For example, we have had contacts with organizations of people with disabilities and intractable nerve diseases. Some of our members (Tateiwa, Nakamura and Matsubara) have been asked to have lectures at their symposiums and have cooperated with collaborative research activities. Matsubara, using part of her scientific research fund, has held several online discussions with people living with amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Seventh, we have had collaborative research activities with NGO active with the issue of AIDS in Africa. Based on information Africa-Japan Forum has accumulated, some of our members have collaborated with graduate students to publish a brochure on this issue. We will have Hayashi, representative of African-Japan Forum as Visiting Professor beginning April 2007 and will expand our members to including researchers from NGOs, universities and think tanks.
Eighth, many of our members(Tateiwa, Nishi, Watanabe, Matsubara, Amada and Gotoh) have participated in COE programs in other universities. This shows that from an objective viewpoint our members have had excellent research credentials in their various research fields. We strongly believe that in order for our proposed COE to be a world-class program, we need to have members with superior research performances and we are confident that we are.
Ⅰ: Accumulation and ResearchThe area of research of our proposed COE has not benefited from the accumulation of information since it exists in a gap between natural science and human and social science. Researchers associated with our proposed COE have already collected an important amount of data concerning several of our research themes here in Japan. We intend to build up this database and translate what we think necessary and important from Japanese into English, which should allow us to play our role as a kind of research hub. We will chronologically organize a research bibliography of related books and articles and at the same time, increase our database that now contains 5,000 items to 20,000 items. We will also make files on themes, people, and academic works which we will post on our website. We will also cooperate with researchers of the Social Studies of Medicine program of McGill University in Canada and conduct joint research.
2. Dissemination of collected data (Part2)We will examine materials and printed publications that exist in Japan and will translate important ones into English. We will establish a permanent route to the publication of our research in English. We will establish and manage an information base which will allow people to learn about those who are sick, the activities and goals of people with disabilities all over the world and inform themselves about their current situation. We will also conduct fieldworks on the policies adopted in foreign countries and on various international organizations and report the results of our fieldworks in English. Concerning the collection, ordering and communication of information on these research, graduate students and researchers who have had some experience will take the initiative. We will also cooperate with the Disability Studies Center at University of Leeds and exchange students.
3. ResearchesWe will organize various research results and conduct research (including collaborative research) on themes that have not been investigated and unresolved problems. We will afterwards publish our result in the forms of books and articles. An example for this issue is that "to what extent should we recognize a condition as sickness/disabilities and to what extent should we endeavor to change people's bodies?".
Ⅱ: Reorganization of StudiesWe will establish an organization/system that will help and encourage people with difficulties such as disabilities to conduct research. Especially, we will improve the accessibility of information. As a first step, we will examine what can be done based on our past experiences and conduct repeated research trials. Our goal is to establish such an organization.
Moreover, we will investigate normative problems such as copyrights and patent rights and propose our own conception of how to deal with these questions. This will probably be carried through the initiative of three graduate students.
2. Assistance of Technology DevelopmentOur research hub itself will not take part in development as such. We will observe and convey to those who conduct such research what users want and what they do not want and also facilitate the exchange between the ones and the others. We will establish a network/organization that can provide developers with feedback about the users' evaluations. An example for this is how should we respond to the claim s of genetic medicine?
3. Ethics of Research TechnologyWe will examine the question how social science and natural science, which investigate, experiment and carry out researches should treat the people who are the target of its research. Moreover, we will conduct research on the priorities of research/development and on the distribution of costs and benefits and reflect the points of view of research-targeted agents on these issues.
Ⅲ: Solidarity and EstablishmentWe will discuss with various private organizations such as the Japan Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association and the Japan Patient Association, make and implement investigative research plans. Researchers and graduate students will actively participate in this project and present their research results. We will not only form and keep contacts with researchers, experts, companies, government and citizens but will also conduct research on how the relationships should exist between these different social agents. Especially, we will focus on research concerning how to run/manage NPO such as patient advocacy groups and make this information available to the public through our website.
2. Presentation of Visions on SocietyFirst, we will analyze the current situation including its history and the place of fieldwork. Especially, there has not been much research on illness and disabilities. It remains small not only relatively to other domains of inquiry but also in absolute numbers. We will initiate basic and theoretical discussions on how we should respond to budget constraints. After that we will propose concrete alternative concerning the distribution of resources, and supply systems/organizations of social services.
We will pursue the possibility of universalizing domiciliary care in Japan given among other things that some of severely disabled persons and persons with intractable disease can live longer than they do in other countries. We will focus on organizations that are involved in direct medical aids and organizations that aim to change or promote policies on a global level. We will invite a representative of NGO involved with the issue of AIDS in Africa as a Special Visiting Professor beginning in April 2007. Also, we will cooperate with research organizations, researchers and NGO in Asia and Africa. We will pursue the possibility of transnational organizations such as international medical insurance and propose an international social service system including the theory of funding.
Regarding the achievements of our proposed COE's research activities that show its potential to become a world-class COE, we would like to emphasize the following eight points.
First, many members of our proposed COE have presented our research results in form of books. For the last ten years we have published about 40 books as authors or editors of books and as writers of parts or chapters of books we have participated in 100 books. The presentation of research is a normal activity for a research center and the number of books published by members of this demand shows that we have regularly presented research results and that we have the potential to continue to do so in the future.
Second, the core members of our proposed COE have received scientific research funds of which they are research representatives. We have been conducting research on themes that closely relate to our proposed research themes for the last few years. In addition, we have cooperated with research projects from the private sector. This is an area of research that has been planned by graduate students who have taken the initiative of its development. We have received research grant under the form of collaborative research activities. This indicates that we have experience in the type of collaborative research activities that our proposed COE requires.
Third, several of our members have participated in many of those scientific researches. This indicates that we have experienced collaborative research activities with researchers whose research fields are different from ours. We have held numerous workshops, lectures, meetings and symposiums in collaboration with specialist of domains of research different from our own. Collaboration among members or researchers outside is a must for our proposed COE and we are strongly confident that we have the necessary experiences.
Fourth, we have established and organized an important database. The website of our research hub (http://www.arsvi.com/a/indexe.htm) has about 10,000 data files and receives about 9 million accesses per year (we have got about 200,000 accesses for our top page per year) that is unique in Japan. If we continue organizing the data and adding more information to it our website, it has the potential of becoming of major academic importance. Moreover, we strongly believe that if we make the English version of our website, given its unique character it will attract researchers from all over the world, especially since our proposed COE will make a new field of study. Much of our research contribution can be consulted at the website of our research hub and at the Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences (http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/gr/gsce/index.htm). In order for the proposed COE to be internationally superior, we believe that rapid availability of correct data is required. We are strongly confident that we can succeed in doing this.
Fifth, in the domain of normative theories we have established contact by inviting internationally famous scholars. For example, in both 2002 and 2005 we invited Professor Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize in economics, who participated in two international conferences held at the university. Moreover, we have held several international symposiums and will continue to analyze theoretically and try to make policy theories more concrete.
Sixth, members of our research team have established relations with various types of organizations, relations which over the years have been kept and strengthened. For example, we have had contacts with organizations of people with disabilities and intractable nerve diseases. Some of our members (Tateiwa, Nakamura and Matsubara) have been asked to have lectures at their symposiums and have cooperated with collaborative research activities. Matsubara, using part of her scientific research fund, has held several online discussions with people suffering from amytrophic lateral sclerosis.
Seventh, we have had collaborative research activities with NGO active with the issue of AIDS in Africa. Based on information African Japan Forum has accumulated, some of our members have collaborated with graduate students to publish a brochure on this issue. We will have Hayashi, representative of Africa-Japan Forum as Visiting Professor beginning April 2007 and will expand our members to including researchers from NGOs, universities and think tanks.
Eighth, many of our members have participated in COE programs in other universities. This shows that from an objective viewpoint our members have had excellent research credentials in their various research fields. We strongly believe that in order for our proposed COE to be a world-class program, we need to have members with superior research performances and we are confident that we are.