Sophia Magazine vol.8 / WINTER 2018

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this is hard to see from the level of national government. “The key thing is to take off one’s ethnocentric and ego-centric glasses to understand the world that other people are seeing,” emphasizes Inaba, adding that, “This concept is easily understood at Sophia.” In an age where all around the world the power of states is increasing, the IGC’s efforts to encourage peace for citizens – as opposed to the expansion of state authority – are invaluable.one entirely new research body. Specific research projects are underway in each of the SIHS’ five focus areas, such as testing the effectiveness of community health worker systems in order to address doc-tor shortages in developing countries. Since all projects are based on overseas fieldwork, much of the work is undertaken in conjunction with research institutions in each respective country.For the future, Professor Aoki hopes the SIHS will con-tinue to plan and lead further cross-cutting joint research. Expectations are high that the comprehensive, social sci-ence-based approach of the SIHS can transform the abstract question of how to reach the “ideal” of world peace into spe-cific, realistic, and achievable “goals.”such as performance,” Inaba explains. One of the most effective and vivid expressions of the IGC perspective is its initiative related to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Here the IGC’s activities are focused on minor-ity groups, such as the elderly and the homeless, who are being evicted from their neighborhoods by the gentrification in preparation for 2020. The IGC’s work shines a light into the shadows of the build-up to the “celebration of peace:” developments which themselves threaten the peace, though The SIHS hosted a kick-off symposium last June and has just commenced its activities this year. Professor Aoki, who leads the newly established SIHS, state that world peace is necessary for realizing human security and depicted his ideal society as one where “all people have adequate options in the way they live their lives.” This is the social sciences viewpoint, which sees abstract values such as peace and human security as objectively verifiable and testable. The realization of peace and human security are certainly topics worthy of research by an institute of Sophia Univer-sity, which itself was founded on the principle of “Men and Women for Others, with Others.” To achieve such goals, the SIHS has classified its research into five areas: poverty, environment, health care, immi-grants and refugees, and peacebuilding. Of course, many Sophia researchers are already working in these areas and have a strong track record. Given the deep interconnections among these issues, however, application of cross-cutting re-search will lead to new and more significant results.In placing these areas of research under the umbrella of human security to enable a coordinated and comprehensive approach, the SIHS represents an ambitious experiment that pools resources from the Faculty of Economics, the other three social science faculties, and two institutes into Realizing Human Security through Social Science ResearchSophia Institute for Human Security (SIHS)KEN AOKI(Professor, Faculty of Economics) collaborative international online study program toward Human Security and Multicultural Coexistence.” Begun in September with support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, this is an initiative to develop a course using COIL (Collaborative Online Inter-national Learning) and based on a theme directly linked to world peace. It will open the door for Sophia and the three research institutes to share their achievements with students not only at Sophia or within Japan, but across the globe. The expectation is that the ranks of young people who can think and act for themselves, with a clear vision of the road to world peace, will swell worldwide.Each of the three Sophia research institutes highlighted above espouses different approaches to the realization of world peace, and from this we anticipate that new syner-gies will be generated. What must not be forgotten is that universities are educational facilities that can also contribute through the fostering of human resources. These research institutions are planning to continue to hold special lectures and workshops, among other activities, as well as supporting student-led initiatives.Complementing these efforts, Sophia, together with three other Japanese universities and 10 colleges in the United States, is heading up a project entitled “Development of a 9Approach