East Asia Four Universities Forum in Tokyo 2007 / BESETOHA
Conclusion / Karima Fumitoshi (Professor of Tokyo University)
BESETOHA (Beijing University, Seoul National University, University of Tokyo, Vietnam National University, Hanoi school) have held this forum for nine years now, each year at a different university. I still rememeber how deeply moved I was, when these four East Asian universities met the first time to discuss their respective education problems and had a frank exchange of views. Exchanges between individual researchers of each university had already been starting to show some degree of success, but talking about the topic of education during first two years of college was an experience I made for the first time. Moreover, as educators, it became obvious that we faced quite similar problems, and therefore we felt very excited. An professor from Seoul National University said that we should propose a common East Asian liberal arts education, and Hanoi University proposed the continued holding of this forum. Since Beijing University kindly accepted to hold the forum the next year, this unique forum has developed steadily up to the present day. Unfortunately, He Fangchuan, vice president of Beijing University at the time, who made the decision to hold the forum, passed away suddenly in June 2006, but I believe that the intentions of this scholar, who had wished for the development of friendly exchanges in East Asia survive through this forum. I sincerely hope that Professor He Fangchuan may rest in peace.
With the start of the third round this forum has finally made a start towards the implementation of a common liberal arts education. This became evident with the working session on distance education. Moreover, student exchanges have also shown a big step forward. The debate on classical education assumed the realization of a common liberal arts education in East Asia, and with regard to environmental education, besides the working session, there were lectures held by professors of each university towards a student panel. These results will certainly be carried over into next year's conference in Beijing, where I am confident that the considerable achievements of 2008 will be surpassed.
The EALAI (East Asia Liberal Arts Initiative), as the organization in charge of organizing this forum, has done much for the preparation of this forum, but as this year accounts for our university's 130th anniversary, we also received strong support from the whole university, including the section for international cooperation. Also, I would like to express my gratitude for the comprehensive cooperation of the faculty members of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and especially the many graduate students, including the international students for their support during the forum. I also want to thank the undergraduate students of the four universities for the successful student panel. Thank you very much, everybody.
BESETOHA (Beijing University, Seoul National University, University of Tokyo, Vietnam National University, Hanoi school) have held this forum for nine years now, each year at a different university. I still rememeber how deeply moved I was, when these four East Asian universities met the first time to discuss their respective education problems and had a frank exchange of views. Exchanges between individual researchers of each university had already been starting to show some degree of success, but talking about the topic of education during first two years of college was an experience I made for the first time. Moreover, as educators, it became obvious that we faced quite similar problems, and therefore we felt very excited. An professor from Seoul National University said that we should propose a common East Asian liberal arts education, and Hanoi University proposed the continued holding of this forum. Since Beijing University kindly accepted to hold the forum the next year, this unique forum has developed steadily up to the present day. Unfortunately, He Fangchuan, vice president of Beijing University at the time, who made the decision to hold the forum, passed away suddenly in June 2006, but I believe that the intentions of this scholar, who had wished for the development of friendly exchanges in East Asia survive through this forum. I sincerely hope that Professor He Fangchuan may rest in peace.
