To celebrate the founding of the university, the International Online Symposium in Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the University of the Ryukyus was held on Friday, March 11, 2022.
An international symposium, Oceans Connected by Island Wisdom, for the World, for the Future, was originally scheduled in 2020. The global pandemic of COVID-19, however, inevitably postponed the event for two years.
Given the circumstances, instead of the original plan to host an event, four international guest speakers were invited to deliver a recorded video lecture. The result is a topical lecture series hosted on the University website from December 2021. In addition, a second series of lectures delivered by Ryudai faculty members is available online.
Prior to the Symposium, Dr. Peter Burkill, Professor Emeritus at the University of Plymouth (UK), delivered a keynote lecture entitled Voyages of Discovery - From Microorganisms to Worldwide Organizations. Dr. Richard Thompson, Professor, University of Plymouth (UK), spoke on Marine Litter - What is happening and what we can do about it. Dr. Kahikina de Silva, Assistant Professor of the University of Hawai‘i, at Manoa (USA), shared a lecture on Culture and Ocean - Cultural Revitalization in Hawai‘i. Finally, Dr. Keith Camacho, Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (USA) presented Our Mother Ocean - Peace and Equality.
During the online symposium, the international scholars were connected with University of the Ryukyus students via a Zoom webinar. The event was also open to the public.
In preparation for the symposium, 12 students, ranging from first-year undergraduates to graduate students, and from diverse majors such as liberal arts to the sciences, participated in the pre-symposium study program. Participants were divided into four groups, each having selected a topic of personal interest. They then shared their impressions of the recorded lectures and composed questions to the guest speakers.
At the opening of the symposium, University of the Ryukyus President, Mutsumi Nishida, expressed his wish that the symposium would serve as a steppingstone for collaboration between island regions in order to address universal problems and also to give participants the opportunity to reflect on island wisdom and potential. Following his remark, Drs. Burkill, Thompson, De Silva, and Camacho, delivered short remarks. The students shared their reactions to the video lectures and then posed questions about each lecture, which were carefully answered by each speaker.
Finally, Kiyoshi Ushikubo, Executive Vice-President for Regional Contribution, International Exchange, and Public Relations, concluded the symposium by remarking that it is important island inhabitants to utilize island wisdom to tackle common issues and to pass on this legacy to future generations.
A participant in the symposium noted, "It was a student-centered symposium, and the students' comments on the lecture videos and questions to the speakers were excellent, and I was moved when I heard the guest speakers' lectures and the words of encouragement that they gave to the students."
A student also commented, "It was good to participate in this symposium. We gained knowledge and discussed a range of topics related to the ocean. This experience will affect my attitude toward my research."
→INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SYMPOSIUM
