Report on the Bhutan Seminar Series 2023 (Oct. & Nov.2023)

2024年6月17日更新

Beginning in FY2021, the Global Collaboration Center is hosting regional research-based seminars to (1) learn about the Kingdom of Bhutan, which is located in South Asia, and (2) examine development policies and the situation of the country and region in light of these issues. Each seminar includes a film screening, a brief commentary by the presenter, and a question-and-answer session. A total of 15 sessions are scheduled for FY2023.

8th Seminar in the Bhutan Seminar Series 2023 (2023.10.13)

This time, participants learned about Bhutan in recent years through a Korean TV program. Ms. Airi Yamamoto, who usually hosts this seminar served as commentator, explaining the video and giving comments based on what she noticed and learned in Bhutan.

About 40 people attended this seminar. Here are some of the participants’ comments: “I was able to understand the content of the video even though I am not confident in English because I first heard a basic explanation of Bhutan and an overview of the video. The question-and-answer session that followed was also very interesting, and I was able to experience the joy of learning about an unknown culture”, “I was able to learn new things about Korea’s perspective and relationship between Bhutan and Korea”, “The media for this video was edited with the message in mind that ‘Bhutan may seem inconvenient, but it is a country where people are very happy’, so I felt that such stories were repeated many times, and that the video was viewed from a biased perspective. However, listening to Ms. Yamamoto’s story made me realize that this is a country where many people think about happiness on a daily basis”.

Introduction of the featured video
Commentary by the commentator

9th Seminar in the Bhutan Seminar Series 2023 (2023.10.28)

In this seminar, participants learned about recent Bhutan through a documentary by a Danish director. Since the video was in Danish, the entire content was reviewed and introduced in detail before watching the video. In the second half, commentator Mr. Hirayama answered questions from participants, and shared information and exchanged opinions on the changes in Bhutan’s urban and rural areas over the past 10 years, the results of the GNH (Gross National Happiness) survey in 2022, the advancement of information technology, and the complex language situation, etc.

About 40 people attended this seminar. Here are some of the participants’ comments: “It was interesting in itself to have a program introducing Bhutan in Denmark“, “Lecturer Mr. Hirayama’s explanation before watching the video was very informative. I also learned new things about Bhutan‘s phallic worship culture and polygamy”, “The talk about the changes that have occurred in the decade since the video was shot during the final question-and-answer session was impressive (advancement of information technology, further concentration of the population in cities, increase in migrant workers and students in the Middle East and Australia, inflation, etc.)”.

Introduction of the featured video
Lecturer Mr. Hirayama making a comment

10th Seminar in the Bhutan Seminar Series 2023 (2023.11.18)

This time, we featured an interview with the musician in Bhutan. In the second half of the seminar, we held a report session on the Bhutan field survey of “Convivial Global Society” (September 2023), and 2 students gave presentations on their respective research topics.

About 65 people attended this seminar. Here are some of the participants’ comments: “I found it interesting that the government is struggling in school education with English medium and Dzongkha medium”, “Although I only participated during the student presentations, I learned a lot from hearing about their on-site research”, “It was very informative to hear the research presentations and impressions of students who actually conducted on-site research. I would like to hear about other students’ research as well”.

Each students' research topics
Field survey in Bhutan