The Contemporary Japan Group, Institute of Social Science,
University of Tokyo, will present:

Globalization and University Reforms: A Transnational and
Comparative Analysis of the Case of Japan

by

Jennifer Chan-Tiberghien
Abe Fellow and Visiting Scholar in the Reischauer
Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University

Thursday, September 29, 2005
6:00pm-8:30pm

Large Meeting Room
Institute of Social Science
University of Tokyo (Hongo Campus) (http://www.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/Access/)

Abstract:
How to reform century-old higher education systems in order to
remain competitive in the global knowledge economy has become
one of the most pressing policy concerns across industrialized
countries in the past decade. Universities are confronted with
a wide range of forces such as rapidly changing labor market
requirements, new technologies of learning, increasing private
partnerships, and changing patterns of governance. A strongly
transnational set of ideologies for market-oriented educational
reforms has emerged in the past decade. Higher educational
reforms are often political bombshells, as it involves a major
redistribution of power among governing boards, executive
leadership, elected academics at various administrative levels,
and local communities. While the impact of economic globalization
on national educational restructuring across both industrialized
and industrializing countries has been amply documented by
educationalresearchers in the past two decades, most of this
research has focused on reforms in the US, UK, Canada, Australia,
and New Zealand. Few studies have looked at the policy making
process in non Anglo-Saxon countries and, in particular, those
with traditionally strong state-controlled educational systems
such as Japan and France. This research, funded by the Abe
Fellowship, offers a transnational and comparative analysis of
university governance reforms in two "late" non-Anglo Saxon
reformers: Japan and France. Given a similar, centralized higher
educational system and common pressures to reform since the late
1980s, how do we explain the divergent reform outcomes in
university governance between Japan and France? This presentation
focuses on the case of Japan and, in particular, the 2004 National
Universities Incorporation Law. It analyzes the influence of
international norms on university reform agenda-setting in Japan
and the impact of the domestic political process on reform
meanings and outcome.

Jennifer Chan-Tiberghien Bio:
Jennifer Chan-Tiberghien is currently an Abe Fellow and is
affiliated with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology as well as the Institute of Social
Sciences at the University of Tokyo. She is also a visiting
scholar in the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard
University for 2005-6 and an assistant Professor in the Department
of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver. Her research focuses on international norms,
transnational social movements, gender, human rights, and
educational reforms. Her recent publications include
Gender and Human Rights Politics in Japan: Global Norms and
Domestic Networks (Stanford University Press, 2004) and
Another Japan is Possible: New Social Movements and Global
Citizenship Education in Japan (under review by Stanford University Press).

This seminar will be held in English and open to the public. All is welcome.
For more information, please contact: Mayumi Nakamura
(mnakamura[atx]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp)