What kind of subjects do FGS students usually take, and what do they learn?
This time, we introduce the course “Overview of Middle Eastern Studies” by Professor Akahori.

Comment from Professor:

Based on the required course “Introduction to Area Studies”, “Overview of Middle Eastern Studies” aims to teach productive members of society essential knowledge about the Middle East that they should know, as well as providing materials to choose regions for more specialized study, thereby guiding them towards further advanced learning about the Middle East. A course called "Overview of Middle Eastern Studies" seems that it would be available at any university, but in reality, it is quite rare. In the 1970s, when Japanese people were greatly interested in the Middle East, both politically and economically, various attempts were made to understand the “Middle East”, but eventually, this shifted to understanding “Islam”. Today, many universities actively offer courses on “Introduction to Islam” and “Islamic Civilization”, but lectures that broadly
interpret the “Middle East” without limiting it to Islam are rarely seen. The genesis of this course was the desire to offer a comprehensive course on “the Middle East” rather than just “Middle Eastern Islam” when we started the FGS in 2014, which bases one of its pillars on Area Studies. In this course, we will explain the accumulation of history spanning thousands of years from before Islam using various scholarly perspectives to address the rich culture and diverse issues of the present. One more thing: this lecture focuses on having students listen carefully. Only after a considerable accumulation of fundamental knowledge and thinking by listening to others, does active learning make sense. Simply demanding active participation is not the only way to polish one’s knowledge.

Class Interview

This course starts with the basic concept of which regions the “Middle East” refers to and why such a regional concept was created, approaching the Middle East from multiple perspectives such as history, geography, politics, economy, and religion. The reason I decided to enroll was because I became interested in Arabic and Islam before entering university. After that, I collected information about the Middle East on my own, but in the global society, the news coverage and the public's image of this region are mostly negative aspects such as “war”, “terrorism”, and “extremist groups”. I took this course because I thought it was necessary to acquire correct knowledge to understand the true
essence of the Middle East and the people living there without being prejudiced. The charm of this class is Professor Akahori’s talks. Based on his vast experience, including research conducted while living with local people, he explains the Middle East region clearly and passionately, incorporating asides and humor. Additionally, the class touches on modern notions of “state”, the process of forming modern nation-states in the Middle East, and Islamic thought making it highly attractive for those interested in international relations, political systems, and political thought. (Kotaro Kamichi, First-year student, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Russian Language Major)

In this course, a wide range of topics related to the Middle East are covered, extending beyond religion and culture to include industries, climate, politics, and economics. In recent years, the situation in the Middle East has seen a rise in terrorism and conflicts, including the emergence of the so-called “Islamic State”, which is becoming an international issue. I have been interested in such situations before entering university, which is why I enrolled in this class. For Japanese people, the image of the Middle East might be either nomadic Muslims riding camels in the middle of the desert living in peace or a scary place due to conflicts. However, this class is the first step in understanding how incorrect these images are. Through this class, we can acquire a broad basic knowledge about the Middle East based on the real experiences of the professor, who has traveled to the area many times, making this distant region feel closer to us. We also learn about the causes of various issues facing the current Middle East by connecting different disciplines like international politics. For instance, on June 29th, we studied the Palestinian issue going back to around the year 60 AD. In doing so, we analyzed the causes of the Palestinian issue not only from perspectives like ethnic and religious conflicts, which are often thought of as the background for this problem, but also from various angles such as the ideological background of nationalism within the formation of modern international politics and regional characteristics of the Middle East by reflecting on the discussions during the world wars. (Takumi Nishimoto, First- year, Faculty of Global Studies)

This course begins with basic knowledge about the geographical concepts of the Middle East, its history, economy, and society, and examines current situations like the Palestinian issue with the rich narratives of the professor. Since I have an interest in Asia, I initially only took lectures related to Asia during my first year. Feeling that it would be a waste to learn only about Asia and intrigued by Professor Akahori's lectures through a friend's recommendation, I decided to enroll. Although there are no specified
textbooks and the handouts are not very detailed, we can learn about the Middle East in an enjoyable way from multiple perspectives through Professor Akahori's eloquence and rich knowledge and experience. Another great attraction of this class is that each lecture gives you an opportunity to learn about what it means to be an anthropologist and a researcher, with the professor as a role model. Sometimes, the discussions become extensive, greatly delaying the lecture plan, but Professor Akahori’s enthusiasm leaves a lasting impression, and the students enjoy and are drawn into the discussions, making it an engaging experience. (Hikari Numazaki, Second-year, Faculty of Global Studies)