Japanese to English: Excerpt of a Speech by the president of Kobe University | |
Source text - Japanese 私たちは今、グローバル社会において様々な課題と向き合っています。イギリスのEUからの離脱を巡る混乱や大衆迎合政党の躍進など、統合を進めてきた欧州諸国の動揺、アメリカ合衆国大統領の自国利益を優先する言動、東アジア地区をめぐる関係国の様々な駆け引きなど、世界では自国と他国との関係の在り方を見直す動きが次々と起こっています。地球温暖化に伴う異常気象や水資源管理の問題、原子力や再生可能エネルギーなどのエネルギーミックスの問題、周辺国を巻き込んだ内戦・紛争、宗教的な軋轢等々、どれひとつとっても関係する各国の協力が無ければ解決の糸口にたどり着くことは困難です。極端な自国優先主義では、解決は不可能な問題が山積しているのです。また、技術的にも複数の分野の有機的な協力によって初めて解決の方向性が見えてくるものと思われます。
神戸大学が唱えている「学際融合」、「異分野連携」という発想はかなり以前から存在し、大学や研究機関において様々な試みがなされてきました。しかし、今ほどこの複眼的なアプローチが求められている時代はないと思います。「連携」や「融合」は、既成概念にとらわれない、インパクトのある成果を生み出す原動力となり得ますが、これは大学などアカデミアの世界に限ったことではなく、企業など実社会においても同様のことが言えます。狭い専門領域に閉じこもることなく、広い視野を持って他分野との協力関係を築き上げることが大切です。
| Translation - English In our global society, we now face an array of challenges. The chaos of Brexit and the rise of populist politics, among other things, now threaten European unification. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Trump administration has prioritized an America-first agenda. In East Asia, various countries are engaged in political haggling. Such events continue unabated as nations around the world reconsider how best to engage with one another.
Reaching a consensus on issues such as abnormal weather related to climate change, water resource management, the proper balance of nuclear and renewable energy, and civil and religious strife in neighboring countries will be terribly difficult without the full cooperation of all nations involved.
Zealous nationalism has led to an increase in the number of unresolvable problems, and I imagine that only through practical, coordinated cooperation across a multitude of sectors will a path towards resolution emerge.
Kobe University has had a long-standing vision that advocates for interdisciplinary integration and cross-field collaboration, and various efforts have been made at the university and its research institutions towards that end.
However, I believe that a multi-faceted approach has never been more necessary than it is right now. More than just cliched notions, unity and cooperation are capable of being a driving force behind meaningful change, and this is true not just in academia, but in the corporate world and society at large.
Rather than remaining confined to narrow fields of expertise, it is crucial that we possess a broad worldview and establish cooperative relationships across disciplines. |