Japan closing down Humanities and Social Sciences Faculties

[ray245]

https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/ ... ial-decree

Many social sciences and humanities faculties in Japan are to close after universities were ordered to “serve areas that better meet society’s needs”.

Of the 60 national universities that offer courses in these disciplines, 26 have confirmed that they will either close or scale back their relevant faculties at the behest of Japan’s government.

It follows a letter from education minister Hakuban Shimomura sent to all of Japan’s 86 national universities, which called on them to take “active steps to abolish [social science and humanities] organisations or to convert them to serve areas that better meet society’s needs”.

The ministerial decree has been denounced by one university president as “anti-intellectual”, while the universities of Tokyo and Kyoto, regarded as the country’s most prestigious, have said that they will not comply with the request.

However, 17 national universities will stop recruiting students to humanities and social science courses – including law and economics, according to a survey of university presidents by The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, which was reported by the blog Social Science Space.

It reports that the Science Council of Japan put out a statement late last month that expressed its “profound concern over the potentially grave impact that such an administrative directive implies for the future of the HSS [humanities and social sciences] in Japan”.

The call to close the liberal arts and social science faculties are believed to be part of wider efforts by president Shinzo Abe to promote what he has called “more practical vocational education that better anticipates the needs of society”.

However, it is likely to be connected with ongoing financial pressures on Japanese universities, linked to a low birth rate and falling numbers of students, which have led to many institutions running at less than 50 per cent of capacity.

Seriously, are they insane? Downsizing their universities is understandable if they don't have enough students, but choosing to close down entire Humanities and Social Sciences faculties across the entire nation?

[B5B7]

It is especially important that the Japanese universities do not teach the history of Japanese actions in the 1930s and 1940s.

[Ace Pace]

It is especially important that the Japanese universities do not teach the history of Japanese actions in the 1930s and 1940s.

Do you have proof that this is the rational? Or are you just throwing it out because it's a great topic?

[K. A. Pital]

From the standpoint if Japan's technofeudal order this is quite natural and in no way insane. They need a more docile, hard-working population of neo-serfs, not people who will question the dogmas of Japan's isolated society.

[Tribble]

I can understanding downsizing humanities programs and shifting more funding to the "hard" sciences and engineering. IMO we have too many humanities, economics and law programs ourselves. However, according to this article the government is demanding that these programs must be eliminated right across the country, and it seems to me like they are also demanding that the student groups associated with them be eliminated as well.

If true, chances are there is more to the motive than simply cut costs. The massive student protests which have been happening over there could be another reason. That's a good punishment for those pesky students - if you complain about our government, we'll cut your funding!

[Simon_Jester]

I think the motivation here is a combination of Tribble's speculation (the government trying to retaliate against students who complain about the government) and Stas's (the government wants techno-serfs who are highly skilled in operating machines or computers, but who lack the educational background to think critically about their own society).

I do think this casts an important light on some of the comments I've seen on both elsewhere and on this website about "I don't see the point of humanities degrees." There are reasons to have them, and one of the big reasons is that it's important to have facts-based discourse about the society you live in. If everyone goes to an engineering college and no one majors in political science or literature or philosophy, it narrows and impoverishes that discourse. People become less aware of how their own society could be different... which only serves the interests of the people who profit from the status quo.

[Channel72]

The problem with humanities degrees is that, while they're vital for a well-educated, well-functioning society, they're tough on the individual. Outside of law and foreign languages, a humanities degree usually doesn't easily translate into some kind of concrete skill that is easy to get paid for. Someone, with say, an English literature degree, will likely need some extra thing on their resume or in their skillset in order to go out into the world and get a career. Like if you major in Philosophy or Literature, and you don't go into law or academia, your career options are likely in the world of business, advertising, marketing, HR, or something related to media/journalism. These can be tough careers with little job security, where you have to prove yourself by doing things well above and beyond your major. Whereas say, an engineer, physicist, or computer programmer can prove him/herself immediately upon walking into the door by simply demonstrating concrete knowledge of a skill.

[Elheru Aran]

Yeah, as far as I am concerned, there are only three career paths available to liberal arts type degrees once they graduate:

--Teach in their degree field. Often requires getting at least a certification, if not a dual or full second degree in education, thus additional debt. May require teaching *another* field for some time, depending on how things go-- for example, it's not uncommon at all to find an English teacher struggling his way through teaching an art or social studies class in public schools.

--Do something [ranging from slightly to completely] unrelated. BA English doing journalism... or driving a bulldozer... or the cliche 'Do you want fries with that?'. There's a very firm reason for the 'starving artist' meme, and it's pretty solidly based in reality.

--Get lucky and actually find a job in their field. History major gets a job working at a museum, for example. Artist gets noticed, starts selling work for ridiculous amounts, and so forth.

There's a fourth option, which is highly variable and I don't think it's very common-- partner with someone who will support you while you pursue your avocation. You may end up making a career out of it, or you may not. This was what my grandmother did as an artist; my grandfather, a dentist, was happy to support her in this, but while she sold a few paintings, it never really took off for her.

It's fairly obvious which option happens the most. In such an industrialized and technological society as Japan, I can see there being quite limited demand for humanities degree holders in the general workforce. That doesn't excuse eliminating the degrees altogether, though. It's asking for a certain amount of brain drain as students wishing to pursue those fields leave for education elsewhere.

[K. A. Pital]

Not sure about the Japanese education system - does it also require students to go deep in debt to get higher education?

[Elheru Aran]

Not sure about the Japanese education system - does it also require students to go deep in debt to get higher education?

As far as that goes, I can't say; I'm speaking from an American experience. I do understand that they have both public and private universities, but the costs thereof, I honestly don't know.

[Alyrium Denryle]

It is especially important that the Japanese universities do not teach the history of Japanese actions in the 1930s and 1940s.

Do you have proof that this is the rational? Or are you just throwing it out because it's a great topic?

Well Abe is known for flirting with japanese nationalists and their blatant historical revisionism/atrocity denialism. And Japan has a pretty conservative traditionalist culture. It would not shock me that the government would rather like to get rid of economists and social theorists getting in the way of their policy decisions with criticism and actual, you know...facts. Sort of like how The Harper Government got rid of the long form census in order to hamper the social sciences and economists from having the information they would need to analyze their policies.

This just works on a longer time scale.

[Sea Skimmer]

Not sure about the Japanese education system - does it also require students to go deep in debt to get higher education?

They have many private schools which require that, but also a high proportion of public schools.

But Japan twists this subject somewhat, because almost all admissions are based off a single standardized test, which means that parents spend fortunes on cram schools to get them high marks on said test. And so you have people going deeply into debt just to fund the cram schools which can be just as expensive as the universities per year. Even more so in some instances.

Though on the other hand with unemployment being so low in Japan the situation seems more justifiable, if just as dumb, as the situation in the west. Course in the west the suicide rate of students is lower, but that seems to be less of an issue in university then in primary and secondary school.

[Esquire]

Like if you major in Philosophy or Literature, and you don't go into law or academia, your career options are likely in the world of business, advertising, marketing, HR, or something related to media/journalism. These can be tough careers with little job security, where you have to prove yourself by doing things well above and beyond your major. Whereas say, an engineer, physicist, or computer programmer can prove him/herself immediately upon walking into the door by simply demonstrating concrete knowledge of a skill.

That's never been 100% true and it's becoming less so - this is anecdotal, but my undergraduate degree was in philosophy and now I'm a biostatistical epidemiologist. Turns out that critical thinking and a transdisciplinary mindset is, given a few months to learn the formulas, more valuable than four years spent studying obsolescent textbooks.

[ray245]

Apparently Japan is not stopping at humanities subject like Literature and Philosophy, but subjects like Law and Economics are being actively cut.

[mr friendly guy]

How would it be advantageous for Japan to phase out economics? Their economic growth has pretty much stalled for years.

[LaCroix]

How would it be advantageous for Japan to phase out economics? Their economic growth has pretty much stalled for years.

One might say that having enough proof that economics isn't a real science, they decided to move on...

But yeah, Japan is happily cutting off it's legs in order to save weight to run faster.

[K. A. Pital]

How would it be advantageous for Japan to phase out economics? Their economic growth has pretty much stalled for years.

One might ask what is the use of economists if the economy has reached saturation and cannot grow. Indeed, having engineers and inventors who can disrupt the status-quo with a new technology might be seen as a better investment than a guy who learns about the invisible hand and then keeps advising Abe to spend more money because money.

[mr friendly guy]

How would it be advantageous for Japan to phase out economics? Their economic growth has pretty much stalled for years.

One might ask what is the use of economists if the economy has reached saturation and cannot grow. Indeed, having engineers and inventors who can disrupt the status-quo with a new technology might be seen as a better investment than a guy who learns about the invisible hand and then keeps advising Abe to spend more money because money.

The problem is though, Japan is relying on some economic theory or thinking to try and jump start their economy. Abenomics anyone?

[K. A. Pital]

Abenomics is not solving anything. They keep doing what they did before with predictable results. And they will keep doing it. For that "strategy" you might as well use the intellectual power of a cat. Training people to only operate under capitalism, creating a generation of econo-speak parrots is not actually helping. Just gives you a huge pool of clerks who will work for shit wages in just about any job and some, who are good at math, will go to work as investment and banking analysts. But the latter can just as well be recruited from tech faculties (which is what happens IRL too, I know programmers who went on to work for banks and are coping quite well). Therefore, specialized econ schooling seems to be redundant, especially as economics is becoming more and more just a tool of private enterprise and not an investigative discipline that looks for society-wide planning and investigates the social effects just much as it analyzes cash flows.

[Simon_Jester]

The problem with humanities degrees is that, while they're vital for a well-educated, well-functioning society, they're tough on the individual.

They are, but that doesn't mean you close the program and turn everyone into hypertrained overspecialized drones.

Like if you major in Philosophy or Literature, and you don't go into law or academia, your career options are likely in the world of business, advertising, marketing, HR, or something related to media/journalism. These can be tough careers with little job security, where you have to prove yourself by doing things well above and beyond your major. Whereas say, an engineer, physicist, or computer programmer can prove him/herself immediately upon walking into the door by simply demonstrating concrete knowledge of a skill.

This is true- but universities have other reasons for existing than just to provide vocational training for the next generation. That is doubly so for public universities which the state funds to further the overall interests of the nation and its people.

[madd0ct0r]

Since it hadn't been discussed outside the op, isn't a good chunk of this due to there simply not being enough students due to the aging population?

[Adam Reynolds]

Since it hadn't been discussed outside the op, isn't a good chunk of this due to there simply not being enough students due to the aging population?

This may be true, but if it were simply a lack of students, then there should be a reduction in science and engineering programs as well. If there is a reduction in specific programs it would be for a reason.

[mr friendly guy]

Abenomics is not solving anything. They keep doing what they did before with predictable results. And they will keep doing it. For that "strategy" you might as well use the intellectual power of a cat. Training people to only operate under capitalism, creating a generation of econo-speak parrots is not actually helping. Just gives you a huge pool of clerks who will work for shit wages in just about any job and some, who are good at math, will go to work as investment and banking analysts. But the latter can just as well be recruited from tech faculties (which is what happens IRL too, I know programmers who went on to work for banks and are coping quite well). Therefore, specialized econ schooling seems to be redundant, especially as economics is becoming more and more just a tool of private enterprise and not an investigative discipline that looks for society-wide planning and investigates the social effects just much as it analyzes cash flows.

I know Abenomics has been lacklustre. However.... Abe clearly believes it will solve things. Which makes no sense that you're cutting down economics if you believe in its theories. That being said, I would have thought some understanding of economics would be useful in general (even if its predictions aren't as accurate as say, the physical sciences), yet alone in Japan's economic situation.

[K. A. Pital]

Why? If you feel confident enough your current generation of economists will survive until the end of your election term, you shouldn't worry about economics students at all.