As part of a series of public lectures commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hachioji, a university town, Professor Hanna Nishikawa of the Faculty of Letters gave a lecture, and her seminar students presented their activities.

On Saturday, September 26th, Professor Hanna Nishikawa of the Faculty of Letters at our university gave a lecture at the Hachioji City Lifelong Learning Center in Hachioji City, Tokyo, as a lecturer for a public lecture series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the academic city of Hachioji.

This course was held as a free public lecture series organized by the Kawaguchi Branch of the Hachioji City Lifelong Learning Center, as part of the "50th Anniversary Pre-Event for the Academic City - Hachioji: A City Woven Together by Students, Citizens, and the Government."
Professor Nishikawa explained the significance of students getting to know their local community and connecting with local people, drawing on examples of community activities conducted by his seminar students. He also discussed "co-creation," where various local stakeholders connect and combine their strengths to generate new value, and spoke about the potential for universities and students to become "connectors" in the community.
Following that, student presentations were given by Rei Endo and Amane Sakakibara, both third-year literature students from Professor Nishikawa's seminar, and approximately 20 people, including welfare professionals and city hall staff, participated.

The participants shared the following feedback:
I had heard about the content of the seminar activities before, but it was very educational to hear the academic lectures that provided the basis for them.
I learned for the first time that Soka University is undertaking such initiatives. I wanted to share this with as many people as possible.
Hachioji City is an administrative district with a diverse range of local characteristics, and because of this, it often faces challenges in determining how to unite as a city. Therefore, we have high expectations for the activities of the students.

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Professor

Hanna Nishikawa

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Specialized Field

Social Welfare Studies (Community Welfare / Welfare-Oriented Community Development)

Research theme

Research on "community development for welfare" mediated by local culture.
I am interested in creating mechanisms for solving local issues through collaboration among diverse stakeholders such as residents, shopping districts, businesses, government, and universities. I am exploring the construction of sustainable community welfare models from the perspective of regional cooperation and collective impact, with universities as a hub.