Type: INT 97-13 NSF/Tokyo Report: The Prospects for Interdisciplinary
Studies of Science, Technology and Society in Japan

Exposure: Public NSF

Org: INT

Date: 4/28/97

Replaces: None

The National Science Foundation\'s offices in Tokyo and in Paris
periodically report on developments abroad that are related to the
Foundation\'s mission. These documents present facts for the use of NSF
program managers and policy makers; they are not statements of NSF
policy.

Special Scientific Report #97-07 (April 16, 1997)

**The Prospects for Interdisciplinary Studies of Science, Technology and
Society in Japan**

The following report was prepared by ***Dr. Edward J. Hackett***,
Program Director for Science and Technology Studies at the National
Science Foundation. ***Dr. Hackett*** visited Japan from March 1 - March
14 as a **Visiting Research Fellow (short-term) under the sponsorship of
the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).** Professor
Mariko Sano of Hiroshima University served as host scientist for ***Dr.
Hackett . Dr. Hackett*** may be reached via email at:
**ehackett@nsf.gov.**

**I. Summary of Activities**

During my time in Japan I visited several universities, gave a lecture,
met informally with faculty, students, university administrators, and
government officials, and attended a two-day workshop on international
science and technology policy.

**A. Visits to Institutions.** Much of my time was spent in Hiroshima
and in Tokyo, with trips as far south as Kyushu and as far north as
Sendai. In chronological order, the sites I visited were:

Nara Women's University

Kyushu University

Hiroshima University

National Institute of Science and Technology Policy

University of Tokyo

Tohoku University

**B. Formal Lecture.** At the invitation of my host, I gave a formal
lecture at Hiroshima University titled "Science and Technology Studies
in the United States: The Prospects and Possibilities of
Interdisciplinary Research." In brief, this lecture first offered an
overview of the organization and workings of the National Science
Foundation, to set the context, then proceeded to review the structure,
history, major accomplishments, and future research concerns of the
interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies. The talk
concluded with information about how to become more involved with
persons in the field. A copy of the transparencies used in the talk is
attached to this report. I had been prepared to expect a quiet and
passive audience, and so was surprised and delighted by the number,
variety and insightfulness of the questions that arose during the
hour-long discussion period. My host, Professor Mariko Fujita Sano,
greatly facilitated this exchange by offering extensive translations of
questions and answers.

**C. Informal Meetings.** My host and I arranged for many meetings with
small groups of faculty, students, and administrators\--more than 30 in
all\--to discuss substantive topics in science and technology studies,
procedural matters concerning university organization and functioning,
and strategies for promoting interdisciplinary research and education in
STS and more generally. Some of these meetings lasted for 3 hours or
more and will certainly lead to further exchange and collaboration.

**D. Workshop on International Science and Technology Policy.** My visit
to Tokyo coincided with a NISTEP-sponsored workshop on international
science and technology policy which I attended. The format of the
workshop allowed considerable discussion and exchange, and I used this
opportunity to suggest ways to integrate research on the social
organization of science and technology with policy concerns. The
workshop also allowed me to meet and talk with several additional
faculty members and government officials.

II. **Specific Impressions**

Conversations with students, faculty and government officials during my
two-week visit to Japan were exceptionally frank and extensive. In
return, I hope the information, ideas, and advice I offered were of some
use to my colleagues. In the same spirit I wish to offer in writing some
observations about the prospects for STS education and scholarship in
Japan. But the impressions offered below must be prefaced with the
caution that they are based on a very brief and superficial exposure to
the STS community in Japan, and the STS community is but a small and
distinctive cross-section of Japanese higher education.

1\. Identifying and developing scientific and engineering talent was a
theme that lasted throughout the entire visit, arising first in
conversation with Professor Niwa, President of Nara Women's University,
recurring in conversation with Professor Takemura at Hiroshima
University, reappearing during my lecture at Hirodai, and finally
emerging again at the policy workshop in Tokyo. Perhaps most striking
was mention of survey data showing a sharp reduction in the proportion
of young Japanese who have a positive impression of science and
technology.

We talked at length about similar circumstances in the U.S., and
considered possible explanations and remedies. Three sorts of strategies
for addressing this concern emerged from our conversations: (1)
recruiting, developing and retaining persons from groups traditionally
underrepresented in science and engineering; (2) studying the
educational and career dynamics that bring students into science and
engineering to understand why some are not attracted to such careers and
why others change educational and career plans; (3) creating
interdisciplinary curricula that combine science and engineering with
social science and humanities in order to satisfy students' desire to
integrate scientific and technical knowledge with an understanding of
history and the human condition.

2\. The social organization and physical layout of the Japanese
university was a second recurrent topic that arose in conversation with
President Niwa of Nara Women's University, President Harada, Dean Seiwa
and Professor Arimoto of Hiroshima University, Professor Ebuchi of
Kyushu University, Professor Shima of Tohoku University, and many
others. At issue in all these discussions was how new educational and
human resource needs, and the integrative demands of contemporary
scholarship, may be served by changes in academic organization and
physical structure. Hirodai's recent relocation, and the planned move of
Kyushu University, present the most dramatic opportunities for physical
change. But potentially more significant are the social reorganizations
brought about by the formation of new faculties such as Hirodai's
Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, ongoing reorganizations (such
as those underway at Tohoku University), innovative new forms of
organization (such as RCAST at the University of Tokyo), and exchanges
and partnerships involving universities and other organizations (such as
are being developed at Nara). By creating such flexible, fluid and
permeable organizations, Japanese higher education will be
well-positioned to respond to the rising challenges of interdisciplinary
education and research.

In the United States, for example, the National Science Foundation has
created new research and training initiatives that draw traditional
disciplines together to study Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence,
Learning and Intelligent Systems, and various topics concerning the
environment (e.g., Human Dimensions of Global Change, the Long-Term
Environmental Research sites, and Life in Extreme Environments). The
success of such initiatives depends upon cooperation across traditional
academic disciplines, which in turn require changes in faculty behavior
and university organization. Further, interdisciplinary fields such as
Science and Technology Studies, Ethics and Values Studies, Environmental
Studies, or Law and Social Science, rely on cooperation among scholars
and serve to draw scholars together (sometimes to the extent that new
university departments form to give organizational presence to the
intellectual confluence).

There is rising interest in such interdisciplinary topics in Japan, and
Japan's new forms of academic organization will provide welcoming
environments for collaboration. For example, the Integrated Faculty of
Arts and Sciences at Hirodai is well positioned to work at the
intersection of science, the humanities, and the social sciences on
topics concerning the environment or the social and ethical dimensions
of science and technology.

That said, it must be noted that interdisciplinary teaching and research
also brings complications, such as difficulties in evaluating
scholarship across disciplines, extra burdens of collaborative teaching,
and finding a specific intellectual focus in a topic as broad as "the
environment," "peace studies," or "science, technology and society."

3\. I was most impressed by the intelligence, curiosity, and energy of
younger scholars in Japan: persons ranging from associate professor down
to graduate student. I had read much about the hierarchical character of
Japanese universities, and was delighted to find such intellectual power
among the younger generations. They asked many insightful questions,
during my lecture and in private conversations, and are taking a
leadership role in many important academic endeavors.

4\. Many people I met wished to learn more about the NSF merit review
process for research proposals, which places the research community at
the center of decisions about the allocation of research funds. I heard
much approving interest in this manner of resource allocation, but also
received lengthy lectures about the complications of Japanese higher
education and research support. In the current climate of rising
research funding, energetic and talented young scholars, and academic
innovation and reorganization, it may be possible for JSPS and other
agencies to experiment with such funding mechanisms.

5\. Of greatest importance for the field of Science and Technology
Studies, a group of Japanese scholars is organizing Japan's first
international conference in STS, to be held in March 1998. This is an
exceptionally important event for several reasons. Not only does it
alert STS scholars worldwide to Japan's efforts in this field, but it
also signals Japanese scholars about the field's maturity and
possibilities. Further, STS derives major benefits from this expansion,
as the field knows little about science and technology outside the
Western context. Finally, a rise in studies of science and technology
within Japan can provide information of value to policymakers in Japan
and outside. For all these reasons I am most enthusiastic about this
international conference, and will provide whatever assistance I can to
the endeavor. I would be most pleased to cooperate with JSPS in doing
so.

**III. General Comments**

The rising interest in STS will benefit Japan in many ways. As a field
of study, it will offer undergraduate and graduate students a way to
integrate instruction in science or engineering with education in the
humanities or social sciences. This may stimulate further interest in
science or engineering, and may give rise to a new sort of scientist or
engineer, one who is equally conversant with biotechnology and ethics,
with knowledge networks and epistemology, with engineering design and
social organization. Such scholars will be uniquely qualified to work in
the challenging decades before us.

As a field of research, STS may address some of the most significant and
profound questions facing an advanced, technological society, including
matters of human resource development, environmental consequences,
ethical considerations (ranging from bioethics to environmental
justice), and the social organization of an innovative research system.

There is reason for great optimism about the prospects for STS and other
interdisciplinary fields in Japan, based on rising research resources,
innovative academic organizations, and, especially, the energy and
imagination of new generations of scholars.

On a personal note, I hope JSPS and NSF will cooperate in such efforts,
and that I will have further opportunities to contribute.

**IV. Acknowledgements**

I am deeply grateful to my host, Mariko Fujita Sano, for her gracious
hospitality during my visit, providing a warm welcome and an essential
education in matters Japanese. Dean Seiwa at Hiroshima University
arranged my lecture there and opened the door for many of my
appointments with faculty. Ms. Izumi Inose and Mr. Hisahiko Kamizuru,
graduate students of Professor Sano, were delightful companions and
expert guides during my travels. Finally, the Japan Society for the
Promotion of Science was exceedingly generous in awarding me a
fellowship, and I am most grateful for the honor and opportunity.